You’ve probably used a directory website before. Some popular and common examples include Yelp, Yellow Pages, or even eBay. These are useful websites full of categorized and sometimes niche information, and creating your own can seem a bit intimidating.
You may be interested to know that you can, however, easily create a directory with WordPress. Also, this type of unique website offers great monetization potential. Thanks to the platform’s open source code base, you have quite a few options when it comes to building a directory site.
In this article, we’ll cover how to create a directory site using plugins. We’ll also offer some tips for performing this task without a plugin, if you prefer. Let us begin!
Creating a Directory with a Plugin
Using plugins to extend the functionality of WordPress can open up many new opportunities. Directory builder plugins are no exception and can be used for both personal sites and business ventures. Let’s see how the process works.
Step 1: Install and Activate a WordPress Directory Plugin
Your first step will be to navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard:
Here you can use the Search Plugins field to find the directory plugin you are looking for. You can explore each plugin by clicking More details.
On the details page, you can review plugin compatibility and access important installation documentation. When you’re ready, you can click Install Now to start the installation process. Then select Activate:
As an example, we’ll use the free and easy to configure Business Directory plugin. When you install and activate this tool, you will see a notice on your WordPress Dashboard Plugins page, informing you that a certain page will need to be created for the plugin to fully function.
You can just click under Create required pages for me and take advantage of the automatic option:
When the creation process is complete, you will have the opportunity to see your new directory page. While it will be empty of listings, you can take a look at the basic layout right away.
Step 3: Add listings manually
The Business Directory plugin has many features. You can add a listing to your new directory manually or through an import process. First, let’s add a listing manually by going to Directory > Add New Listing:
This will take you to a listing editing page that is similar to a post editing page or page. However, there will be many more settings and features that pertain specifically to creating new directory listings:
Below the text editing area, you will also find fields that will help you fill in all the details of your destination. . In addition, you can create custom fields for niche listings:
You’ll also be able to create and use directory-specific tags and categories to help organize your directory listings.
Step 3: Add Listings with Imported Data
Most directory plugins also offer the option to bulk import listings with a CSV file. With the Business Directory plugin, when you navigate to Directory Management > CSV Import & Export in your WordPress dashboard, you’ll find some resources to help you structure your files for a smoother import:
Once you’ve Once your data is loaded, it can be accessed for editing through the Directories menu.
Step 4: Edit and customize your options
There are many additional settings in the Directory Management menu, by that you can access and customize to make your new directory site unique:
While you will need to upgrade the plugin to access the payment gateway options, there are many aspects of the free version that are open to customization, such as directory themes and form fields.
Step 5 – Complete Your Setup and Publish Your Directory Page
This plugin also offers the option to create and submit listings from the front end of your website. However, you will want to configure your user settings before publishing your directory. You can do this by navigating to Directory Administration > General > Registration:
You will also be able to change and configure all other settings that are important to your directory website from the Directory Administration menu. When you’re done, simply make sure the Business Directory page is published, and you’re ready to create your directory.
Creating a Directory Without a Plugin
If you’d rather create a directory site without a plugin, you may find some elements more difficult to create without extensive programming knowledge. However, you can create a very basic directory using directory-friendly themes and some built-in WordPress features.
There are free themes available on the WordPress theme directory that are geared towards directory sites, though many of them require an additional plugin to take full advantage of the theme’s features. An example is Directory Starter:
This theme was created specifically to work with a directory plugin. You will find that most of the ‘no plugin’ options will eventually require a plugin to truly achieve a fully functional directory website.
Alternatively, if you only want to list a small number of items without allowing front-end users to submit listings or pay for a subscription, you can create custom post types and taxonomies natively in WordPress to organize your listings . data. However, if you want to import data from something like a CSV file, you’ll again look to the plugins directory for help.
If you have extensive programming knowledge or coding resources at your disposal, you can also create custom post templates within your theme for a directory look and feel.
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