Maybe you were looking for the Full Documentation instead of this?
Or perhaps The BD Customization Guide (file details, directory layout)?
We also have Video Tutorials available for some aspects of the plugin.
Table of Contents
Get started with Business Directory Plugin
|
Customize the Look of Business Directory Plugin |
| Administrate Listings | Troubleshooting |
Installing Business Directory
See the installation instructions for Business Directory and the modules.
Performing Initial Setup
Initial setup instructions for BD.
Importing Data from an Outside Source
Business Directory plugin currently allows imports from CSV files, that are properly formatted.
See the import instructions.
How to Translate Business Directory Plugin to your Native Language OR Modify Some Labels in Business Directory Plugin
See the translation instructions.
Changing the Labels of Business Directory Fields
See the translation instructions.
How to Run BD in "Free Mode" (no payments for listings)
See the "free mode" instructions.
How to Fix the "Payments Turned Off" Error
If you see the following:
I keep getting this message on the main page on the public website, "You are offering featured listings (or paid listings) but have payments turned off. Go to Directory → Settings → Payment to change the payment settings. Until you change this, the (Paid Listings) Upgrade to Featured option will be disabled."
How do I make this go away?
This message is telling you that you need to complete the Payment configuration to get Business Directory to accept payments for listings/charge for Featured listings OR to deactivate payments for BD.
You have two options here:
- You can EITHER turn OFF payments (make your directory free--which we talk about here)
- If you want to accept payments, do the steps below
To Activate a Payment Gateway Properly:
1) You need to have at least one payment gateway installed. You can use the default (Authorize.net) or you can choose one of the others (Stripe, PayFast, PayPal).
2) You need to configure that payment gateway under Directory → Settings → Payments tab. You should have the "Activate XXX" checked where XXX is the gateway you installed on step 1. You should enter all the required info for that gateway as well (e.g. For PayPal, you need the PayPal email).
3) You need to define at least one Fee plan under Directory → Manage Fees. (Paid listings)
Once these are configured, you can enable Sticky/Featured Listings AND offer Paid Listings on your site. It's best to test with a sandbox/test account to ensure everything is working smoothly first. Please note your testing will require a "buy side" account and a "sell side" account, as no payment gateway will let you buy and sell with the same account.
And finally, once you are finished testing, you'll want to make sure your payment gateways are NOT in test mode. Go under Directory → Settings → Payment tab and uncheck "Put payment gateways in test mode?" to go to production.
How to Fix Display Errors with Business Directory and my Theme
Business Directory is written in a way to seamlessly integrate into your theme to avoid major customization requirements. However, not all themes are written the same way and to the same standards.
Handling Minor Display Issues via CSS
Most themes may have a few minor things that don't look quite right with BD. This can usually be fixed with a small CSS override that targets your specific BD page elements.
Business Directory includes the ability to pull styles from a custom CSS file that isn't overwritten on upgrade. For those with a quirky theme, or the desire to heavily customize BD's look to match their site, this is great news...
How to use the BD Custom Style CSS file:
1) Create a file called wpbdp_custom_style.css under wp-content/plugins on your site. This location won't be overwritten by any plugin or WordPress on upgrade. You may also place this file under your theme directory as well.
The plugin is forgiving in locating the file--any of the following names will work for the custom style file, in EITHER location:
- wpbdp_custom_style.css
- wpbdp.css
- wpbusdirman.css
- wpbdp_custom_styles.css
- wpbdm_custom_style.css
- wpbdm_custom_styles.css
That means you should be careful not to have TWO custom files laying around. Pick one place, stick with it! I recommend the wp-content/plugins area as it can't be overwritten by a theme upgrade.
2) Place any style changes you need in this file. It will be loaded such that these changes will take precedence in the CSS hierarchy over other styles in BD.
How do I know what I want to put in this file?
- Good question! Use Firebug (http://getfirebug.com/) with IE or Firefox to determine what styles are being applied to any given element. Once you know what style is causing an issue, you can override it via the custom style CSS file.
Handling Major Display Issues via Custom Templates
In some cases, the CSS either isn't enough, or you may wish to have full, detailed control over how you display the elements of BD in your page.
You can accomplish these sorts of changes using Custom Templates. See these FAQs for more information:
WARNING: Custom template work is ONLY for programmers with advanced knowledge of HTML, PHP and the WordPress API. Making use of these instructions without knowing what you are doing can seriously break BD and your site. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, consider hiring some help from a place like oDesk.
Business Directory is not responsible for any custom changes you make to the plugin nor can we support any custom changes you make.
How to Customize the Templates for Business Directory
See the section on Display Errors.
How to Export my Listings
BD supports a CSV exporter within the plugin under Directory → Import & Export. This is the easiest way to get data out of the plugin (and is useful for bulk editing of listing data).
However, some cases may require you to pull the data in a different format, and we have this (older) FAQ about it:
We definitely recommend the CSV Export *first*.
How to Create Two Instances of Business Directory on the Same Site
See the instructions to create two directories.
How to Use Shortcodes to Display Business Directory Listings on Other Pages
| Shortcode(s) | Page Function |
| businessdirectory | Main BD page |
| businessdirectory-submitlisting | Add Listing |
| businessdirectory-managelistings | Manage Listings |
| businessdirectory-listings OR businessdirectory-viewlistings |
View Listings As of 3.6.10, this now supports showing listings of a particular tag and allows you to set the title: [ businessdirectory-listings tag="mytag,othertag" title="My list" ] (removing the leading and trailing spaces of course!) |
| businessdirectory-featuredlistings | Show Only Featured Listings |
| businessdirectory-search businessdirectory_search |
Show the BD Advanced Search |
| businessdirectory-regions-browser base_region="USA" | Show the Craigslist style Region browser, base_region is the parameter that indicates the region to show all sub-regions for. Use the name of the Region you want to show here.Requires Regions 3.4 or higher |
New to shortcodes? Read this article here: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/05/wordpress-shortcodes-complete-guide/
And here: https://codex.wordpress.org/Shortcode
As always, except for the main directory page, the rest of them are optional.
The businessdirectory-listing(s) shortcode can take an optional parameter, the category ID, as follows:
{businessdirectory-listing category=1}
Be sure to replace the {} with [] in your page.
businessdirectory-listings supports parameters to show listings of a particular tag with a title you want on the page. The code is of the form:
{businessdirectory-listings tag="mytag,othertag" title="My list"}
Be sure to replace the {} with [] in your page.
What Plugins and Themes are Compatible with Business Directory?
See the information about compatible plugins and themes.
How can I make Business Directory SEO Friendly?
Business Directory is SEO friendly when you use it in combination with Yoast's WordPress SEO Plugin. Yoast's plugin is the only one that offers an API for us to integrate with and provide the correct hooks to add for our pages. No other plugin currently offers this documented API except Yoast, so that's the one we recommend.
Here's our article on recommended configuration tips with Yoast SEO.
How do I do recurring payments with Business Directory?
To enable recurring payments for listings ("Automatic Renewal"), go under Directory → Settings in the WP Admin Dashboard. Under the Listings tab, select the following options:
- "Allow recurring renewal payments?": Turn this on if you want to allow your users to automatically renew their listings at the end of the payment term.
- "Use recurring payments as the default payment method?": Turn this on if you want users to automatically have this option instead of selecting recurring vs. one-time payments
Recurring payments are currently supported on the following gateways:
- PayPay
- Stripe
How do I embed videos in my listings with Business Directory?
You must follow the WordPress video embedding rules to embed videos in listings (these are fully controlled by WordPress).
In addition, you must turn on Allow Embedded Shortcode? in the field in which you want to place the video. You can find this option under Directory → Manage Form Fields and clicking Edit on the field you want to have videos in.
How do I delete a large number of listings in Business Directory?
Please refer to the docs for deleting content.
How do I configure WPML to work with Business Directory?
Learn how to use WPML with Business Directory.