Tag: Company Directory

You have no doubt heard that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or team members to your site can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects to get in touch with you.

In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add an easy-to-update list of staff members to your web site using a free WordPress plugin.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display information about your employee on your website.

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

Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring 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 installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will show up in your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

Here is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Adding groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
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 – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your group description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new directory group …

(Groups settings screen)

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 partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories 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 on the Add New Group button after creating new items …

To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

Add as many groups as you need to until you have created 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 groups, the next step is to start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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: Add the staff member’s name
• Slug: Edit the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, 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 display, with a dropdown 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 …

A new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

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

Click View Post …

To make changes to the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• The WordPress Administration Screen Explained

Note: If you see a page error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

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

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list with all your directory items and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover over their 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 delete a list item from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

If you have added many names to this section, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your employees show on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

To customize your directory, 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 The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

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

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

You can also 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 brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can check out to add an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, photo and staff 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 staff member 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 uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners 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.

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and 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 circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff 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 almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staffer

If the directory plugins listed above 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members to your web site.

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

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