Many business and marketing experts have successfully shown over the years that people will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help prospects get to know you and your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site is a great way to humanize your organization.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in a WordPress site using a free WordPress plugin.
Adding A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you employee.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will appear on your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start adding new entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up your new category …
(Groups area)
If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups 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 categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Slug: Here you can change each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position
- Email: Enter the person’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Your staff member’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: 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: Add a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new details to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all the directory entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(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 save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the layout and style 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 menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your employee details will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful variation you can select, 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 adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at for creating a staff directory on your site:
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)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone, photo 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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 source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 an online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain employee directory in WordPress.
Models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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