How to use your Forms to make a WordPress Job Board

Did you know that Formidable can be a WordPress job board plugin? Harness the power to create your own WordPress Job board.

Our Formidable Demos page includes a WP job manager demo. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to use the power of Formidable Forms to create your own WordPress job board. No extra plugin required.

Features of a job manager

Build a system where users can view all job listings, apply for jobs, and add a new job listing. Plus, search for specific jobs by category, pay, location, and title.

The demo job board has four main parts:

1. The form to add new job listings
2. The view to display job listings
3. The form to search job listings
4. The job application form

Step 1: The job manager form

If you've built forms, then this bit should be child's play for you. Add fields for Job title, Full time/Part time (dropdown), Salary, Job description, City, State and any other fields that you need.

Your exact fields will vary depending on your specific need. Make sure to think ahead to the search form, and include the essential fields that people would like to use to search and filter (like location and job sector).

Step 2: The job listings view

Views can be a little intimidating if you're new to Formidable. But one basic rule makes it much simpler. The rule? Everything in the Before and After content sections is used only once on the page. The main Content box in the middle is repeated for every entry. This allows you to setup your table/layout structure in the Before section, add the content you want to display in each row in the Content section, and close your tags in the After section.

This demo uses a Dynamic View format. This means that you will have BOTH the listing view that displays the main details of each job, with a detail link for an in-depth look at each individual job. To achieve this, we'll use the "detail page" box to define what details are visible in the detail view. Because the detail view is a single job and not a list, there are no Before or After content boxes.

Want a detailed explanation on how to setup a view? Or if you would like to duplicate the Job Board demo exactly, copy the sample View code or download the job manager demo.

Step 3: Search posted jobs

At this point, add a few entries so you can double check that your view is displaying the way you would like. Confirm that the form returns results with search tests.

You don't need to include every field in your test searches. Input only relevant fields in the search form, like Job Sector and City. Be selective about which fields you include in your test searches. Try various options to see which combination returns the most relevant results for your audience. It's worth spending extra time on this, as it's a huge factor in how user-friendly your job board will be.

TIP: Use dropdown fields in your application form and corresponding fields in your search form to allow users to effectively filter results. This often returns more relevant results the first time when compared to results from a text search.

Want more information on Formidable search forms? See how to create a search form.

Step 4: Job application form

The job application form is the final part of the puzzle. The shortcode for this form needs to be embedded in the "Detail Page" content so that the "Apply Now" button is visible in each jobs detail listing.

This job form can be pre-populated with the job title and other relevant details using the [get param=whatever] shortcode. This shortcode helps to display information to your users and automatically link forms by passing information through the URL.

Bonus Step: Ease of use

Make your forms more user-friendly. Modify the success messages and include a link back to the job listings page. You can do this in the form that adds new jobs, and the job application form.

As you can see here, a link back to all listings keeps the success message from being a dead end.

Use Formidable Forms as your job posting software

Not using Formidable yet? Or looking to download the prebuilt job board template? Get started with the best WordPress forms plugin or renew your account today.

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