How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

No doubt you already know that people tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can lead to more trust, boost your online credibility and get interested prospects contacting you.

This tutorial explains how to add an easy-to-manage staff directory to your web site.

Adding An Employee List Directory: Tutorial

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 WordPress Plugin)

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

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WP administration and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 categories
4. Description – Type in a category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, faculties, 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 directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for an item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category 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 Quick Edit …

Click Update Group to save your changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the slug associated with your employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s position
• Email: Enter the staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Enter your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address here (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: Enter a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have finished entering each staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WordPress Dashboard Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

If you need help setting up WP permalinks, refer to this tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding new members to your staff or member directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to modify individual details, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(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 addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff details will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as the example below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure what to do, 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 screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin support page and request help from the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

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

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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 a profile in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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.

With this plugin, you also get 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 staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

This 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 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, 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, now you know how to easily add a simple faculty directory in your site with no coding skills required.

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

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