How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online and increase user interaction on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your website can generate increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to contact you.

This tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-manage employee directory in your website.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you staff.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new entry will appear in your main WP menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings up the Groups section …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups is just like adding categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your category name. 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 groups
4. Description – Enter the category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create a new directory group …

(Groups settings area)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, 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 hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

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

The selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new 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 the Update Group button when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit the slug associated with each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position
• Email: Your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number here
• Facebook URL: Add the staff member’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

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 staff member’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group)

A field will display 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. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the list item to the group …

(New group added in Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, 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 …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Understanding Your WP Control Area

Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more members to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members info)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Simple Staff List 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, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to 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 page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of employees or faculty members belonging only to 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 inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

You can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This plugin was developed to provide 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

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

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer plugin 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 source: Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works 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

If the above plugins 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
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easily updatable list of employees or faculty members to in WordPress using free plugins.

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

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