This is the Admin-side form that allows admins or users (who are looking at their WP Dashboard) a way to enter new listings into the system.
The form used is similar to the one for the Front End Submit Listing form, but with a much simpler style. It looks very much like the Add New Page form for WordPress posts and pages, with some notable exceptions. Like this:
The upper right area has BD-specific information under the “Listing Info” mini-tab regarding publish status, payment status and featured status. They are viewable by everyone, but only editable by administrators. This is where you manage most of the attributes of a listing--changing the fee plan, expiration date, images available, etc. A detailed view of this area is here:
The Recent Payments mini-tab contain the PayPal or Stripe transaction information collected when payment was made. If no payment was made to an actual payment processor, this tab can be empty.
The Access Key tab will have the string of random characters that can be used by owners of the listing to access the listing for edit and delete purposes. The access key is ONLY usable if you DON'T require registration for your listings (anonymous user mode).
The Publish section on the middle right side (not shown) is exactly like a WordPress post or page. The Status field indicates whether a listing is in Draft or Pending Review state (prior to being published). Normally, you want a listing to be fully public and published to be visible on your site. Clicking the Publish button on a new listing will accomplish this for you.
Below this are three important sections for listings:
The Directory Categories section allows you to select which categories this listing can belong to. You may pick more than one category if you wish. The categories are listed by parent and then children underneath (with a slight indentation)
The Directory Tags allows you to enter tags relating to this listing. The field uses “autocomplete” logic, so as you type in the field, if BD finds a match to a previously entered tag, it will display that as an option for you to click to add. You can add multiple tags (including new ones) by typing them into the field. Or you can remove existing ones by clicking the “x” on the tag.
The Featured Image section is a common point of confusion--this is NOT used by BD listings because this is something that all custom post types have, but not every custom post type uses (BD is one of MANY custom post types in WordPress). In the case of BD, we do not use this Featured Image at all. But you can override the templates we use and actually output this Featured Image if you prefer. Only admins can add a featured image to a listing at this time.
The main listing details are entered in the center of the screen. Title at the top, description next in the large text field, and then the remaining fields underneath it.
Depending on which plugins you install, under the BD fields you may see additional sections (such as SEO metadata editors). At the bottom, there is an Author field that can be changed to assign a post to another user. This function is only available to administrators.
When you are done editing a listing, be sure to click either Publish or Save Draft to ensure that you do not lose your changes.