How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

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

If you are searching for simple ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding an employee directory to your site can help to generate more trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to contact you.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your site using a free plugin.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your Site

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 lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.

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

Log into the dashboard and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(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 …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start adding new staff members after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in your group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new group …

(Groups section)

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

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

The category will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: You can change each employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

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 fields)

Once you are done entering each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

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

Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

***

After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

To modify the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• How To Navigate Around Your WordPress Control Page

Note: If you get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your employees and details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to individual details, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many employees, your list can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown 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 set the order that listings show on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are other plugins you can use for creating a staff directory on your site:

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also use custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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 – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read 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 website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners 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, 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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 online staff directory …

(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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so your site visitors can get to know you and the people in your team better.

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

***