Tag: Company Directory

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

Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products online? Then help your prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If your web presence is driven by the WordPress CMS, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your employees using a staff list plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff to your website.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you build a simple staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your groups. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups panel …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category 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 nested groups
4. Description – Enter a category description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new group …

(Groups section)

If you run a larger organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …

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

The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown 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 click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Change your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position
• Email: Add the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook URL (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: Enter a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(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 each employee’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups box)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an employee’s details to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Admin Screen – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and all details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details)

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

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin website and contact the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin lets you add custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your site visitors can get to know your organization better.

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

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