How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

It’s often said in business that people generally buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know you, your team and your business better.

Adding a faculty directory to your site can help to generate increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects considering using your services.

This tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory to your website.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you build a basic staff directory for.

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

Log into the WP administration and navigate 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 Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will appear in the main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new staff member details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

Your selected category will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent 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 the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button when done …

Continue adding groups to this section until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the permalink URL for your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff members here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, 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 appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(Groups box)

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

***

After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Control Screen – An Overview

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding more details to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit individual entries, hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

If you have many names to add, your table can grow quite large.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its desired location …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, 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 staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as being able 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, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can select, 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=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List website.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can look at for adding an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one 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.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

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

More info:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add a list of staff members in your WordPress site with no coding skills required.

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

***