Tag: Company Directory

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

If you are searching for simple ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Adding a directory of employees to your website is a great way to let visitors learn more about the people behind the scenes in your business.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an easy-to-maintain simple employee directory in your website without touching code.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee 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)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
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 if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in the group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new group name …

(Groups screen)

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

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

(Nested groups)

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

To edit Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected group details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can change the permalink URL associated with each employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

A new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the employee’s details to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can modify the person’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 about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:

• Understanding The WP Dashboard

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more details to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

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

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

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List 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 …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List 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] template tags, as shown below …

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – 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 menu …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. For example, here are 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 a profile in a widget area.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, photo and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners 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 on plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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 source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress 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 online employee directory …

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

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

More info:

• Staffer

If the above plugins 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
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

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

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

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