Tag: Company Directory

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

Are you looking for simple ideas to grow your business online or get people to interact more on your site? Then help prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.

If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to add a simple team members directory in your site without messing around with code.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you staff (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff members at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 categories
4. Description – Enter your group description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new group name …

(Groups settings screen)

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 groups for investors, 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

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

Your selected group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding your people 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 screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the staff member’s name
• Slug: Change your staff members’ slug (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have finished inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field for entering a 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 group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an individual’s 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 filling in your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …

Click View Post …

You can update your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Dashboard Explained

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new details to your employee or team directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to edit an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your staff 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 the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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 Plugin Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee listings will now display as as shown below …

(Staff profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, 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=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin support page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a staff directory in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory

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

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

This 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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the above plugins 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff 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 you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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