How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

No doubt you already know that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online, then help visitors get to know, like and trust your business better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can help to generate increased trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects getting in touch with you.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-update staff directory to WordPress.

Adding A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List lets you display basic information about your employee on your website.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will be added to your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create different 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 opens up the Groups settings …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 set up your new directory category …

(Groups section)

If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add the staff member’s name
• Slug: Modify your employees’ slug (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: Your employee’s role
• Email: Enter the person’s email here
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in 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 in a profile description for your employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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

A new group will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added in Groups feature)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Using Your WordPress Administration Page

Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

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

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding more entries to your directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have entered all employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff members and details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to edit individual entries, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want 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 the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have many names added to this section, your list can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items …

(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 …

(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 save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which your employee profiles show on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

A useful variation you can choose, 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=”Asia Pacific Region”])

You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin site and contact the plugin author.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at for creating a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …

(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:

• Staffer – WP 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your website.

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

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