How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

It’s often said in business circles that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products online? Then help prospects get to know you and your business better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can help increase your credibility online and get more prospects contacting you.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an updatable directory of staff members to your site using a free WordPress plugin.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your staff on your site.

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

Log into your WP admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu entry will display on the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin to add new staff entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Adding directory groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. 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.
3. Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a group description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new group …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a larger organization, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

Your selected group open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can modify your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see above 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)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your staff member to the group …

(Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited 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 filling in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can edit your staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Administration Section Explained

Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding more details to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees to 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 directory items and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

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

Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

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 a member if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Your employee entries will now display as shown in the example below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

A useful variation you can select, 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”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at to create a directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(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 – Responsive Templates)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic and 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single member of your team in a four-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 which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 an employee directory on your website …

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

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

For more details go here:

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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