Many business experts have successfully demonstrated over the years that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for simple ways to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your business better.
Adding a directory to your site can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from your site.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your site.
Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will appear on the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign youremployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups is very similar to working with categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
- Description – Enter a category description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new group …
(Groups area)
If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add your people 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 section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the slug for your employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the employee’s role here
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the person’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 or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
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 each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
A new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added via Groups box)
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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that entries show 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 item to the desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory entries 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 your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, you 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 the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your directory details will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin site and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, image and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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 sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin 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 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images used to portray fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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