How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Learn how to easily add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site with no coding skills required …

Simple Staff List TemplateYou have no doubt heard that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

If your online business is built using WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.

This tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your web site.

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

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

Simple Staff List - WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you display information to visitors about your staff on your website.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New

WP Plugins Menu - Add New

(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 the Install Now button …

Plugins - Add Plugins screen

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

Activate plugin

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will be added to your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members

Staff Members menu

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin adding new entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups

Staff Members - Groups

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups section opens up …

Groups screen

(Groups area)

Useful Tip

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

Groups work like categories

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

  1. Group Name – Type in your group name
  2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
  3. Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
  4. Description – Type in a group description here (optional)
  5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new category …

Groups settings screen

(Groups settings area)

If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to create groups 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 want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

Nested categories

(Nested groups)

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

Add New Group button

To change or reassign Groups for a specific entry, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

Edit Groups

Your selected category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

Edit Group settings

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

Simple Staff List Update button

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

Simple Staff List Group name - Quick Edit feature

Click Update Group when done …

Update button

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

adding categories to your directory

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

nested groups

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New

Staff Members Menu - Add New

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen opens up …

Add New Staff Member area

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

  • Name: The employee’s name
  • Slug: Here you can modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

  • Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

  • Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee or team member 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 the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

Tip

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

Screen options

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

Enable additional fields in screen options

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …

Add Staff Member fields

(Add Staff Member fields)

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

Groups section

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group

Groups - + Add New Group feature

(Groups - + Add New Group)

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

Groups box

Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …

New group added

(New group added)

Useful Information

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to employee details. To edit an 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Updating your staff directory details

Click View Post

View Post

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

Edit Staff Member link - admin toolbar

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

Useful Tip

If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

Check your permalinks if you get an error

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …

Staff Members - All Staff Members

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and all details you have added related to each entry …

Staff Members table

(Staff Members list)

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

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

Editing Staff Members info

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many names to add, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …

Search members

(Search members)

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

Screen Options

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …

Screen Options

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

Staff Members - Order

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

Rearrange items using drag and drop

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

Reordered listings

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

Staff Members Menu - Order

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

Rearrange items using drag and drop

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

Reordered list entries

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

Staff Members - Templates

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

Customize your directory template

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template

Default Simple Staff List Template

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

Default Simple Staff List Template Listing

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …

Directory listings with social media links added

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

Important Info

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure what to do, 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage

Staff Members Menu - Usage

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

Usage Shortcode section

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can choose, 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”])

You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options

Staff Members - Options

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

Options screen

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …

Export Staff Members info

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List website and contact the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use to add an employee directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

Modern Team Staff Directory - WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

(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 - WordPress Plugin

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

Staff Directory

Staff Directory - WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you use custom fields …

Staff Directory - WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

Faculty And Staff Directory

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 includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

Company Directory

Company Directory - WP Staff Directory Plugin

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, photo and 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight - WP Staff Directory Plugin

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 on plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

Responsive layout with circle grid

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

More info:

Staffer

Staffer - Plugin For WordPress

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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 online staff directory …

Staffer archive page

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

Tip

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 Plugin
  • WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
  • Simple Staff List Template WordPress
  • etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create an easy-to-update employee directory in WordPress.

WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

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

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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie