Business experts have successfully demonstrated over the years that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker and easier ways to grow your business online? Then help visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-update employee directory in your site.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will have been added to the WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter the group description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new directory category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item’s details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change your staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s role
- Email: Enter the employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in your staff member’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your staff member’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have added many names to this section, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that listings show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your staff details show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to a desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields display in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your directory details will now display as as the example below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the plugin, go to the plugin faq page.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff. Here are a few other plugins you can check out for adding a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your web visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Models used in this tutorial to depict staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group