How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

Business experts have successfully demonstrated over the years that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

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

Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your site can help to personalize your organization.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to create and add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory to your web site without messing around with code.

How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you build a simple staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WordPress 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 search results area.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will appear on the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new staff entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups screen in your web browser …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up groups works just like categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in the group description
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new group …

(Groups settings screen)

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

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

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

The item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug for each staff member 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 staff member’s role
• Email: Type in your staff member’s email here
• Phone Number: The employee’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: Type in 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: Add a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, 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 for entering your group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a person’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

***

After entering your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• Your WordPress Dashboard – An Overview

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding more details to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have entered all employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all your staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to modify an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members info)

If you have added many items to this section, your list can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your staff details show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to a new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields appear in the directory, 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 directory page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.

A useful variation you can choose, 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=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin

You can also export your staff members data by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need additional information about this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List support page.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, 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 read 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 uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable list of employees to your web site using free WP plugins.

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

***