Display Group Directory in WordPress with ProfileGrid
The advantage of a membership site is that it lets you create multiple groups with multiple users. However, ProfileGrid is one such membership plugin that lets you display group directory in WordPress. As a result, you can show your visitors the number of groups and their consisting members. So let’s proceed with our mission to display group directory in WordPress by first installing ProfileGrid.
Getting to Know the Shortcodes
The ProfileGrid plugin offers various tools to create an efficient and professional membership site. Its predefined Shortcodes and essential Extensions helps makes work fast and easy. There is an entire page dedicated to shortcodes. One can find this page from the Shortcodes link under the ProfileGrid menu.
From the Shortcodes page, we then have to take the specific shortcode to display group directory in WordPress.
In the above picture, I have marked the shortcode [PM_Groups] that we are going to use today. This is the Multi Group Page shortcode. However, there is also a Single Group Page, Profile Page, Login Form shortcodes among many other essential ones.
We now have to paste the [PM_Groups] shortcode on a page to create our Group Directory page. So click on Add New from the Pages link on your WP dashboard and paste the shortcode.
From the above image, you can see I have named my page All Groups and pasted the [PM_Groups] shortcode there. Now click on Publish and witness your group directory on the frontend.
As you can see from the above image, we could successfully display group directory in WordPress by just pasting a shortcode. Moreover, we find that every group icon has a ‘Detail’ tab to display its consisting members. That is the Single Group Page, one can create it similarly through shortcodes.
Assigning Multi Group Page
This is a step that is required right after you create any page on ProfileGrid. There are certain predefined pages assigned in this plugin. The Multi Group Page, Profile Page, Login Page etc. are some of them. From the General option on the Global Setting page, you will find a list of these pages. Users need to assign these pages to make them appear on the frontend and the menu bar.
Given above is a part of the General Setting page. From the drop-down beside the All Groups option, select your group directory page. However, any page that one publishes, if that is one of the predefined pages will appear here. Now click on the ‘Save’ button to finish up.
Being able to display group directory in WordPress opens up a host of opportunities. Schools and institutions can create groups of individual classes or clubs where all the students get to interact with each other. Moreover, the group directory will display the consisting pupils letting the whole school communicate through a common platform.
One can take the same measure for offices or organizations. The different departments or teams can have their own groups. Then in the group directory page, they can communicate with all the group members. This way it will become easy for one team to interact with others without having to write official emails.
Making Development Easy
You saw how easy it was to display group directory in WordPress with ProfileGrid. This plugin does half of the work for you. Moreover, the shortcodes are predefined with default pages already created. So, one just needs to copy and paste the codes to do the job. This is the reason why even beginners can now create their own professional membership sites and start earning.