Listings Tab
Most of the important settings regarding the listings themselves are handled on this tab.
General Settings
Listings per page: This setting is used for pagination--it indicates the number of listings that will show on a directory page (search, category, or main listings) before a "Next" or page number link will display. It's important to set this to a reasonable number for your site--too many and your users will groan while they wait for the page to load, too few and they have to keep clicking to browse through everything. A good number is usually around 10.
Listing duration for no-fee sites (in days): When your directory is in free mode ONLY, this setting indicates the length of time before a listing expires after being placed. Use a value of “0” to prevent a listing from expiring ever or enter a number less than 10 years (3650 days) as the listing "run time".
Turn on listing renewal option?: If checked, listings can be renewed by the users. Expiration notices will be sent, if the notification is turned on (see below).
Open detail view of listing in a new tab?: If checked, when you click on detail link for a listing on the list views (from search results, categories, or from the main directory page), this will open in a new tab instead of the same tab in your browser.
Include comment form on listing pages?: If active, the comment form is present at the bottom of the Detail view of listings. Comments can be submitted by users as long as the form is active. Comments are posted to the bottom of the listing. There are three options:
- Don't include comment form (default)
- Include comment form defined by the WP theme (your theme may have a specific look or template for a comment form, we can use it if this is the case)
- Include comment form defined by BD (if your theme doesn't have a special comment form template, you can use our default)
We recommend trying option 2 first, and if you don't have it or don't like it, try option 3.
Show listings under categories on main page? : If checked, on the main Directory page, you will see categories at the top, and then all listings underneath them. Leave this OFF if you only want categories shown on the main directory page.
Status of listings upon uninstalling plugin: When the plugin is uninstalled, your listings will remain as posts in the blog. This indicates their status. They can be Draft or Trash.
Status of deleted listings: When you administer the listings and click on the Delete link, like WP posts, your listings will be moved to a "holding area". This setting indicates which holding area you want--they can be Draft or Trash.
Contact Settings
Submit Listings instructions message: This is a convenient way to put a message at the top of the Submit Listing form to give your users some instructions about what to do or what to expect. If you need more than just simple text here, you can also use our page hooks to add any HTML you like to the header and footer of the page.
Include listing contact form on listing pages?: If checked, the contact form is present at the bottom of the Detail view of listings. Contact forms will send an email to the owner of the listing and (optionally) the admin, depending on your settings under Email tab.
Require login for using the contact form?: Checking this option means that users must be registered and logged into your site in order to post a contact form request to the listing owner. This helps reduce spam on your site.
Maximum number of contact form submits per day: Another anti-spam measure. This setting allows you to restrict the number of times a listing can be contacted in a day. If you leave it as 0 (the default), there is no limit to the number of contacts per day.
Post/Category Settings
Default new post status: Status of a listing immediately after users complete the listing on Submit Listing form OR when the admin creates a new listing from the dashboard.
Edit post status: Status of a post immediately after a non-admin user edits it.
Order categories list by: The data used to sort categories in your directory--you can sort categories by name, the slug (URL), or number of listings in the category (count).
Sort order for categories: Sort ascending (A → Z) or descending (Z → A)
Show category post count?: If checked, your Directory and Search results will show a count of listings in the categories next to the name, like "Software (4)". New directories may wish to uncheck this to make the site look less empty.
Hide empty categories?: If checked, any category without listings in it will not show up in the directory page or search results until a listing is posted there. This setting will not affect the Submit Listing form, as you must always be able to see ALL categories to submit a new listing.
Sorting Options
Order directory listings by: The data used to sort the listings--you can choose from any of these below:
Sort directory listings by: Sort ascending (A → Z) or descending (Z → A)
Enable sort bar?: If checked, a sorting link bar appears at the top of your list views, like this:
What displays depends on what you check in the next setting.
Sortbar fields: Check the fields you think the users of the directory will find to be the most useful in helping sort the listings while they are browsing them. You probably don't want to have TOO many fields checked, as this will clutter the interface and make it confusing to use. This setting is only enabled when Enable Sort bar? is checked.