Consumer buying habits show that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Adding an employee directory to your website can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects to request quotes or more information.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory in your web site using a free WP plugin.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily employee.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and navigate 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 …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will appear on the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List 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 staff directory, you can just start to add new employee entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Adding groups is very similar to working with 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 URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a group description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you manage a larger organization, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups 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 creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit the slug for each employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’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 members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new directory category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your staff or member directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your directory entries and any details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
If you have many names added to this section, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to add 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 entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to a new location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields appear in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details will now display as as the example below shows …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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 go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
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 upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes 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 faculty member 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 about the plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more here:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.
Models used in this tutorial to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com