Tag: Company Directory

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

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

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-update staff directory in your WordPress site.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 easily display information about your employee on your site.

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

Log into the WordPress admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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 Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will appear in your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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 in the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups panel in your browser …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 – Type in a group description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

Add as many categories as you need to 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 hierarchical structure, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with your staff member if required (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the 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 your employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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 …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating your new group name will appear, with a drop-down 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 …

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

(Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To edit your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WordPress Dashboard Explained

Note: If you get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …

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

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new details to your staff directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding staff or faculty members into 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 listing all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate entries if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose 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 arrange the order that your employee profiles display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

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

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee details will now display as as the example below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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 being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the WP admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating a staff directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you use custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

This 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 a profile in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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 an onsite employee directory …

(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.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staffer

If the above plugins 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 Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site without using code, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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