How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

No doubt you’ve heard that people generally buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know your organization better.

If you have a WordPress-powered website, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your faculty, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff in your website.

How To Easily Add A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

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

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

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will be added to your WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start to add new entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Adding groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in 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 to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter a category description
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up a new category …

(Groups 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 groups 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 build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can modify the permalink URL for each staff member if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in 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: Assign an employee or team member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

If you 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 each of your staff member’s details …

(Staff directory settings)

Once you are done entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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 …

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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

The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …

(New group)

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

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• An Overview Of The WP Control Page

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, go here:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to edit individual entries, hover 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 update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to edit the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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, below is the Default 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 addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, 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 directory will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags 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 directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin developer.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and member 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress 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 employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory in WordPress.

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

***