Tag: Company Directory

Many business experts have successfully proven that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online or get people to engage more with your site? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding an employee directory to your website can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects considering using your services.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff to your site.

Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you staff members.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WP administration and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WP 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 Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will show up in the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 nested groups
4. Description – Enter a group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory group …

(Groups area)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, developers, 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 hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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: The employee’s name
• Slug: Modify your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: Type the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username into this field (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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you are done inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now 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. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Control Panel Explained

Note: If you get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding more details to your employee directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from your employee 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 items to this section, your table can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the style and layout of your employee 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 your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee listings will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use.

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn 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 a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team 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 on plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also 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: plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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