Tag: Company Directory

Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and 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 WordPress staff list plugin.

This tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees in your web site.

Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff on your site.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will display on the main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings …

(Groups area)

Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups section)

If you run a larger organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The selected category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type your staff member’s name
• Slug: Modify your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

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 of your employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down 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 category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Dashboard Explained

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

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

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new members to your directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to update 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 View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find items if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose 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 lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your staff entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you 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 Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need help with the plugin, visit the Simple Staff List faq page.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use for adding an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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, schools, etc.

You can also use custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an 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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

Staffer 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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or faculty directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so your web visitors can get to know you and your organization better.

Models used to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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