You have no doubt heard that people will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your website can help to personalize your business.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees in your site.
How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
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 lets you easily staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will be added to your main WP menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to creating categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
- Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up your new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups 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 groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin 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 loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Change each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the employee’s position here
- Email: Add the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the staff member’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’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 employee here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or team member to a group (see the previous section 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)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you have finished inputting details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
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. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can modify your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more entries to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all your staff profiles and any details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have many names added to this section, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate entries if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which your employees show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the main admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin site.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can look at to add a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory 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 go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table 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 read 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 uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single person 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 screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer 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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory to your website using free WordPress plugins.
Images of persons used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum