Tag: Company Directory

Consumer behavior studies show that people tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ideas to sell more products online or get people to interact more on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If your online business is powered by the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that will let you add a directory listing with information about your key partners, your business team, or your employees.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an updatable list of staff or team members in your web site using free WordPress plugins.

How To Add An Employee Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you staff (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

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

Log into the WordPress admin and from the admin menu section, select 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu will appear on your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups panel in your browser …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 the category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new group name …

(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 a category for founders, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups 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 item …

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type the staff member’s position here
• Email: Add the person’s email address here
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (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: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you are done entering details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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 category and click on Add New Group …

Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your entry to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to 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).

***

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

Click View Post …

To update the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WP Control Panel Explained

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to edit individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items 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 at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

After adding your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee profiles will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …

(Directory 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 unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

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 WP admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin support page.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, 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 – WP Staff Directory 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

The plugin also lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin was developed to provide 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.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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: plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 an online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from 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:

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of employees to your site.

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

***