How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Consumer buying habits show that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for ideas to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction with your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your business better.

Adding a faculty directory to your site can lead to increased trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects to contact you.

This tutorial explains how to create an easy-to-manage staff directory in your website.

Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you employee (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(WordPress 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)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will display on your main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section opens on your web browser …

(Groups settings)

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

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering 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 section if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter a category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new group …

(Groups area)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

The group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

This page provides you with 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: You can modify your employees’ 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: The employee’s position
• Email: Your staff member’s email
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory settings)

After you have finished entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did 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 will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Control Panel Explained

Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …

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

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new members to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished entering staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

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

Click on Edit if you need to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit 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 box to find member details if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your employee 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 your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

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 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, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can add, for example, to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members information)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. For example, here are other free plugins you can check out for adding an employee directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, 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 employee 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.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-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 selected in the editor, and 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)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

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 an employee directory on your site …

(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, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to add an easy-to-update directory of employees to your WordPress site.

Images of models used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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