Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online and increase user interaction on your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your organization better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site can help to generate greater trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to buy from you.
In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add an easy-to-update simple faculty directory to your web site using free plugins.
Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you easily staff.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will appear in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This loads the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups works in the same way as adding categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- 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 – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a category description in this field
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you manage a medium to large organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member section in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can modify each staff members’ slug (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a 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 tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. To edit a group 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 entering your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Keep adding new entries to your staff or team directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your listing entries and the details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual entries, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding all staff details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory items 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 dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert 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 Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
Here you can 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 plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other plugins you can look at to create a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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 Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, 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 employee 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 simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin 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 an onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
If the directory plugins listed above 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and the people in your team better.
Models used to portray 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