How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

No doubt you already know that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your website can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from your site.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff members to your WordPress site.

Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Tutorial

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)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the dashboard and navigate 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 …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will appear on the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups area …

(Groups area)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 categories
4. Description – Type in a category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …

To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The category will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with each staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the person’s role
• Email: Type the staff member’s email here
• Phone Number: Enter your staff member’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Add your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your company’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 staff or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your new group name will display, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

A new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …

(New group)

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

Click View Post …

You can update your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WP Control Area – A Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …

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

If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding new entries to your staff or team directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to modify an individual’s details, just hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members profile details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if required …

(Search members)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which listings display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your directory items 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 the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above displays your directory listing as 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 display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff profiles will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as 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 – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select 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=”senior staff”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on the main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress employee directory plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an 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.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

Detailed information about  each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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 a staff directory on your site …

(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.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

Models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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