It’s often said in marketing circles that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products online? Then help your visitors get to know your organization better.
Adding a faculty member directory to your website is a great way to personalize your organization.
This tutorial explains how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff to your WordPress site.
Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily staff.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will appear in the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This loads the Groups settings area …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring directory groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 a group description here
- Click Add New Group when done to set up the new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can modify the slug for your staff member 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: Your employee’s role
- Email: Enter the employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
***
After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If you get an error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change individual details, simply hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have many names to add, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your staff entries will now display Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can choose to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the WordPress admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build an employee directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
The Staff Directory 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 create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, photo 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff 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 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 circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"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