Tag: Company Directory

Business experts have successfully shown over the years that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products online or get people to engage more with your site, then help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If your web presence is driven by the WordPress CMS, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to WordPress using a free WP plugin.

Adding An Employee List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you display information about your staff on your site.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin adding new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter the group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new group …

(Groups area)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups 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 or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen loads in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Edit your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the person’s position here
• Email: Type in the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username (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 employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff member 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)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up groups 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 entering a group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

The new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

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 of the tutorial above for details).

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After typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Understanding The WordPress Control Page

Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

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 directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have added employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all the listing entries and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have added many entries to this section, your list can grow quite large.

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

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your employees show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your employees’ listing details to the 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 allowing you to arrange the order in which listings show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your staff directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up 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, 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 Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in your directory, we 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)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful variation you can add 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=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use for adding a directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin lets you add custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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 profiles in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-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, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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 plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 Staffer website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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 Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easy-to-manage list directory of employees in your site using free WP plugins.

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

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