Tag: Company Directory

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

If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If your web presence is built with the WordPress Content Management System, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add an updatable directory of employees or faculty members to your website using a free plugin.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

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

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, 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 your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in your main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your directory groups. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter 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 – Enter your group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …

(Groups area)

If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for an entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Change each employees’ slug (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: Enter your staff member’s position
• Email: Your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the 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 link)

A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your list entry to the group …

(Groups feature)

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

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Admin Area – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding more members to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your listing entries and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

Click on Edit if you want to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employee listings display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

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

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing 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 brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display a list of members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options settings screen)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your faculty. For example, here are a few other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, photo and member 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 sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• 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, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin 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 this plugin:

• Staffer – WordPress 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage directory of staff members in in WordPress without coding skills.

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

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