Tag: Company Directory

No doubt you already know that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online and get people to engage more with your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can generate more trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects buying from your site.

This tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your site.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

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

Log into your WP administration and in your admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will have been added to the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group category 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 nested groups
4. Description – Enter a group description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you are a medium to large organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …

To change Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group when done …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit the slug for your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: The staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type the employee’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your staff member’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 employee or faculty member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

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 staff member’s details …

(Staff directory settings)

After you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering a group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you 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 directory category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• Understanding Your WP Control Area

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, refer to this tutorial:

• How To Configure Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more entries to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to edit individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your staff entries show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you customize the layout and style of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff details will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of 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 lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

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”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting 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 page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress employee directory plugin you can use. Here are a few other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin provides 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight

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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

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 Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain list directory of employees in your WordPress site using free WordPress plugins.

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

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