Installation and Setup Guide

Installing Business Directory

To install Business Directory from the WordPress.org repository, enter your site url here:

Or, if you prefer the step-by-step instructions, start by visiting the Plugins section of your WP admin panel. Enter “Business Directory” into the search box, click on Search Plugins. This will bring up the Business Directory Plugin install screen.

Click on Install Now. After the download is complete, click on Activate Plugin.

Business Directory is now installed and ready to configure.

Install Business Directory Premium

Any paid plan you choose includes the Business Directory Premium plugin.

1. Download the plugin first by clicking the big download button on your downloads page.
2. Go to Plugins → Add New in the WordPress admin panel.
3. Click on the Upload link, and then click on Browse Now to locate the ZIP file you just downloaded.
4. Click OK once you find it on your local computer.
5. Click the Install Now button to start the process.
6. After the installation completes, click the Activate Plugin link.
7. Go to the Directory → Settings page and add your license key from the downloads page.

After installing Business Directory Premium, do not remove Business Directory Plugin. Both plugins are needed.

*NOTE: If you are using Safari, the file may be automatically unzipped when you download it. You can change the default setting in Safari to only download the ZIP file and not unpack it. To do this:

1. Open Safari
2. Click Preferences
3. Under the General tab, uncheck the option Open “safe” files after downloading.

Installing Modules

When you purchase, you receive access to a group of ZIP files. These ZIPs are full WP plugins. Follow these steps to install these plugins:

1. Download the plugin from your downloads page.
2. Go to Plugins → Add New in the WordPress admin panel.
3. Click on the Upload link, and then click on Browse Now to locate the ZIP file you just downloaded.
4. Click OK once you find it on your local computer.
5. Click the Install Now button to start the process.
6. After the installation completes, click the Activate Plugin link to turn on the module.
7. Once the module is active, you may see this notice at the top of your admin screen. If you see it, continue with the next steps. If you don't see it, you're good to go.
   
8. Go to the Directory → Settings → Licenses page.
   
9. On that page you should see a box for the license key for the module you just uploaded. Copy and paste the key from your account page for that product. It's a long sequence of numbers and letters.
10. Click Activate License right next to it.
    
11. It will show “License Activated” at the bottom when it's complete. You're all set!
    

Repeat this process for each module you would like to use.

Initial Setup

After installing Business Directory, you will see two new sections added to your WP Admin panel (usually on the lower left):

The Directory menu of the Admin Dashboard is where you perform basic operations with listings, such as creation, editing, deletion of listing, creation, editing, deletion of categories, or creation, editing or deletion of tags.

The other sub menu items are ONLY visible to administrators. This includes links to manage the internal data of your directory, along with admin-level functions like Import.

Business Directory will install a short code on a page created by Business Directory during installation. This page is important and should not be hidden, made private, or deleted. It is the primary page that BD uses to display your directory on your site.

Getting Started

You will want to perform the following operations to configure your directory immediately:

1. Configure your Form Fields to define what data your directory will contain
2. Configure your categories to define what groups listings will fall under
3. Configure Fee Plans and Payment Gateways (if you plan to sell listings)
4. Import any initial listings via CSV, if desired
5. Configure any miscellaneous settings, such as Registration, Regions, Ratings, or Maps

Getting started with modules

When you purchase a package, you receive download links. This will allow you to download ZIP files. The ZIP files you download are full WordPress plugins.

You can also access your files on your downloads page. You can also reset your password there if needed.

You can access documentation for all modules here.

Updating Plugins

Plugin updates for Business Directory Plugin and the modules will be available from your WordPress plugins page. Each site will check for updates from our site every 24 hours. If you don't see an update immediately, that is normal.

Troubleshooting Updates

If an update is available and fails, please take these steps to get more information. “Unauthorized” is an example of an error you may see.

1. Go to the WordPress Dashboard → Updates page.
2. Check the box to update the plugin you are having trouble with that click Update Plugins.
3. On the next page you will see the steps the site is taking to update the plugin. This will tell you where it fails. For example, you may see messages like this:

   Enabling Maintenance mode…
   
   Updating Plugin Business Directory Plugin - Featured Levels Module (1/1)
   Downloading update from https://businessdirectoryplugin.com/edd-sl/package_download/MTYwMzY5NzY3MDogOTc0ODAyNGI1NDBjZmY4NDcyNzgwMTM5MDQzMDA5NGM6MTkzNzo1NzJkNzQ0NTI2NGYxOTVhM2FkNTg2ZjFmM2EyM2RhMDpodHRwc0AvL3d3dy5e0YW1hcmluZG9yZW50YWxzLmNvbTow…
   An error occurred while updating Business Directory Plugin - Featured Levels Module: Download failed. Unauthorized

4. If you get a similar error message with a url, copy the full url without the trailing “…” and paste it into your browser.
5. Now you will get a page with details on why the download is not being allowed.
6. If you have questions about this error message, please contact our team in support.

Troubleshooting

If you get an error when you attempt to activate Business Directory Plugin, please look through the error messages below to find the one that matches the message you received. This page lists the most common errors and provides a starting point for fixing them. If you can't find your answers here, please contact us for assistance.

Error communicating with Business Directory API

Your web host may be blocking communication with businessdirectoryplugin.com. You can contact them and ask for the IP 52.0.78.177 to be granted access, or add this IP to your white list if you have one in your web control panel.

It is also possible that cURL is not enabled on your server. If you're not sure how to check this, contact your host to find out.

If that does not get rid of the error message, you may be behind a corporate firewall that is preventing communication with formidableforms.com. Please contact us for assistance.

cURL error 35

If you're seeing this error message: “You had an error communicating with the Business Directory API. Click here for more information. cURL error 35”, then it is possible that the version of cURL is not updated on your server. If you're not sure how to check this, contact your host to find out and have them update it.

Your server may also be running an outdated version of OpenSSL and TLS. To avoid any security issues, ask your web host to enable support for the current version of TLS.

To check the SSL/TLS setup of your server, use this TLS Checker. Share this information with your web host and have them update this in your server.

GnuTLS recv error

If you see this error message when trying to activate a plugin, this means GnuTLS is outdated on your server. The best solution is to contact your web host and have them fix this on your server. Without a fix, this means your site cannot communicate with any SSL sites, including Google. If you are using a reCaptcha on your site, you'll need to ask your host to resolve the issue.

You should then be able to activate your license on this site without a problem.

That license key is invalid

You may be entering your information incorrectly or you paid with an eCheck so your transaction hasn’t been completed. Copy and paste the license key from your license page to double-check.

That license has been used on too many sites

If you are trying to use your license key on more sites than your license allows, this error message will appear. If you need to de-authorize a site, you can do so on the license page. Find the license that you need to modify and select ‘Manage Sites'. Find the site you would like to deactivate and select ‘Deactivate Site'.

For information on how many sites your package includes, see your downloads page. Please note that there is no limit on local sites.

Invalid Site URL

This error means that the site URLs on your WP general settings page are invalid. Check your settings to make sure they contain valid URLs.