How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

It’s often said in marketing that people generally tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ways to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to contact you.

This tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory to your WordPress site.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you employee.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

Here is where you will manage and configure 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 in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a group description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new group …

(Groups settings area)

If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected item will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group 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 click on Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff member 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 …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field for entering a group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added in Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• The WP Administration Area – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Continue adding more details to your employee directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items if required …

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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 a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

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

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use with 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=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members info by going to the main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin author.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Modern Team Staff Directory 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:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

The plugin lets you insert custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP 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 a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

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

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

The Staffer 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 an online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple faculty directory in your website with no coding skills required.

Images of models used to depict sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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