Author: WP Compendium

Business experts have successfully shown that people often tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to engage more with your site, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your site can help to let visitors learn more about the team behind the scenes in your business.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create and add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in your WordPress site without coding skills.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily display basic information about your staff on your website.

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new entry will have been added to your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings panel …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 a group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up the new directory group …

(Groups section)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, 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 groups)

Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …

To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item’s details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To edit your Group name or slug, hover 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 are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

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

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in your staff member’s position here
• Email: Type the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter 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 employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the 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 employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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 for creating your new group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 staff member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar , go here:

• Understanding Your WP Dashboard

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

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

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

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty. Here are a few other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

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

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: 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:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

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 Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or faculty directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

Images used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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