GeoDirectory V2 Release Candidate
The best Directory Plugin for WordPress ever built is finally here...
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
