Something that is generally well known in business circles, is that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for ideas to sell more products online and increase user interaction with your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know your organization better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site can help to generate more trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects to buy from you.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-update directory of staff in your web site.
Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will show up in the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up groups is very similar to working with categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- 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.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter your group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups area)
If you work with a larger organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change or reassign Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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: Add your employee’s name
- Slug: Edit your staff members’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your staff member’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you are done inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear 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 directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff member’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 staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
You can update your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your staff or partner directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details 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 displaying all the staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual details, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting 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 feature to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that your employee profiles display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you edit the layout and style of your employee 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 the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your directory listings will now display as shown in the screenshot below …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful 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=”technical engineers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
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 menu …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and member bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just a single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
Staffer 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 employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about this plugin here:
If the above plugins 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees to your WordPress site.
Images of models used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group