Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ways to grow your business online, then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.
In this tutorial, we show you how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory in your web site without using code.
Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will be added to your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up groups is similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new category …
(Groups area)
If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Slug: Modify the permalink URL for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s position
- Email: Type the employee’s email here
- Phone Number: Enter the employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
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 employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished inputting each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for entering your group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category 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 an employee’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 team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Continue adding more members to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your directory items and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry 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)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that your staff members appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your employee 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default 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 example. To make these fields display in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful variation you can select, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options in your main menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin website and request help from the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are other free plugins you can look at to create an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
This plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college 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)
Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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 an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your site.
Models used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum