How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Learn how to easily add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site with no coding skills required …

WordPress Staff Directory PluginYou have no doubt heard that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction on your site? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects considering using your services.

In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your WordPress site using a free WP plugin.

How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you employee.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New

Plugins Menu - Add New

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.

Click on the Install Now button …

WordPress Plugins - Add Plugins screen

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin

Activate plugin

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will have been added to the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members

Staff Members menu

(Staff Members menu)

This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups

Staff Members Menu - Groups

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings …

Groups settings area

(Groups settings screen)

Practical Tip

Note: Adding directory groups works just like categories …

Groups are like categories

(Groups work just like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

  1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
  2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
  3. Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
  4. Description – Type in the category description in this field
  5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new directory category …

Groups settings screen

(Groups settings)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …

Nested categories

(Nested groups)

Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …

Add New Group button

To change or reassign Groups for an individual entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Edit Groups

The category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

Edit Group screen

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

Update button

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit

Group slug - Quick Edit

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

Update button

Continue adding categories in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

adding categories to your directory

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

Add nested groups to your staff directory

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New

Staff Members Menu - Add New

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

Add New Staff Member settings

(Add New Staff Member area)

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: Add the staff member’s name
  • Permalink: Edit your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

  • Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

  • Position: Type the person’s role here
  • Email: Enter the person’s email
  • Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
  • Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
  • Twitter URL: Type 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: Add a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

  • Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

Tip

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

Screen options tab

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

Enable additional fields in screen options

(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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

Groups feature

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group

Groups > + Add New Group link

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field for entering a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group

Groups section

Your new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

Groups section

(Groups section)

Important Info

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 your employee or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button …

Publish your employee directory

Click View Post

View your directory

You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

Edit Staff Member link - WordPress admin toolbar

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

Useful Tip

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

Page error? Check your permalinks

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:

Repeat the above process to add more entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

Staff Members - All Staff Members

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and any details you have added with each entry …

Staff Members details

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change an individual’s entry, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View

Edit Staff Members profile information

(Edit Staff Members profile)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries if required …

Search Staff Members search box

(Search Staff Members search field)

You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

Screen Options tab

(Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members Screen Options

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

Staff Members Menu - Order

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired location …

Reorder items using drag and drop

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

Reordered list items

(Reordered listings)

After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which listings show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

Staff Members Menu - Order

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new location …

Reorder listings using drag and drop

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

Reordered list entries

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the layout and style 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 the WordPress admin menu …

Staff Members - Templates

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

Templates screen

(Customize your directory template)

To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …

Use template tags to customize your directory page

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Your employee listings will now display as as shown below …

Directory listings with social media URLs added

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

Info

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage

Staff Members Menu - Usage

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

Usage Shortcode section

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])

You can also 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

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

Simple Staff List - customizable fields

(Options settings screen)

This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

Export Staff Members plugin info

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need help with the plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website and contact the plugin author.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your team members. Here are a few other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

Modern Team Staff Directory - WP Staff Directory Plugin

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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 - WP Plugin

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

For more details go here:

Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.

This plugin also lets you add custom fields …

Staff Directory - Plugin For WordPress

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

Faculty And Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory - Plugin For WordPress

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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 installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

Company Directory

Company Directory - WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, pic and staff 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight - Plugin For WordPress

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual person in a 4-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, and 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 circle grid

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

Staffer

Staffer - WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

(Staffer)

The Staffer 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 an employee directory on your website …

Staffer archive page

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

For more details go here:

Useful Tip

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 Directory Plugin
  • Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
  • Staff Plugin WordPress
  • etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory to your site.

Staff Plugin WordPress

Images used to display fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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