People & Directory Recipe
Build a complete people finder with employee directory, team listings, locations, and site directory.
Overview
This recipe creates a comprehensive people finder page with employee search, team listings, office locations, and site directory.
Page Layout
Step-by-Step Setup
Create the People & Directory Page
- Go to Site Contents → Site Pages → + New → Page
- Name the page "People & Directory"
- Add to site navigation
Add Section 1: Employee Directory
Add a full-width section for the main employee search.
Add web part: Bonzai Employee Directory
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Employee Directory |
| Result Source (resultSource) | Auto-detect (Recommended) |
| Display Mode (displayMode) | Search Directory |
| Default View (templateName) | Card View |
| Allow View Switching (showViewSwitcher) | On |
| Show Filter Dropdowns (enableFilters) | On |
| Show Sort Dropdown (enableSortDropdown) | On |
| Exclude Non-Employee Accounts (enableStandardExclusions) | On |
| Items Per Page (itemsPerPage) | 28 |
Employee Directory works best in full width for browsing large organizations
Add Section 2: Two Columns (50%/50%)
Add a two-column section for team members and locations.
Left Column: Bonzai People Listing
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Team Members |
| Data Source (dataSource) | SharePoint List |
| List Schema (listSchema) | Person/Group roster (directory identities) |
| List Name (listName) | Employee Directory |
| Person Column (personColumn) | Person (or your Person/Group column) |
| Display As (displayAs) | Cards |
| Items Per Page (itemsPerPage) | 6 |
| Show Search (showSearch) | On |
| Title Icon (titleIconName) | People |
| Chrome Type (chromeType) | Title and Border |
Prefer live Azure AD data instead of a curated list? Set Data Source to People Search (Organization Directory) and skip the List Schema / List Name / Person Column fields — those only apply in SharePoint List mode.
Add Locations to Right Column
Right Column: Bonzai Locations
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Our Offices |
| List Name (listName) | Locations |
| Display As (displayAs) | Cards |
| Items Per Page (itemsPerPage) | 9 |
| Show Search (showSearch) | On |
| Title Icon (titleIconName) | MapPin |
| Chrome Type (chromeType) | Title and Border |
Add Section 3: Site Directory
Add a full-width section for the site directory.
Add web part: Bonzai Site Directory
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Site Directory |
| Enable Search Suggestions (enableTypeahead) | On |
| Items Per Page (itemsPerPage) | 12 (slider step is 4; valid: 4, 8, 12, 16…) |
| Show Favourites (showFavourites) | On |
| Show Site Owner (showSiteOwner) | On |
| Show Created Date (showCreatedDate) | On |
| Show Description (showDescription) | On |
| Title Icon (titleIconName) | SharepointLogo |
Site Directory has a built-in search box — there is no Show Search toggle or Chrome Type property to configure
Create Required Lists
Before the page works fully, create these lists:
- Employee Directory list — for People Listing (SharePoint List mode with a Person/Group column)
- Locations list — for office locations
Site Directory does not need a list — it discovers sites automatically via SharePoint Search (contentclass:STS_Site), security-trimmed to the current user.
Publish and Test
- Save and publish the page
- Add to site navigation
- Test employee search and A-Z filtering
- Verify locations and site directory display correctly
Employee Directory vs People Listing
Required SharePoint Lists
Employee Directory List Schema (People Listing — Person/Group roster)
Only one column is strictly required: a Person or Group column. All profile details (job title, department, office, phone, photo) are read from the selected directory user, not from separate list columns.
| Column | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Single line of text | Built-in | Default SharePoint Title column; not displayed on cards. |
| Person | Person or Group | Yes | Selected via the personColumn dropdown. Multi-value supported. |
| SortOrder (optional) | Number | No | Pair with listSortBy = field and listSortField = SortOrder for custom ordering. |
| Promoted (optional) | Yes/No | No | When present and showPromotedItems is on, only promoted rows appear. |
Locations List Schema
Only Title is required — the web part inspects your list at runtime and gracefully ignores any optional columns you omit.
| Column | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Single line of text | Yes | Office/location name |
| Address | Multiple lines of text | No | Full street address |
| City | Single line of text | No | Used for search and display |
| State | Single line of text | No | Used for search and display |
| PostalCode | Single line of text | No | Postal/ZIP code |
| Country | Single line of text | No | Used for search and display |
| Phone | Single line of text | No | Contact phone number |
| Single line of text | No | Contact email address | |
| Hours | Single line of text | No | Operating hours |
| LocationImage | Image or Hyperlink | No | Office photo |
| MapImageUrl | Hyperlink or Text | No | Static map image URL (Google/Bing Maps) |
| Latitude | Number | No | Preferred coordinate for Get Directions |
| Longitude | Number | No | Preferred coordinate for Get Directions |
No Site Directory list needed
contentclass:STS_Site) and security-trims results to the current user. There is no list to create or maintain — just drop the web part on the page.Final Checklist
- ☐ Employee Directory showing users with photos
- ☐ Search, filter dropdowns, sort, and A–Z filter working
- ☐ People Listing displaying team members (data source / schema / person column set)
- ☐ Locations showing office cards with directions
- ☐ Site Directory discovering sites with typeahead and favourites
- ☐ Employee Directory and Locations lists created with data
- ☐ Page added to navigation