How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Something often said in marketing circles, is that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ways to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know your organization better.

If you have a WordPress site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff to your WordPress site.

How To Easily Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you create a simple staff directory for.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring 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 show up in your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your directory groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings area …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the group description
5. Click Add New Group when done to create a new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …

To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The selected item will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click Update Group when done …

Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the staff member’s name
• Slug: Change the slug associated with each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The employee’s position
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your employee’s Twitter username into this field (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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …

(Staff directory settings)

Once you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

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 group and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your employee’s details to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After entering your employee or team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To modify the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Admin Screen – An Overview

Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, go here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Keep adding more members to your employee directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After 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 – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change individual entries, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

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 the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your employees display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to a desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members data by going to the dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin provides 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 profiles in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read 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 website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

Detailed information about  each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

The Staffer 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 a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff in your website.

Images used in this tutorial to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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