The World’s Most Advanced And Scalable WordPress Directory Plugin
Today, GeoDirectory is the only WordPress directory plugin on the market that can scale to millions of listings and withstand the battering of traffic that comes along with that.
Get GeoDirectoryWhat can i do with GeoDirectory?
We are glad to announce that we finally released GeoDirectory V2 on the WordPress.org plugins repository.
We released the Directory Starter Theme and The Supreme Directory Child Theme for V2 and all premium add-ons.
Please find the instructions to update here!
Because it took us a lot longer than anticipated, we would like to extend a big thank you to all of our members.
You have been very patience with us, so we hope it was worth it.
Every line of code of GeoDirectory is new.
We did that while providing support and updating V1 for our current customer.
The list of new or those improved features is very long.
This are just the highlights:
- GeoDirectory V2 is 100% compatible with Gutenberg and the most popular Page Builders
- Design Plugins templates with Shortcodes, Gutenberg blocks or Page builders.
- Reordered the tabs of the detail page via dedicated back-end UI
- Add new tabs easily via back-end UI
- Developers can still design templates via php files in their themes.
- An extended Business Hours system for listing is now included
- All new Badges system. Use each custom field to create a badge using conditions. Featured, Verified, Number of beds or New Listing, you name it.
- Ninja Forms Integration. Create and show as many forms as you wish
- New Custom Fields
- New sorting options
We didn’t stop there. We have rewritten all premium add-ons too and added at least 1 major new feature in all of them, like for example:
- a New Location Switcher for the location manager and made it a lot more user friendly.
- We improved the way to link Events to other Custom Post Types. We also made it possible for any GeoDirectory custom post type to become an Event post type.
- For the Custom Post Type add-on we also improved linking between custom post type. Now possibilities are endless
- We fully integrated Font Awesome with the MultiRatings add-on, you can use any of the icons as rating icon.
- The new Social Importer can import from Trip Advisor too
- Smart Autocompleters are the major improvement of the Advance Search Add-on
- Claim Listing manager is now integrated with Ninja Forms. Easily customize the claim form.
- The pricing manager now supports WooCommerce as payment system as alternative to our lightweight Invoicing PLugin
These are just few example of what’s new for GeoDirectory V2. You can find all news tagged for GeoDirectory V2 here.
Easier for Theme Developers
One of the main reason we built V2, was to make it easier to build themes for it.
We want Theme developers to create Directory themes for WordPress powered by GeoDirectory.
In almost 5 years, 3rd party developers designed only a couple of themes for GeoDirectory V1.
Today we are glad to announce the 1st theme for GeoDirectory V2. It will be available very soon.
Say hello to Listimia
Listimia is a sleek looking WordPress Theme that already existed as a PHPmydirectory theme.
Because the PHPmydirectory project appears to be dead without an update in over 2 years and support topic unanswered since 5 months.
Rachid, the man behind addictedtoweb.com decided to convert it into a theme for WordPress powered by GeoDirectory.
We sincerely hope everyone will enjoy GeoDirectory v2.
You should subscribe to our blog because soon we will have more news.
Team GeoDirectory
The release of GeoDirectory v2 on the wordpress.org plugin directory is imminent.
As we explained several times, GeoDirectory v2 is a brand new software.
Upgrading from V1 to V2 requires few extra steps compared to the usual update.
Stiofan made the screen-cast video of a full conversion of one of his websites.
You can find the video here:
Here you can find the checklist: https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/geodirectory/upgrade-from-gdv1/
As you can see it took him 27 minutes to record the conversion while he was explaining what he was doing.
You should consider that he’d probably needed less than half time if he’d just be focusing on the conversion.
This is not a huge chore after all, especially considering the benefit that V2 will bring to your websites.
As always, we recommend to take a backup of your database before starting any upgrade.
Also we suggest to try the conversion on a staging website first and than move to the live website.
We hope you will enjoy GeoDirectory V2. If you have any issues upgrading, don’t hesitate to open a new ticket in our support forum: https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/.
Our team of support specialists will be more than happy to assist you.
GeoDirectory V2 and all its add-ons are finally out of BETA.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, GeoDirectory V2 is the first major rebuild of GeoDirectory code base since 2014.
It’s not just an update, it’s a brand new software.
More powerful, more flexible and ready for other 5 years of powering great directories for our customers.
Today it can be found here: GeoDirectory V2
We are working on few final details, like the redesign of this website, before launching it publicly on the WordPress.org plugin repository.
One of the reason why we are postponing this a bit longer, is to try to reach as many users of V1 as possible before the update comes out.
Even though updating from V1 to V2 is fairly simple, it requires few extra step compared to the typical GeoDirectory update. (*** Docs about conversion from V1 to V2 here ***)
Just clicking the update button isn’t enough. Your website won’t show any listings and the design will need to be adjusted a bit.
We want to prevent as many surprised angry users as possible.
We’ll do this with a series of blog posts, videos, newsletter, with social media updates and through our forums.
We hope to reach them all, but we know someone will be left behind and for them we apologize in advanced.
GeoDirectory needed to evolve and we couldn’t wait any longer!
This is the first post of a series about what’s new in GeoDirectory V2 and in particular about:
Design Customization and page builders
GeoDirectory V2 is compatible with any theme and most popular page builders.
It uses few WordPress pages as templates and by default, shortcodes or Gutenberg Blocks to compose them.
There is a Shortcode, Gutenberg Block or Widget for any piece of data within the listings’ database.
This means that you can design any GeoDirectory element through the classic editor.
Or via Gutenberg, but also through your favorite Page Builder:
Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Fusion Builder, WPBakery… You name it!
If you find a bug with a popular page builder, contact us through the forum.
We’ll help you make it work as it should.
We hope you will enjoy V2 and we are looking forward to hear what you think of it…
Team GeoDirectory
Today we released the 1st BETA version of the Claim Listings Add-on for GeoDirectory V2.
You can download it from your account area now (v2+).
Claim Listings
As with all the v2 add-ons it has been rewritten to have a more modernized code base and have a more solid foundation for future developments.
Claim Listings v2 works generally the same way as v1 though using the pay to claim feature with the Pricing Manager addon has changed slightly (for the better).
The dedicated screen for managing claims has been changed to give it a much more standard WordPress UI and you can now filter and search for claims much easier.
New Feature: Ninja Forms Support
One of the BIG changes in CLv2 is that as well as the basic claim listing form, you can now use Ninja Forms to create any form fields you want so the ability to get any extra info you need is just a matter of dragging and dropping some fields 🙂
If you are using Ninja Forms to in conjunction with the Pricing Manager addon to use the pay to claim feature then you MUST add the GD packages field to the form:
New Feature: WooCommerce Support
When it comes to pay to claim as with the standard GD listings you can use either WP Invoicing or WooCommerce to process payments!
I mentioned above, the pay to claim process has changed slightly, you now have the ability to select what packages the user must select from when claiming, this is set per package and you can also set the SAME package as the required package to pay for when paying to claim, you also have specific settings for if this paying to claim should auto approve the claim or if you prefer to review it first.
Please report bugs in the dedicated forum as usual: https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/forum/claim-listings-addon/claim-listings-v2-beta/.
Today we released the 1st BETA version of the BuddyPress Add-on for GeoDirectory V2.
You can download it from your account area now.
BuddyPress Integration
This addon is mostly just a conversion, its code base has been modernized and it has been made to work with GDv2 but its functionality remains very similar to the v1 of this addon.
Please report bugs in the dedicated forum as usual: https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/forum/buddypress-integration-add-on/buddypress-integration-v2-beta/
This blog post is mainly to draw attention to the brewing problem with using Font Awesome v5 in your WordPress Plugin or Theme.
What is Font Awesome?
It’s a little CSS (or JS in v5) file that you can add to your site to be able to use lots and lots of fancy icons on your site.
What’s the problem?
There are really two problems;
1. The first (less serious) problem is a common problem with JS/CSS libraries and WordPress and can affect FA v4 not just FA v5, that is the fact that two developers might add the script and use different names so the same file gets added to the website twice. The fix to this is relatively simple and is resolved by the two devs using the same name to add the file, we use and we suggest “font-awesome”.
2. The main brewing problem with using Font Awesome in WP these days is that FA v5 introduced a new way to use it, in FA v4 it was always just a CSS file but now it can be used either as a CSS file or as a JS file. This is fine for “Joe Blogs” with his html website but once you are using a CMS (content management system) like WordPress which has plugins built by many many devs you have the situation that both the CSS and the JS can be used and this can lead to many problems.
The main problem is
that the JS version of FA will replace the item that has the FA class with a
<svg>tag, this is not by its self a problem but the problem is when developers have been using just the CSS version and either style for that tag or use JS to fire a onclick method on that specific tag or even on a link or button which in all cases your going to have a bad time.
Just today i seen issues with two widely used WP products, the first was with Ninja Forms, they use the FA v5 CSS version and if the JS version of FA is loaded then you can’t exit out of the form edit screen as their
<a>tag link to exit is rendered as a
<svg>tag and is no longer a link. The other issue i seen this with was the BuddyBoss theme, they do something similar with an
<a>tag but its href=”#” so that is not the problem but the onclick handler i guess targets the
<a>tag and so again it does not fire.
The solution
1. Developers, please name your scripts “font-awesome” when you enqueue them.
(i know you might run into version issues but its likely far less of an issue than if you load it twice).
2. The main problem:
Devs have been used to being able to use the FA classes anywhere like on links and buttons but to make it all nice an compatible for everyone we should all just stick to the recommended way of using
<i> tags.
The beauty of this fix is that it is pretty simple, it would change something like:
<a href="#" id="custom-nav" class="sidebar-btn fa fa-bars"></a>to:
<a href="#" id="custom-nav" class="sidebar-btn">
<i class="fas fa-bars"></i>
</a>After thoughts
I think a simple plugin that dequeued all the added FA CSS/JS and then added the latest JS FA might be handy but it would still be affected with the main problem here unless we make it an industry standard to always use the
<i>tags…
Today we released the 1st BETA version of the Directory Starter Theme for GeoDirectory V2.
You can download it from your account area now. Because directory starter is free, you don’t need to be a member to download it.
You’ll need to go to this page: https://wpgeodirectory.com/downloads/directory-starter/, add the theme to the cart and check out (again it’s free).
You will find both V1 and V2 BETA in your account page.
No more GeoDirectory templates
We removed all the GeoDirectory templates. Now it just has one geodirectory.php page template so it can have separate widget areas.
We also added theme supports info to the GeoDirectory core plugin so the setup wizard knows what sidebars to install the dummy widgets into.
If you install the theme and then GDv2, your demo should look good out the box.
As usual, please report bugs in the appropriate forum: https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/forum/directory-starter-theme/directory-starter-v2-beta/#new-post
GeoMarketplace is a new plugin created by the top rated Developer of the GeoDirectory Experts Directory: Webnware
It connects WooCommmerce and WC Marketplace with GeoDirectory, to allow listings owners to sell their products from within their listings, by creating a new profile tab called “Shop”.
At the moment it allows to sell only Digital and Physical products, but the developer told us there are plan to integrate the WooCommerce Booking and Box Office Extensions.
So that listings owners could be able to offer online booking capabilities and sell tickets for Events.
We installed the plugin on “GeoDirectory Experts”, our directory of GeoDirectory Developers for Hire, so that they can start selling 3rd party add-ons and or their services packaged at a fix price.
Example could be : GeoDirectory Install & Configuration, SEO, CSV files with public listings data (example: All Hotels in New York) and so on.
Vendor Registration & Dashboard
GeoMarketplace will provide a menu item that behaves differently for different users.
- It will be invisible for non logged in users and regular subscribers.
- It will be visible for listing owners with the anchor text “Become a Vendor”.
- It will be visible for those who registered as vendor with the anchor text “Vendor Dashboard”.
The vendor dashboard comes from WC Marketplace as is:
Front End Products Management.
Vendors can create and edit products from a front end form, they can also review orders received.
Buyers Front End Orders Management
Buyers can manage orders made and downloads from the front end too.
Custom vendor profiles with UsersWP
If you wish to provide vendors and users with enhanced custom WooCommerce user profiles displaying Purchases, Product reviews, Total Spent, Number of orders and even product listed for Vendors, you can use the UsersWP x WooCommerce add-on for that.
Get it here
The developer decided to sell it through his listing on the GeoDirectory Expert Directory:
Support and Updates
Support and updates will be provided directly by the developer on his website: http://webnware.com/
If you wish to Check out a simpler way to sell online with WordPress, have a look at our new plugin called GetPaid. We’ll soon release the add-ons needed to replace all of the above.
Today GeoDirectory Version 2 comes out of BETA and the Release Candidate can be downloaded here.
This has been a huge effort for us (+12 months), while it lands with few weeks of delay (that we apologize for) we can assure that the time has been invested to bring in some additional improvements that we are positive you will love.
Notably:
GDPR compliance
We will be the only directory plugin for WordPress that is mostly GDPR compliant. We will be fully compliant when WordPress will allow us to be.
Business hours – now built in
You can create different operating time for each day of the week and even multiple schedules per day. All fully schema compliant.
Setup wizard improvements
the new setup wizard will allow to kick start a new Directory in no time.
Tabbed content builder
With V1, it was possible to re-order the Tabs in the listing detail page through filter hooks. You can see the old procedure here.
Now we added a system that allows you to do that via a drag and drop UI. This user interface also allows to basically add any bit of listing data in any part of the listing page content.
With this UI and the option to design the directory templates via shortcodes or using Gutenberg, GeoDirectory design customization options are virtually endless.
Ninja forms integration
The old contact form was difficult to customize and almost featureless.
We integrated what we think to be the most impressive free Contact Form plugin.
You’ll be able to customize the form completely, add multiple forms per listings and also keep track of messages sent through them, making it a real lead generator.
More information about the GeoDirectory X Ninja Forms integration.
Sort options builder
You will be able to create a primary and a secondary sorting for listings.
For example sort by ratings as the primary sorting option, and create a secondary sorting for the listings without ratings that could be random, or post date, or alphabetic.
Install extension via WP Easy Updates.
Once all add-ons for V2 will be released, if WP Easy Updates is active on your website, you will be able to install the add-ons directly from the GeoDirectory extensions page, inside the WordPress dashboard.
No need to download any of the add-ons from our website.
You just need to input and activate the license key for each add-on and the download and install will be seamless.
Other features enhancements
All WPML code has been moved to an add-on
we will make it available on the wp.org repository once V2 is live on it too.
Currently it can be found here.
This makes the core plugin even lighter in size for those who don’t need a multilingual website.
New Price Range custom field
an important custom fields option that is missing in V1 that in V2 will also populate schema info, giving to your directory better filtering capabilities and SEO opportunities.
New Predefined Logo field.
The post_images shortcode/widget now has the option to show the business logo as the first image of the listing gallery.
Better GeoDirectory image attachments.
All images are now created in all WP image sizes, they are responsive and Ajax loading by default. This will reduce considerably the loading time of listings pages.
Font Awesome V5.
we took advantage of this major update of GeoDirectory to bring all 3rd party script that we use to their latest version and Font Awesome is one of them. Keeping V4 could have brought conflict with new themes or plugins using V5.
Converted chosen-select to select2 JS
Chosen-select created several responsive problems in V1. This script proved to work much better on mobile devices.
Custom fields now have placeholder setting
Where applicable, now you can add a placeholder to your custom fields.
Sessions have been completely removed.
This should fix some hosting caching issues
What’s Next? Add-ons V2 and conversion tool
All the above has been added since we released the very 1st beta, back at the end of March.
While the beta was debugged, our team started converting the add-ons to work with V2.
We will add 1 major improvements to each add-on before releasing them.
More enhancement will be introduced in future versions.
The 1st add-on to be worked on is the location manager.
We will focus the 1st improvement around the Location Switcher.
When the Location Manager V2 Beta will be out, we’ll start working on the V1 -> V2 conversion tool.
Finally all other add-ons one by one.
While the developers will be coding, the support team will take care of the new documentation.
We hope to complete this process within the next couple of months.
Our team of WordPress developers just welcomed a new element and things should become a lot faster now that the biggest task has been completed.
Can I use this version for a production site?
You can use this version for a production site, we are fairly confident you will not encounter major bugs or fatal errors. What you cannot do yet, is converting your current GeoDirectory powered website from V1 to V2.
It can still be used for new websites only and without any of the add-ons.
Can I use this version to start designing a theme or building an add-on for it?
Absolutely yes. You can start building themes and add-ons for it with confidence that only minor changes will be made to its code.
When will you update GeoDirectory on WordPress.org?
When all add-ons are ready and a good amount of testing has been done for them all, we will update GeoDirectory officially on wordpress.org too.
We hope you enjoy the new version of GeoDirectory, please don’t hesitate to share your feedback in a comments down below and to report any bug you may find in our support forum!
Team GeoDirectory
Google Maps Platform, did you hear about it?
Google announced today the launch of the Google Maps Platform. They described the new platform as:
a simplified product structure, pay as you go pricing for all, and more
Technically speaking, from a developers point of view there are no changes to how the Google Maps API will work, the only difference will be in regards to their pricing model.
Starting from June 11, 2018, if you don’t enable billing with a credit card within your Google Maps Platform account and you don’t have have a valid API key for all projects, Google Maps will stop working on your website.
Does it mean that using Google Maps API is no longer free?
No, use up to a certain limits is still free, so it doesn’t mean that you will have to pay for sure. What it means, is that you must have a valid credit card and enable billing on your Google Maps Platform account, to use a Google Maps based applications.
What they radically changed, is the pricing model and the way they calculate the thresholds for free use.
Until 2 years ago, Google Maps API would return up to 25,000 keyless requests per day and would require an API key and payments only after exceeding the 25,000 limit for 90 consecutive days.
2 years ago they introduced the Google Maps API Key and new limits, where each new websites needed a API key and they raised the limit to 25,000 free API requests per day without grace days.
What is the new Google Maps Platform Pricing Model?
Even though they present this as a simplified product structure, the new pricing model is definitely more complex than in the past and calculating the limits to see if your website will need to pay or not, won’t be that easy.
The main simplification is that there is no longer a free general amount of requests. Each API request is counted differently depending on the service requested and they provide a $200/monthly credit to every user.
Requests of Mobile Native Static Maps or Mobile Native Dynamic Maps are free and unlimited. With the $200 credit, you’ll never have to pay for Mobile Native Static Maps or Mobile Native Dynamic Maps requests to the Google Maps API.
Requests to Dynamic Street View cost $0.014 per request up to 100k requests (after the price goes down to $0.0112). With the $200 monthly credit you can do up to 14000 requests.
This is the pricing table for the Google Maps Platform API for Maps:
| Free monthly usage ($200 value) | Price per thousand calls | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly volume range | 0—100,000 | 100,001+ | |
| Mobile Native Static Maps | Unlimited loads | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mobile Native Dynamic Maps | Unlimited loads | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Embed | Unlimited loads | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Embed Advanced | Up to 14,000 loads | $14.00 | $11.20 |
| Static Maps | Up to 100,000 loads | $2.00 | $1.60 |
| Dynamic Maps | Up to 28,000 loads | $7.00 | $5.60 |
| Static Street View | Up to 28,000 panos | $7.00 | $5.60 |
| Dynamic Street View | Up to 14,000 panos | $14.00 | $11.20 |
This is the pricing table for the Google Maps Platform API for Routes:
| Free monthly usage ($200 value) | Price per thousand calls | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly volume range | 0—100,000 | 100,001+ | |
| Directions | Up to 40,000 calls | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Distance Matrix | Up to 40,000 elements | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Directions Advanced | Up to 20,000 calls | $10.00 | $8.00 |
| Distance Matrix Advanced | Up to 20,000 elements | $10.00 | $8.00 |
| Roads – Route Traveled | Up to 40,000 calls | $10.00 | $8.00 |
| Roads – Nearest Road | Up to 40,000 calls | $10.00 | $8.00 |
This is the pricing table for the Google Maps Platform API for Places:
| Free monthly usage ($200 value) | Price per thousand calls | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly volume range | 0—100,000 | 100,001+ | |
| Autocomplete – Per Character | Up to 70,000 chars | $2.83 | $2.26 |
| Autocomplete – Per Session | Up to 11,000 sessions | $17.00 | $13.60 |
| Places Details – Basic | Up to 11,000 calls | $17.00 | $13.60 |
| Places Details – Basic + Contact | Up to 10,000 calls | $20.00 | $16.00 |
| Places Details – Basic + Atmosphere | Up to 9,000 calls | $22.00 | $17.60 |
| Places Details – Basic + Contact + Atmosphere | Up to 8,000 calls | $25.00 | $20.00 |
| Places Photo | Up to 28,000 calls | $7.00 | $5.60 |
| Geocoding | Up to 40,000 calls | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Geolocation | Up to 40,000 calls | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Time Zone | Up to 40,000 calls | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Elevation | Up to 40,000 calls | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Find Place | Up to 11,000 calls | $17.00 | $13.60 |
| Places – Nearby Search (includes Basic + Contact + Atmosphere) | Up to 5,000 calls | $40.00 | $32.00 |
| Places – Text Search (includes Basic + Contact + Atmosphere) | Up to 5,000 calls | $40.00 | $32.00 |
How do I calculate if I’m within the limits?
These are the API that GeoDirectory currently uses:
- Directions API: up to 40k free requests
- Distance Matrix API: up to 40k free requests
- Elevation API: up to 40k free requests
- JavaScript Dynamic Maps: up to 28k free requests
- Embedded Maps: Free
- Places API : (limit depends on fields used)
- Static Maps: up to 100,000 loads
- Street View: up to 28,000 panos
- Geocoding API: up to 40k free requests
- Geolocation API: up to 40k free requests
- Time Zone API: up to 40k free requests
What we use the most on GeoDirectory are definitely the Dynamic Maps and the new Google Maps Platform provides 28k free requests for those.
Considering that now they are offering 25k free requests per day, the limit appear to have been dramatically lowered.
Below is an example of a small directory we run (75 listings) for the last 30 days:
On the face of it the site is using about 40% of its free allowance for about 30k sessions and about 120k page views. For relevancy this site makes around $5,000 a year.
What are the steps to enable billing and keep using the Google Maps API
Google provided a transition tool. You need to visit this URL: https://mapsplatformtransition.withgoogle.com/ and login in the Google Account used to create the Google Maps API key of your Directory.
A screen like this will appear:
After clicking on the “Add Billing” button, you will be taken to complete a form asking for your personal information and a credit card number.
That is all you need to do.
After enabling billing, the console provides tools to set alarms or limits, so that you never overspend, even in case of unexpected traffic spikes.
What is our response to this news?
The vast majority of our users won’t be affected by these new limits, sure they might be forced to give Google their billing details but most will remain on the free plan.
GeoDirectory already has the option to use Open Street Maps (OSM) which continues to be free and does not even require an API key.
If your site is set to “Auto” for the maps provider (which it is by default) then there is a chance you are already using OSM without even knowing it.
When it’s set to “Auto” we try to load Google maps but if it fails then we will automatically switch to OSM.
This feature was built in a long time ago mostly for our customers who live in countries where the Google maps API is blocked, if anyone visits your GeoDirectory site from a country where the Google API is blocked, then they will see OSM instead of a broken map 🙂
It is currently unclear how Google will handle things when limits are reached, but if it is possible, we will make it so that it will automatically transition to OSM. Just like it does now for users who live in countries where the Google API is blocked.
We may also look at ways to reduce API calls such as implementing static maps (which are 100% free) on the details pages that only load dynamic maps when interacted with.
Conclusion
We knew this day would come the day Google implemented mandatory API keys for all map API calls.
Its almost 2 years since that came into effect, back then this change broke many old plugins and themes that had not developed a system to add a API key to the map calls.
For that we wrote a small plugin to easily generate a API key and fix the calls on the fly https://wordpress.org/plugins/api-key-for-google-maps/. This is now helping over 100,000 websites!
The small percentage of GeoDirectory customers that will be affected by this, have the option to switch to OSM and continue to use maps on their directory for free.
We will continue to develop solutions that reduce API calls where possible.
Thanks,
Team GeoDirectory