How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress

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

Are you searching for simple ideas to sell more products online? Then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If your web presence is driven by WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that will let you display a directory listing with information about your key people, your team, or your employees.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain list directory of employees or team members to your site using free plugins.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your website.

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

Log into the dashboard and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin to add new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Adding groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create 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 section to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter a group description
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new category …

(Groups screen)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group 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 on the Add New Group button after entering new items …

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

Your selected group will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can change the slug for each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the employee’s position
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’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: Enter 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 member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff 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 will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

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 will display allowing you to enter 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 the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

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

Click View Post …

You can edit the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• An Overview Of The WordPress Dashboard

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

(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)

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

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your directory items and all details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, 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 change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many employees, your table can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate entries …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employees display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

For example, a useful variation you can select 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 using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staffer – WordPress 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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create a simple and easy-to-update staff directory in WordPress.

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

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