Tag: Company Directory

Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your site can lead to greater trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to contact you.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily add an easy-to-update simple team members directory to WordPress using free WP plugins.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff members.

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

Log into your WordPress administration and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will have been added to your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List 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 can just begin to add new staff member details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your groups. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 category description
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new group name …

(Groups section)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, 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 the Add New Group button after entering each new item …

To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

Your selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group 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 select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your employee’s name
• Slug: You can modify your staff members’ slug (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter the staff member’s role here
• Email: Enter the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number here
• Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the employee’s Twitter username here (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. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating your group name will display, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Control Area Explained

Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …

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

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Changing WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual details, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(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 listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also 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 employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin 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 listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee details will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

For example, a useful variation you can choose to display a list of members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List site and request help from the plugin author.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

This 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)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP 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 or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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 includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each faculty 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create a simple and easy-to-manage staff directory in your site.

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

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