You have no doubt heard that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ideas to grow your business online, then help prospects get to know your organization better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects contacting you.
In this tutorial, we explain how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff members in your site without touching code.
How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory: WordPress Plugin 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 – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you staff (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP admin and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on your main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- 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 – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Type in a category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change or reassign Groups for an 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 category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides 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: Edit the slug associated with your employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Add the person’s email here
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or team member to a specific 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 will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group 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 to 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 added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your list item to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If an error like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Continue adding more members to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all your staff profiles and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit individual entries, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find listing items …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your directory listings 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 Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, 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 Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your directory listings will now display as shown in the screenshot below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able 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 Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin site.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at to create a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, image and member 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 website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site without touching code, so your web visitors can get to know your organization better.
Models used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)