Tag: Company Directory

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

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services 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 employees or team members to your website will help to personalize your business.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory to your web site with no coding skills required.

Adding An Employee List Directory To Your Site: Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you staff members.

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

Log into the WP administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will display on your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your 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 categories
4. Description – Enter the group description here
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory group …

(Groups settings area)

If you are a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups 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 entering each item …

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

Your selected category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down 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 …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position here
• Email: Type your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Type your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

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

The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …

(Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit an 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 your team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• How To Use Your WordPress Dashboard

Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get an error)

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

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more entries to your employee or partner directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all your staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, simply hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

If you have many names to add, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member if necessary …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to a new position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use.

A useful shortcode variation you can choose, for example, 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=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can look at to create an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, image and 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

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

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

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff 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 source: Staffer website)

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

Learn more here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory to your website.

Models used to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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