It’s often said in marketing that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects considering using your services.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-update employee directory in your website.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP administration and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new entry will be added to the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start to add new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category 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 your group description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for an entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click 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 groups)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit the slug associated with your employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s position
- Email: Enter the employee’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the staff member’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a group (see the previous section 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 each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you are done entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add 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 display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(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 above for details).
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After filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ 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)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:
Continue adding new entries to your staff or faculty directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have many entries, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to find listing items if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all employees’ details to the 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 allowing you to set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your staff listing 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 layout and style of your staff list listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin 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, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.
A useful variation you can add to your page, for example, to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
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 in the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your main menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your employees in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list 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. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
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.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without messing with code, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of models used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group