Author: WP Compendium

No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your site is a great way to personalize your business.

This tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory to your site.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you display information about your staff members on your website.

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

Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu, click on 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will have been added to the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start adding new staff entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. 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.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in your group description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new directory category …

(Groups settings area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability 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 categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add the staff member’s name
• Permalink: Edit the slug for each employee if required (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s position
• Email: Enter the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your employee’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you 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 your employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

The new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the employee’s details to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Use The WP Control Panel

Note: If a page error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using SEO-Friendly URLs

Keep adding more entries to your directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your employees and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find items …

(Search Staff Members search box)

You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employees display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries show on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to edit the layout and style of your directory listings 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates screen)

To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Plugin Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin

You can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use for creating a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin lets you set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 a profile in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone, image and 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

This plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite staff directory …

(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 the plugin here:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

If the above plugins 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory in your site with no coding skills required.

Models used in this tutorial to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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