Tag: Company Directory

It’s often said in business circles that people generally will buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online or get people to engage more with your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your business better.

Adding a faculty member directory to your website can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects to get in touch with you.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory to your WordPress site.

Adding A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

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

Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start to add new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups section)

Note: Adding groups is just like setting up categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter the category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up a new directory category …

(Groups section)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, 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 build a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

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

The group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click Update Group when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the staff member’s role here
• Email: Enter the staff member’s email address into this field
• Phone Number: Type in your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username into this field (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 in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual 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)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, 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 a group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

The new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …

(New group added in Groups box)

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

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

Click View Post …

To modify the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:

• The WordPress Administration Panel Explained

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

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

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee or partner directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory items and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to modify individual details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing 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 list can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search field)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your directory listings 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 …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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 Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with 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 directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need help with this plugin, visit the plugin faq page and contact the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are a few other plugins you can check out:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin provides 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.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, photo and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

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

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

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

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 sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

To learn more about the plugin go 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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

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
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple team members directory to a WordPress site without messing around with code.

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

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