Tag: Company Directory

You have no doubt heard that people generally buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for ideas to sell more products online and increase user interaction on your site, then help your prospects get to know your business better.

Adding a directory of staff to your website can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to contact you.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-manage directory of employees to WordPress using a free WordPress plugin.

Adding A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display information about your employee on your website.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your admin and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will appear in your WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your category. 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 – Type in the category description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new category …

(Groups area)

If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the employee’s name
• Permalink: Edit each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter the staff member’s position
• Email: Type the employee’s email here
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

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

***

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Dashboard Explained

Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new details to your employee or faculty directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to change an individual’s details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate items if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can 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)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your preferences …

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.

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 its desired location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding member 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 lets you arrange the order that entries display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a new position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

For example, a useful variation you can select 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 managers”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:

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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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 churches, teams, etc.

The plugin lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin provides 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.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, pic and 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

The Staffer 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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff in your site.

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

***