Tag: Company Directory

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

If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products online, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.

If your website is built with the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that lets you display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff members.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members in your site.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory In WordPress

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the dashboard and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new entry will display on your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter a group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create a new directory group …

(Groups settings area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings opens up …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your employee’s name
• Slug: Modify each employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …

(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 above for details).

***

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

Click View Post …

You can update your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• How To Navigate Around Your WP Dashboard

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

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

For a detailed tutorial on setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more entries to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their listing, 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 staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

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

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

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employee profiles show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your employees’ details to your 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 that lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to edit 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles 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 not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, 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=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options settings screen)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the WordPress admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, photo 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 simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders 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.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site 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 staff directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so your site visitors can get to know you and your company better.

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

***