Tag: Company Directory

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

Are you searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or team members to your site will help humanize your organization.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to create and add an easy-to-maintain simple team members directory to your web site using a free WordPress plugin.

Adding A Staff List Directory

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)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily build a simple staff directory list for.

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

Log into the dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear in the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start adding new entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 nested categories
4. Description – Type in the category description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for an item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: You can change each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the staff member’s Facebook URL (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: Type a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you 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)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group)

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

The new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

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

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

Click View Post …

To make changes to your member 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 on using the WP admin toolbar here:

• The WP Administration Area Explained

Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …

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

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new members to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to modify individual entries, just hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

The plugin also allows you to 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 …

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin 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 your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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 template used for displaying listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to 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=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List website and contact the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you set up custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and staff 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners 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.

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

This 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 immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Learn more here:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable list directory of staff members in your website using a free WP plugin.

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

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