Tag: Company Directory

It’s often said in business circles that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If your site uses the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to create and add an easy-to-manage list of employees or faculty members in your web site without touching code.

How To Add A Staff Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you staff members.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu section, choose 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear on your main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your groups. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings)

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

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group 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 groups
4. Description – Type in a category description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group name …

(Groups area)

If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

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

The group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type your employee’s name
• Permalink: Change your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(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 employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen 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 that lets you 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 …

Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(New group added via Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an employee’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

***

After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Control Panel – A Tutorial

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have added staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find listing items if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employees appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your 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 the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed 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 Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)

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

(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 code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

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

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at to add an employee directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a 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 pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• 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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees to your web site.

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

***