Tag: Company Directory

No doubt you’ve already heard that people will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you display information about your key people, your business team, or your employees.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to add an easy-to-manage list directory of staff members to your website.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily build a basic staff directory for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new employee details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Adding groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group 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 categories
4. Description – Enter the group description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up the new directory group …

(Groups section)

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 a group for partners, project teams, faculties, 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 hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

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

Your selected group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with your employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(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 fields)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field for creating your group name will display, 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 Add New Group …

The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …

(Groups feature)

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

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After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• The WP Control Section Explained

Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• How To Set Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add new members to your employee or partner directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button 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 in which listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which your staff details appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

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

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able 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 – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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 help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin website.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. Here are other plugins you can check out for adding an employee directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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 or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, image 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an 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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

Detailed information about  each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress 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 online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer 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 about this plugin:

• Staffer

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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a directory of employees in your web site without coding skills.

Images used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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