How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

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

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a staff directory to your website can generate greater trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects getting in touch with you.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory in WordPress without coding skills.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

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)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily staff members.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(WP 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 …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will show up in your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

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

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings area …

(Groups settings area)

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

(Groups are like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 a category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new group …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with 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 founders, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click on Update Group  when done …

Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Change each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s position
• Email: Add the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter the person’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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

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

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory settings)

After you are done inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. 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 typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WordPress Control Area Explained

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering employee or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to modify an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(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 shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your staff members show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …

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

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations you can use.

A useful variation you can decide to use, 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=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

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

You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin site.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you use custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

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

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and staff 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each employee 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer 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 the plugin go 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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your business better.

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

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