How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people often tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.

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

In this tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add a list of employees to your WordPress site.

Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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)

Simple Staff List lets you easily create a basic staff directory for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP admin and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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 Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear in the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 groups
4. Description – Type in a group description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for an individual entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown 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 click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the employee’s name
• Slug: Change each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your 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 employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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

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

(Groups feature)

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

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After typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

To make changes to the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Admin Screen – An Overview

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using SEO-Friendly URLs

Continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all the directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member if required …

(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)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can add, for example, to display only members belonging 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 adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(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 data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin author.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display an employee directory in WordPress. Here are other plugins you can use to create a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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, teams, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, photo and member bio, allowing you to present 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders 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.

Employee Spotlight includes 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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: plugin website)

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

To learn more about this plugin go 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.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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