Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people will mostly buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ways to sell more products online, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site can help increase your credibility online and get more prospects contacting you.
This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees to your WordPress site.
Contents
Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily employee.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will appear in your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start to add new staff members at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings area …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Enter a category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group …
(Groups screen)
If you run a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, faculties, 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 groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides 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
- Permalink: Modify your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Type in your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for entering your new group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your staff member to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding new details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all your staff profiles and all details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual details, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list should now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use.
A useful variation you can select, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”senior staff”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your main menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin plugin website and contact the plugin author.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can look at for adding a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
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, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff 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 plugin website)
Staffer works immediately 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your WordPress site.
Images used in this tutorial to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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