It’s often said in marketing that people will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know you and your organization better.
Adding a faculty directory to your website can generate increased trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects contacting you.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of employees to WordPress.
Adding A Staff Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display basic information about your employee on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the admin and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, 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)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will have been added to the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group category 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 nested categories
- Description – Type in your group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, 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 categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Modify the slug associated with your employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position here
- Email: Enter the staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Add your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your employee’s Twitter username (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 members here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in 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).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering a group name will appear, 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 …
A new category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups 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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Continue adding new details to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished adding staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members 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 Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your staff members show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to 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 your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List 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 directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your staff listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
A useful variation you can insert in your page, 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=”technical engineers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members details by going to your dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can use to create a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual member of your team in a four-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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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:
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 onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable list of employees or faculty members in your WordPress site using a free WP plugin.
Images used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)