Tag: Company Directory

No doubt you already know that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction with your site, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If you own a WordPress-driven site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you display a directory listing with information about your key people, your team, or your staff members.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory in WordPress.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will display on the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new employee details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Setting up groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in a group description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new category …

(Groups section)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need 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 edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

This screen provides 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: Here you can change the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the employee’s role
• Email: The employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Add your staff member’s Facebook address (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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can 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)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

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 of the tutorial above for details).

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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• Using Your WordPress Control Screen

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

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

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:

• How To Configure WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your employee 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 on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members table)

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

Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members info)

If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details if necessary …

(Search members)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button 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 in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you create 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags 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 allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page 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 reps”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Options settings screen)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

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

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your team members. Here are some other plugins you can check out:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin lets you use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

With this plugin, you also get 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)

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – WP 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
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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