Tag: Company Directory

Consumer behaviour studies show that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your website is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team working behind the scenes in your business.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an easy-to-update simple team members directory in your WordPress site using free plugins.

How To Easily Add An Employee Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you build a basic staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress admin and in your admin menu, select 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 the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu entry will appear in the main WP menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options 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 employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings screen)

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

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in 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 section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in your category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a larger organization, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for an individual entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member area in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Edit each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter the person’s role
• Email: The employee’s email
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your employee’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type 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 in a profile description for your staff or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: 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 …

(Screen options)

You will see options to 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 …

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you are done entering details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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 added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the person’s entry to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• An Overview Of The WordPress Dashboard

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

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more members to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu 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 a listing from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

If you have many names to add, your table can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details …

(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 at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your staff profiles appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin 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 style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …

(Default Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

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 menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

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

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 opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin website.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are other plugins you can use for adding a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and staff 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 also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders 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 on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each faculty 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

The Staffer 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 online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

Learn more about this plugin 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 List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create an easy-to-manage directory of staff in your WordPress site.

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

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