Whether you’re looking to create a local business hub, a professional directory, or an interactive community board, selecting the right directory plugin for your WordPress site can transform your digital presence.
In this essential guide, I’ll delve into the world of WordPress directory plugins, examining the features, benefits, and unique functionalities of the top contenders in the market.
Join me as I navigate the intricacies of directory creation and discover how these plugins can enhance user experience, boost engagement, and drive monetization.
Alternatively, you can find directory themes listed in our Best Directory Themes for WordPress compilation.
Business Directory Plugin
Business Directory Plugin for WordPress allows you the flexibility to create
- A Yelp clone * A Yellow Pages directory
- Small town business guide * Professional directory
- Local provider listings * Staff listings
Business Directory Plugin is the only plugin listed that will not take over the entire look of your site, adding the directory as a feature where you want. In addition, they offer a number of unique features:
– The ability to claim listings (and charge users to take them over)
– Charge fees for features (like maps, contact forms, attachments, ratings, even specific fields) attached to fee plans, allowing you to make money through listing upgrades
– Mobile friendly output
– Supports WPML and is translation ready with a number of included language files (Russian, German, Spanish, French)
– Add attachments to listings
Business Directory Plugin is also releasing directory skins (“themes”) in March of 2016 to easily change the look of the entire directory quickly and easily. With over 20,000 active sites and a great rating on WordPress.org on their free core plugin, Business Directory Plugin looks like a solid choice for many people.
Geo Directory
GeoDirectory is the new location-based WordPress business directory plugin from the creator of the GeoTheme. This is the only plugin that will work virtually with any theme, allowing you to choose your preferred style. The GDF theme framework was built especially for the plugin in case you want the perfect theme solution for this plugin. GeoDirectory is a free plugin completed by a set of premium add-ons.
GeoDirectory allows anyone to create from a single city directory up to a global directory covering every location worldwide. It allows webmasters to monetize their directory by selling premium listings. Thanks to the Custom Post Types addon you can categorize your listings like never before. The Event addon creates fully featured events directories with calendar and recurring events. GeoDirectory can host millions of listings and can be used for any location, any niche and it promises to grow even more.
Posts Table Pro
Posts Table Pro lets you dynamically create sortable, filterable, and searchable tables. This makes it a great fit for creating complex directories: you only need to add your directory contents once through a post (including custom fields), or custom post type, and you can then have the plugin dynamically pull in the contents to your directory table.
The great advantage of Posts Table Pro is that displaying the directory in a sortable table makes it very fast and convenient for visitors to find what they are looking for. In a couple of clicks, visitors can filter results, or sort according to their criteria. You can add whatever directory content you like, and Posts Table Pro will integrate with your site’s existing design.
CM Business Directory
Build a local directory of business listings on your WordPress site with the CM Business Directory plugin.
This directory plugin supports payment (with an add-on), Google Maps, and advanced search options, letting you easily monetize and customize your web directory.
SabaiDirectory
SabaiDirectory is a premium business directory plugin for WordPress. The plugin features the ability to build community-driven local business directories like Yelp.com, Google+ Places, or Yahoo! Local.
Toolset Directory
Toolset Directory allows you to create the most important features for a directory website without needing to waste time with complex PHP coding. Some of the features you can build with Toolset include:
- Custom post types, fields and taxonomies
- Featured and related listings
- A powerful search with multiple filters
- Maps with results filtered by distance
- Front-end forms using a drag and drop editor
- A membership dashboard to manage listings and info
- Expirations for posts
- Display listings in any way you like – tables, grids, sliders
Toolset Directory works with all major themes and is completely compatible with important plugins including WPML, Elementor and WooCommerce.
An Alternative – Brilliant Directories
Despite the WordPress-centric focus of WPMayor, a tool called Brilliant Directories might actually be a better solution for building your directory or membership website.
Check out our review: Brilliant Directories – A Better Tool Than WordPress for Directory Sites?
They’re also providing our readers with 30% off! Check out the details below:
Have you used any other WordPress directory plugins or themes? Let us know in the comments area below.
163 Responses
I appreciate the time you’ve taken out to show me the ropes and ensure that I have the required knowledge to do a great job. Thank you.
Hi, this is all great information. There are so many to choose from and when you review each one, I just get more confused. Here is what I am trying to do. I am looking to build a business directory for all technology companies located in a certain city which also allows employees of the companies put a profile of themselves within the directory. Basically a networking specific site. I have minimal knowledge of wordpress, I am no ways a webmaster, but I can hire someone to build this for me.
Which directory site would be best for my needs??? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Bruce, you can create the business directory using the Posts Table Pro plugin with the instructions in this tutorial. You can then use this related tutorial to allow employees to submit their listings. Once you have done that, you can also use Posts Table Pro to list the employee profiles for each company on the company page in the directory. So that’s a good way to achieve both types of listing with a single possible. This is all possible off-the-shelf without any extra coding.
However, you would need to hire a developer to write some custom code to link the submitted employee profiles to the company profiles so that they automatically display on the correct company page (unless you want do do this manually each time someone submits a profile).
Amazing collection of directory themes and plugins. Here we found another fresh collection of plugins that will help you to create a directory site
Hello!
This is a Great Article once again. I have been following your blog posts for quite some time and they have enlightened me. Its a nice list of plugins for wordpress.
Here I would like to say there are few other Business Directory application in the web, If you extend your listing, it will help other people, who are planning to start Business Directory portal.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi, I am looking for a directory plug-in or theme that has a lot of support for mixed “location-dependent” AND “online businesses”, or advertisers that provide both. Or allows providers to mark one or more “service areas” (up to “all of USA”). See my example below, does your theme provide any solutions for these types of issues?
Example of problem: If a reader in NYC is looking for a sleep consultant. They don’t care if it’s someone who has an office in Brooklyn or who is in Oklahoma and only does Skype sessions. They want to see all the sleep consultants available to them and their reviews. How do I get all the NYC-based AND the online professionals to all come up when she searches “Sleep Consultants” in “City”. Or is there another work around? Or, another example, if someone is really busy with their new baby and knows they won’t be able to get out of the house, can they do a search for all “online sleep consultants” no matter their location? Thanks.
Thanks for the collection but this is a very out date list. Please consider updating. There are so much new cool stuff out there if you google best directory themes you will find this
Hi, really awesome blog, but i need a some classified websites like this: can anyone suggest me templates like this website
Hi,
I want to create a directory for moving companies. I am looking for a theme that allows me to have two types of login: service providers, and users looking for a moving service. And I want it to allow services to have “From” and “To” and handle the complexities that comes with that. For example: Search by destination or start, Calculate price by length of path, etc. What do you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Really helpful list thanks – there are so many WordPress directory plugins out there, it’s good to see some that have been hand picked for quality.
I’ve just published a tutorial on how to create a WooCommerce Product Directory which your readers might be interested in – barn2.co.uk/woocommerce-directory-plugin. It would be great if you could add it to the article as a resource for anyone who wants to create a directory of products, for example books or music. Thanks!
Any recommendation for a directory pluggin that must have:
– Custom forms for different types of listing
– Directory listing to allow htlm style views within the update editor.
– Events listings, but must allow integration/link with a specific directory listing.
– Simple contact form per listing
– Option to link multiple web links into the listing profile
Great Stuff…Can someone help me looking for a page directory plug in that lists retailers in my area. like to be able to post a coupon from retailer and link to their site…and if retailers like it sign up to place there ad.
looking for a plugin i already have a theme
Thememia…they also put a Directory Theme called Geo Craft Directory…anyone know anything about that?
Hi Jean!
Useful article. Its a nice list of plugins for wordpress.I use Directory plugin which is very popular and worthy to use.Thanks for sharing your suggestion.
This allows you to delight in most or even all of the game’s content material
without the need of paying a cent!
We are working on similar things
Restaurants Listings
But it is more intended for Restaurants. It is in Github.
We will upload to WordPress Repo soon.
I will soon (early 2017) be launching a new Business Directory plugin. There will be a free version and a pro version. It will be packed full of features and be very customisable (and EASY to design the front-end to suit your own needs – something I have struggled with using other business directories). To be informed when the plugin launches please visit my page at
And yours will be different from Sabai Directory, how exactly?
Can some one here please help me find a business directory that I can integrate into my website which is also not WORDPRESS. A business directory that generates a HTML code which I can copy and paste into my website.
One of the best directory site list where you will get all update theme.
Thank you for the time that you took to compile the list. Indeed, there are lots of directory plugins that are available nowadays for WordPress. All you have to do is do your assignment as to which one is suitable for your niche. Please check out our Local Community Website
I love the Geodirectory. They have a lot good theme and add-ons i used in by site www.spitzon.com, it looks very cool.
Good info. Lucky me I discovered your site by accident (stumbleupon). I have bookmarked it for later!
I have tried GeoTheme & Plugin both, and Web2.0. I never got Geo products to work the way I wanted, to change colors and other stuff. Note there is a trick to the map, I can’t recall now, but maybe there has to be a listing in order for it to work, something like that. I liked Web2.0 but it did not have enough features for my project. I studied every directory program I could find, I put a basic list of them on a web page, but I don’t want to mention it, because I don’t want to conflict with this website, so I will just say I picked PremiumPress Directory Theme. It is not perfect, but I am getting it to work for me. PP theme also has tricks to using it, but I am learning those from the forum and from posting support tickets. It is not a big forum of help, but the support is good, though a bit slow due to a time difference.
@Jean Galea,
Thanks for such a wonderful list of possibilities. Forward to 2016 now and of course this list should of grown or been updated. So if at all possible could you make a new updated list of plugins?
Second I have a particular website that is going to drive me crazy.
I started out by wanting to make a website about casino’s and hotels for traveling. As I play poker and like to keep up with the poker world. I found a theme I like alot, but have found that after adding around 70 plugins to get it to work the way I want it to work and feel, it is too time consuming. I have tried to add so many plugins to get the casino’s listed and content made around their website info and reviews. Lord only knows but i have had to buy so many add-ons and they still don’t work.
All I really wanted to do was list the casino’s by state, then on each state page list the casino’s. Then on each casino’s page make it SEO friendly and give information about that business and reviews on it. Then add some RSS Feeds to it for news and events and bonuses.
I am not a very good writer or even website designer as it looks old and trashy to me, but i deal what I got. Any suggestions on how to use one of those or which one to make my site stick out and get customers to the listings and make sales?
Hey Albert thanks for commenting here. We have updated the post in June but if you have come across any new plugins that you feel we should add please let us know and we’ll check them out.
For your theme, I agree with your analysis. I would try Business Directory Pro and for RSS feeds our own plugin WP RSS Aggregator could supply you with daily fresh content.
Jean,
You are absolutely correct. I did not notice the updated date at the top, silly me. Too many hours looking to find something and becoming blind while doing it.
I do have Business Directory but as you said it is not the Pro Edition. I did download and am trying to setup the GEODiretory Plugin. So far one issue I am running into with it as I am running into the same issue with Google Places Reviews Pro Plugin, in that the Google Maps API is not loading correctly. WordImpress is working with Google to resolve that issue and I am assuming it is going to be the same issue with your Plugins. The plugins I think have to be Google Maps for Work Paid Edition to make it work correctly now. Not sure and don’t quote me on it.
But I did get GEODirectory Plugin to work using the Streetmaps as suggested. I am setting up some categories for it now and trying to see how it will look. I really don’t want to take down my static front page and replace it with partial or even sketchy content.
I just want to use the page built for it and see how it look when listing are in place. As if it does work and look better, I will need to upgrade to the full plugin repository to get the maximum out of it. Right now all of this is a NO Budget Project and hoping to make it work thing.
I am trying to understand it to the best of my ability but lack the technical knowledge to set it up properly.
Is there anyway that someone could contact me by via email I am submitting with to go over the basics and upgraded Plugins?
This is not the only site I am working on to make listing with. As this is the only one with Casinos and Hotels. My others include a Listing site for Online Casinos themselves, and the other 2 are about Poker and the Poker Industry. And I will be using the same plugins and/or theme to do them with. Is the upgraded plugins for use on just one site or multiple sites? May need to talk with Sales and Development to help me learn and get it going correctly.
Hi Jean Galea,
Wonderful Job!
I would like to introduce my new plugin “Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro”
Please add this to your list if possible.
I have a question. I need a good directory plugin that either has a paid membership tool integrated or works with another plugin that handles the membership side, with the items on the directory being accessible only to members. Suggestions?
The Directory Plugins you shared here are the most popular, versatile and widely-installed, It is a matter of joy that there are the best-supported WordPress Directory plugins available here . And these directory plugins Increase interaction on your website.
I convey thanks authors for sharing some of the effective directory plugins here .
Hi Ramon,
Brilliant Directories here! Thanks for sharing your experience with Appthemes and Premium Press. Both are excellent options for Directory websites powered by WordPress Themes.
Sorry to hear that neither of them are working out for your needs right now. Many directory themes and software on the market today are very good solutions, and each come with their strengths and specialties. Some options may not have every feature you need, so it’s good to try out a few options until you find the best solution for you specific needs.
Brilliant Directories is no different. We understand that our solution is perfect for some, and not so perfect for certain applications. But we invite you and anyone else to always try before you buy. We do offer a 100% free 14-day trial that you can use with no strings attached. Here’s a link in case you would like to try it before committing to a paid account:
We hope that you find a solution that you can settle on so that you can focus more on building your online community and less on constant development. Good luck on your search. We wish you the best of luck.
Cheers to your success,
Brilliant Directories
Hi Brilliant Directory,
Are your themes available as a standalone WordPress themes as these:
Hi Ansh!
Brilliant Directories here!! Thanks for your great question.
Currently Brilliant Directories is it’s own platform. Hopefully soon we can look into a WordPress integration.
We built Brilliant Directories because WordPress themes and plugins simply did not have what we needed to achieve with our first directory websites – so we built the platform from the ground up back in 2009.
Although we are WordPress experts ourselves, patching together plugins and updating themes to keep up with WordPress was just not working for us back then – and we wanted better tools to monetize our sites.
Today there are tons of awesome options on the market – the examples in this post are all fantastic.
We wish you great success on YOUR search for the directory software that will help you reach your goals.
Cheers to your success, Ansh.
The Brilliant Directories Team
www.BrilliantDirectories.com
I originally started out with Premium Press for a directory I was building, but had a bit of a fall out regarding their image handling within the listings.
From there, I went to Appthemes, where I was lucky enough to buy a child theme from an excellent developer who helped out no end – very useful, because as mentioned elsewhere, Appthemes support is awful.
My one huge problem with Appthemes is that since WordPress 4.2, there has been a glaring error that doesn’t allow users to post listings unless you apply a patch – which means you need to take out a new yearly subscription to obtain it. Which I am not prepared to do.
Typical customer service courtesy of Appthemes.
Just had a swathe of Youtube videos regarding the new Premium Press set-up, and I must say it looks excellent! Mind you, it always WAS very intuitive to use – as mentioned earlier, all I had a problem with was the image handling – so it looks as though I’m going to give Premium Press another try. Was really nice to see that my account from three years ago is still live!
One final point about something else that’s been mentioned here – Brilliant Directories.
Hey, for all I know, they might well be brilliant, but there is no way I’m going to pay out an over inflated $100-$300 dollars PER MONTH or one time price of $2000 (!?!) to find that one out!
Are there any free directory themes for wordpress
I am looking for a directory theme that allows me
1. To add multiple pages for a seller’s multiple products
2. allows me to list a seller in multiple categories
Example :- A seller sales 2 groups of items Man’s t shirts & Women’s T shirts , then he has 4-5 varieties of men’s as well as women’s T shirts (May be cotton T shirt, Party wear t shirts , Sports T shirts, V neck T shirt etc )
In above case (Supose ABClist is my domain, saga garments is seller)..I am looking for a directory theme that lets me create
1. separate directories for Men’s T shirts , then sub directory like cotton T shirt
Www.abclist.com/menswear/menstshirts.html then the page have listing
2. It also allows me to add multiple products under the sellers catalog
then the page should be like
www. ABClist.com/sagagarments/Menswear/menstshirt/cottontshirt.html
or
www. ABClist/sagagarments/Menswear/womentshirt/partyweartshirt.html
Hello, are any of these plugins in German? Thanks for help! Fabian
I recommend Sabai Directory and web 2.0 directory plugin because I personally using web 2.0 on a directory website.
hi,
Would any of these plugins allow me to instead of leaving a single rating per directory listing, add multiple sub-listings and leave a rating for any number of sub-listings. That would then average out the sub-listing ratings and give the main listing rating?
Sounds convoluted i know.
Thanks
Ned
Do any of these offer a trip planner for folks wanting to specify places they want to visit into a trip itinerary?
I look for a directory that works well with issue ads and events.
any help
Thank You!!!
Try www.wpdirectory.io you can add plugins to extend the site
Do yourself a favor and stay away from Vantage.
I’ve used many themes and this one is by far the buggiest junk I’ve ever used. It’s so bad it has lost me business because it is not working so frequently for one reason or another. When they put out updates it causes something or other to crash.
And their support is terrible. They regularly do not respond to emails — just ignore you until you go away. Appthemes is the worst theme developer I’ve ever purchased a theme from.
And whether or not they travel with you or on their own, you’ll earn growing rewards with our Holiday Ambassador Referral Program.
I have been using Premiumpress Directory Theme for 2 years now and its great,the theme is easy to use and customize plus fully responsive.Their customer support is awesome and the forum is always busy.I would recommend Premiumpress Directory Theme
This article needs an update. Some plugins like WP Business Directory and Web2.0 Directory do not even exist anymore.
Hello. I am a beginner blogger and am now obsessed with wordpress. I am creating a site and I need a directory that I can showcase restaurants and other local businesses. I would like the plugin to allow businesses to add themselves, offer coupons, upload their menus if they like(similar to an Urban Spoon directory). My services will be free to begin with, but as the site requires more of my time, I would like to be able to charge for the listings. Your page here that I have found is so AWESOME and I am praying that you can give me some smiles….You rock with your info and I really appreciate what you do. Thanks!
Oh my. I have spend a great deal of time researching business directory plugins for a site I plan to develop. I have it narrowed down to 5 plugins, with maps being important, and then I find this page with plugins I had not even found yet. I just get more confused. LOL LOL I was narrowed down to Sabai, BePro, Web2.0, Business Directory Plugin, and Directory Portal/Business Finder. I am obsessive about reviewing all options, now I have to study on these new discoveries. LOL I kept wondering were a good “Best Directory Plugin” type article was, the others I read were not as good. This is a good page, thanks Jean.
Hi Everyone,
Can you suggest a good theme or plugin that has the ability to compare 2 or more directory listings?
Thank you.
did you find that plugin that has the ability to compare 2 or more directory listings?
Great and very useful list. What i need is a security plugin to make my blog more secure.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Hey all, I’ve just released Simple Directory Pro, a new, simple and powerful directory plugin for WordPress. The free version is available from the WP plugin repo. The pro version can display more information and offers downloadable vCards for each listing. Get it for only $15 with the discount code SDLAUNCH15!
Vantage from appthemes is best themes, i like it.
Hi all,
This is a great list and an interesting read for a WordPress beginner.
I am looking to create a directory site that is for the events industry. I want event organisers to be able to post an event (including uploading documents listing for a fee – either per listing or preferably as a monthly/annual repeating fee.
Those companies looking for events should then be able to search the directory based on subject, geography, etc. They should be able to select events of interest and then download any information (included uploaded files) to compare and contrast the events offline. They should also have to register – potentially for free for the service.
The key things is that the directory is easily searchable, information can be downloaded and that there are two means of “membership” to the directory – one to upload and one to download.
A very nice-to-have would be to be able to “rate” the entries based on the completeness of each entry.
Any help with this would be fantastic.
Thanks,
Ross
Hi Guys! I know this is a Wp thread.
has anyone used Brilliant directories, edirectory phpmydirectory.com or phpbusinessdirectory.com?
These are al php scripts not WP based
thanks
Thanks for considering us, Roberto!
Brilliant Directories here – we’d like to thank everyone for participating in the discussion here on wpmayor.com
Because we appreciate everyone here for considering Brilliant Directories, we’d like to make a very very special offer to everyone who has participated in this chat here.
We’d like to give you a 100% FREE directory on our platform.
That’s right – 100% FREE. One catch…since it’s 100% FREE, we can’t promise to provide direct support, but you are invited to use our Knowledge Base, Community Forums, and Video Tutorials to help answer any questions if you need assistance.
If you’d like a free directory setup for you, just email us here:
sales[at]brilliantdirectories[dot]com
SUBJECT: wpMayor Promotion
We’ll provide you with a 100% free directory to use for as long as you like with all features (minus one on one support).
Your feedback is awesome and we appreciate it because it helps make the software better for everyone around the world using it. Cheers to your success!
* Offer valid until August 15th, 2015. 1 Full License per user.
Hi Roberto,
I’ve been a huge fan of phpMyDirectory that is no longer supported and updated. After testing a lot of WP themes and plugins I’ve switched to a pure PHP business directory script – phplistings.com. Have already set up two directory websites and very happy about the script and the level of support they provide. I highly recommend phplistings.com!
The most awesome Directory system I have come across is not a plugin or a theme but a combination of themes and various plugins that is deployed as a fully functioning site. This system is so versitile and expandable. www.WPDirectoryNinja.com also provide superb customer support. Get’s top marks from me and no, I am not an affiliate.
Honestly. I’d never buy something that looks like a scammy warrior forum page. Not even a demo to see what it is. WTF…
Yeah I asked them to put a demo up on the sales page and they said they are working on that. Apart from what you call “scammy” I wouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It’s far better than anything else I have seen on this page. But, each to their own.
Hello, I recently bought DIRECTORY THEME from PremiumPress. It is quite easy to use with many interesting features and their support is near to great and forum really busy (many users). However, it has a few drawbacks. Two things here:
1) The Google map on homepage is good but not much customisable. And, it only shows 100 listings at max (PP is working on that they say). Also, there are a few themes supporting “map pin from address only” (METRODIR and GLOCAL for example, however not sure about their support) while PP needs to have the exact Google coordinates. So, if you don’t have the Google coordinates your listings maps won’t be shown.
2) Other directory themes seem to handle LISTING RESTRICTED CONTENTS better. You have got many settings in PP but if you want to blind let’s say EMAIL to non-registered users it won’t show the EMAIL field at all. Other themes show the EMAIL field (blind only parts of the email address), if you are a not registered user a little pop-up will suggest you to subscribe. This features obviously encourages new users to sign up at your site.
Just a few thought … basically the DIRECTORY THEMES works well for me.
Thanks for the reviews. Am looking for a simple listing/directory theme for my community’s lost/roaming pets. All themes seem too complicated for the purpose.
Hello.
I have a huge Company list with more than 6 millon companies (120 GB), with many details as address, email, contact person, products, etc, etc, and before to buy one I need to know if is available for my intention.
Even i need to know if is costumizable for new fields that there are not currently included. I have a lot of questions but first I need to know how to begin.
Thank you!
I dont have many information of the companies plus the contact details, so I do preffer to appear thos information on the center of each page. Is that available with all the themes’ Thanks
Hello. I am looking for a directory that offers the following functionality – which would you suggest:
1. Business Listings need to be able to choose multiple service areas e.g. NSW + QLD
2. Search results for one business area eg. QLD need to include the businesses that service Australia within the results.
We were going to go with Business Directory plug in, however it cannot meet either functionality requirement.
Thank you for your assistance.
Did you ever find a solution for this? Looking for this also and for online businesses that can service anywhere in the country.
Hi, I am looking for a directory plug-in or theme that has a lot of support for mixed “location-dependent” AND “online businesses”, or advertisers that provide both. Or allows providers to mark one or more “service areas” (up to “all of USA”). See my example below, does your theme provide any solutions for these types of issues?
Example of problem: If a reader in NYC is looking for a sleep consultant. They don’t care if it’s someone who has an office in Brooklyn or who is in Oklahoma and only does Skype sessions. They want to see all the sleep consultants available to them and their reviews. How do I get all the NYC-based AND the online professionals to all come up when she searches “Sleep Consultants” in “City”. Or is there another work around? Or, another example, if someone is really busy with their new baby and knows they won’t be able to get out of the house, can they do a search for all “online sleep consultants” no matter their location? Thanks.
It’s kind of misleading when you say for GeoDirectory:
“This is the only plugin that will work virtually with any theme, allowing you to chose your preferred style.”
Since all other plugins here do work with any theme.
I purchase Vantage and Business Finder which are great but not if your directory is just one part of a larger site (difference between theme and plugin) so I finally settled on Web 2.0 Directory which is fantastic. Wish I had seen this post sooner as I did not find this plugin through the WP plugin site. Thanks
Great article! We have been searching for an attractive directory plugin for quite some time now. We already narrowed it down to two (GeoDirectory or SabaiDirectory). But we are still trying to find the best solution for directory and membership features.
We are building a local fashion directory with a free basic entry (only name and website). The label owners should then be able to choose and upgrade between three paid plans with different features (e.g. upload collection images, edit description and profile image, …)
Is there a plugin that has all this features or do we still need a membership plugin (like buddypress???)
Any experiences???
Hi Nadine,
GeoDirectory will do all that without needing other plugins!
Good luck with your fashion directory…
Vantage – One advice, stay away, they are crooks , thieves and liars. I wasted nearly half a year asking to fix search options in vantage, to say nothing of spending extra 300$ to fix other things. Forum is filled with hundred of unhappy customers, hard to spot, you will get access only when you buy. If they don’t like the comments, they’ll delete it. Beware, stay away.
10 mins · Like
Really nice collections though. But finding suitable one for my need is bit confusing.
Thank you so much for this list!!! I picked Sabai and just told my hubby that rarely do you purchase a plugin that does MORE than you ever expected. This was one of them. Working great with Genesis and the responsive part is great too.
I just released a new plugin for for lazy loading your WordPress posts and pages with Ajax.
Ajax Load More ) on wordpress.org. Please have a look and let me know if anyone has any feedback!
Check out our plugin. It provides a drag and drop submit listing form builder. DOesn’t get any better for what you need.
the link in case you missed is :
Thanks
I need one which we can customize with the data fields we want for this and that model.
Which one of these solutions offers the best customization options for building exactly the directory you want ??
It´s very nice to have the flexibility to set up the exact variables you need and want.
For flexibility and customization I don’t think you can beat Depends what you want though.
Hi Guys!
hope you are all very well
I am also in the same boat, lo a directory script.
Does anyone ones waht script is usewd on this site?
Thanks!
I want to build a UK wide directory with search by custom categories as well as location. A colleague has suggested – you’ve not listed their theme / plugin. Your thoughts?
HI, we are the creator of GeoTheme, thank you all for the nice comments about our product.
We just wanted to let you all know that our new plugin has been released too : . Took over 1 year to finish this, it offers all GeoTheme features, making them easier to use, faster and more efficient. Now you can have GeoTheme options inside any theme! Hope you like it!
Any options for bulk upload? Thanks!
Yes sir, bulk upload is provided and works like a charm…
Hi! This may sound like a silly question but I’m really new to web building…I’m setting up a free business directory and want to allow users to list events and be able to pay to upgrade their event listing type. Will I need a separate plugin to do this? Can you even have more than one plugin? Also I want some ad space that people pay for… Thanks for helping 🙂
I am looking for a plug-in that can list all the existing business in a particular category, for example Italian restaurants under restaurant category for a given city. The plug-in should also give me the ability to customize business details (similar to google places or yelp) for any given business in the list, and/or ability to add a new business (that is not in the list). Can anyone recommend me the right plug-ins? Thank you.
Thank you for the Awesome Information and the great list. I think the DirectoryPress is best suited for me. i am going to go with it .. Thank you so much for the Information..
I just developed a Business Networking Plugin , waiting for a feedback for how it goes!
I think Geotheme does a far better job when it comes to managing the site in a user friendly manner.
Most other themes do not have feature to upload cities and listings to site.
Geotheme almost surpassed every other theme.
You can find some cities csv files here
I have to upgrade my theme as it isn’t compatible with my hosting companies server upgrade to PHP 5.4. It’s time anyway, I need a theme that is responsive. And I want to include a directory for yoga teachers, healers, etc. to list their Studios/Businesses. And to pay based on how much content they want to add. Or for special things like their retreats and workshops. I also want to have places for advertisers. My question is….do I choose a theme that is simple, like WP Theme Radiate, and add a plug in directory like Sabai? Or, do I look at a theme like GeoPlaces that can be the theme and the directory? Thanks for any suggestions. And do you know anyone that may be able to help me. I do this kind of thing all the time but nothing this advance. Just feel I need a little support to be sure everything is working properly since I am not a WP expert. Appreciate your time and consideration. Deb
Debra, few months ago we were in the same situation and we tried (bought) 3 themes Vantage, GeoTheme and Templatic but none of them did satisfy our needs. It’s why we decided to build our own Directory theme. We are testing it currently but if you want to know more about that you can send me an email at saliou2718@yahoo.com and I will give the link of the demo version.
Sorry Aleph, there’s a link to the demo in the blog sidebar
I’ve been developing a wordpress directory system for the past couple of years. Originally it could be used with most themes but the latest version comes bundled with a dedicated theme and child theme that are tied to the system. Took me a while but I created a system that offers basic, featured and premium listings and allows the directory owner to set annual or monthly recurring paypal payments. There’s a “claim this listing” system and the directory itself is very versatile and can be customized to look how you want it to look. It works in normal view, mobile view and also fits into Facebook!
We are on Version 2.2 priced at just $37 but we are heading for a big update and the price will increase to $97. Anyone buying now can mention this post and I will ensure you never pay a penny for future upgrades.
This is not a simple user interface like GeoTheme. We are admittedly, a little “rough around the edges” but that’s what we believe gives us the edge over our competition. Our system is deployed by a clone website which gives you non coders a chance to get off the ground very quickly and you coders or developers a chance to really customize this system however you want it.
Our name is a little deceiving as we have come a long way from being a simple plugin. At www.WpDirectoryPlugin.com, we are themes and plugins combined and deployed as a clone.
Give us a try and see if you like the system. If you do, it can be deployed on as many domains as you wish without buying further licences.
And lastly, I think you’ll find our support system second to none. I wish you success with your directories 😉
I visited your website but there’s no demo site of the directory theme just some screenshots. If you want to sell a theme for $97, you should give the user the possibility to test it.
I’ve updated the sales page with a link to the demo site and there are links in the blog sidebar 😉
Hi,
I’m trying to create a website based on activities in my area. I want businesses to be able to join and showcase their business with text and images. I’m not very knowledgeable at coding so thought a directory theme would work well? Any themes you’d recommend?
Regards,
Ben
It’s impressive that you are getting thoughts from this article as well as from our discussion made here.
Firstly, thanks for this helpful post. To clarify about the WordPress Directory plugin, I purchased it and have been having lots of trouble (more than it’s worth) with it. If you are looking for a plugin that works well with your theme, then I would not recommend this plugin unless you’re ready to delve deeply into updating your template pages and php code. It’s hardly user friendly. The plugin does come with it’s own theme which it plays well with, but this makes it limiting to using it with one theme! So, after my headache, my advise would be to always try to test a plugin for free to make sure it plays well with your theme first. The problem with WPMUdev’s product is that you have to buy to try! I’ve since given up on Directory and moving on to testing the Business Directory plugin, which I can try and use before paying for their premium modules.
I have been reading this string of responses for this article for awhile. I am looking to create a restaurant directory for a certain area where I live. I am so far leaning towards SabaiDirectory. I would like to know if anyone else has a directory on their site for restaurants as well and if you can let me see how they work and if they are are using SabaiDirectory or another directory? Also, does anyone know if SabaiDirectory will allow you to add menues in either html or .pdf format? Thanks for your help
I want a directory plugin with a good back end for the user, where they can add theirs companies and other stuff that I add modifying the code,for example coupons of the companies.
I am seeing SabaiDirectory for its comments and its low prize however it hasn’t got back end for the users.
I am now with Directory Portal WordPress, but I see that it is not possible to create child theme, I am afraid I modify much the code and then a update arrives.
Any other recomendations?
Regards
If you’re looking for a basic, easy to implement solution, check out Connections It turned out to be the best solution for my quick-turnaroud project. The base is free, and the addons are inexpensive and allow you to add just the simple functionality you want. It’s not the utlimate plugin for every application, but a good one for specific purposes.
What about this directory/classifieds plugin “Web 2.0 Directory”:
Does anybody use it? I see great potential of this plugin.
Thanks for the reviews. Am looking for a simple listing/directory theme for my community’s lost/roaming pets. All themes seem too complicated for the purpose.
I am really grateful to the holder of this website who has shared this impressive paragraph at at this time.
bepro listings has, Location Based Search, filters, maps, galleries, and lots of features normally seen in WP Business Directory and others. You should checkout that plugin too
The above info is awesome and great job……….. If some one is looking for Business theme on WordPress have a look here https://sitemile.com/ref/bestwptheme
Great review, thank you!
I’m looking for a Directory plug-in (only for registered users):
– Every person has a short customized profile
– Birthday calendar of users
– Different communities, users can be in more groups
– Share notes or forum other people can react on notes
– Share news / documents / photo’s / video’s (only a few users can post)
Is there are Directory plugin that meet my requirements?
Hi,
I’m also very new to this but creating a site dedicated to new parents who don’t necessarily have friends/family knowledge of the town. I have various categories and sub-categories and would like for them to be
– searchable
– based on categories (including location and ideally language)
– have user-ratings
– have user upload ability
– photos if possible (although google maps might be ok initially)
Overall it will look like
PREGNANCY
*Shopping
—-furniture
—-maternity wear
—-baby products
*Courses
—- fitness
— pilates
— yoga
— swimming
—- prenatal classes
— birthing
— breastfeeding
PARENTS w BABIES UNDER 4-6 MONTHS
*Shopping
*Restaurants with change tables….
PARENTS w MOBILE MUNCHKINS (crawling etc)
You get the the picture…
Would you be able to provide me with 1-3 suggestions?
Really appreciate your help!
Joanna
bepro listings has just about all of these features.
Awesome list! I’m searching for a directory solution and this was very helpful 🙂 What I’m looking for is a plugin or theme that will allow a listing owner to build their listing A La Carte style. My categories range from holistic type practitioners to musicians, artisans and photographers. So for some a portfolio with images, video and music would be beneficial. Instead of packages. You start with a basic listing and pay for added features to build your own listing. Any suggestions?
Hi
Please offer a recommendation of what directory I need. Basically I want it to be a normal directory but listings are more comprehensive like having multiple pages for business info,products etc. gallery, themes and contact details?
Please advise. Much appreciated.
Hey Jean, thanks for sharing these directory plugins and themes. I was looking for them.
I did, thanks! Lovely city 🙂
Hi Jean!
Thx for the quick response and advise! I will look futher info the toolset plugin!!!
And did you enjoy your stay in Amsterdam?
Cheers, Jan
Hi Jean
Great list, THX!
I need some advise for my own website
I’m looking for a way to list different kind of tourist businesses in Amsterdam:
1. Hotels 2. Hostels. 3. Museums 4. Attractions 5. Sights 6. Shops 7. Restaurants 8. Bars. 9 Nightlife Venues 10. etc etc. And every kind of listing must has it’s own category or taxonomy f.e. hotels 1 – 5 stars | Type of hotel | price range | location etc and then for restaurants cuisine | location | price range | area
I’m happy with my theme and design (U-design), so I need a plugin.
Another thing is that some listings I will make by myself (hotels and museums –> affiliate links) and other listings should be made by users or business owners (so front end)
I’m still doubting between SabaiDirectory and Toolset:
The thing with Sabai is that it might be too restricted for my needs and that it is not that flexible in the way all the information is displayed (lay out). For example is it possible that only myself/administrator can make new listings in some of the directories like hotels and museums because of the affiliate links and that in other categories/directories like restaurants users and business owners can make a new direcoty and pay for a featured listing?
Another option is Toolset but that plugn is more expensive and…. I’m a newby to WordPress and coding php-html-css. So that would be more difficult for me to make something like a directory with so many options?
Can I get some advise from you or anybody else..
Thx in advance,
Jan
Welcome Jan, just been to Amsterdam last month 🙂 I would go for Toolset since it’s more flexible, the guys on their support forum are fantastic too, they’ll help you out in getting things done.
spoke to templatic. they said there themes will only work best with each other. bringing in other themes from elsewhere may not work well together, may break.
does wpmudev direcory have geomapping?
where themes are sold by clubs like templatic, then should those themes be based on a wordpress standard that allows themes from different clubs to work seamlessly with each other. or, if you buy theme, then you should just stick with there themes?
What do you mean by themes working well with each other? You mean when you switch from one to the other?
Hi Jean, I need to create a directory that handle state and city category/subcategory. Which one would you suggest to me?
Check out Templatic’s Directory theme.
I’m after a listing site that allows people to register and then submit a listing, and then allows me to display certain fields to those searching, but once the person searching has registered (and/or paid) they can see the rest of the listing information. Any ideas?
Thanks for this post. This let me discover Sabai Directory and I just purchased it. Your list made me compare and contrast the different plugins instead of searching all over the place. Great post!
Glad to be of help Brian!
Great info does anyone know if Sabai Directory will work with Headway, I purchased WPMU and then found out it wouldn’t work with headway and we are totally committed to headway. thanks for any info!
It should but I haven’t tested that setup.
Hey there – great list! I have to find a plug in that lets me create a MEMBER directory, where listings only display of for users that are current members. Can you recommend which plugin I should consider that lets me use a membership status in the configuration? Much appreciated!
Hi Jennifer.
I too am looking for a pair of membership and directory plugins that integrate. Were you able to find a solution since posting this question? Thanks.
Hi! I’m searching for a simple directory plugin. I mean there is a list of towns and when you click the town you get a text e.g. a price and info. Very simple. I could do it with javascript and select/option coding, but would it be easier to fill details at the admin. Or call a csv file or something.
Hi All,
Just a word of advice, stay away from Directory Press. They had a problem with the latest upgrade of WP 3.6 and are refusing to help everyone through any kind of support ticket. It’s advertised on their support page
“Having problems with WordPress 3.6?
Please use the forum to report any issues with version 3.6, we will not be able to provide support via the ticket desk.”
They have a 3 page forum and they closed it to new questions. Mark Fail the developer must of got pretty stressed. As soon as you upgraded your WP you lost everything, all images and 2/3rd’s of the data.
He did fix the problem with a new version….but you have to buy it. My web site is still down and I’m just grateful I haven’t launched it yet. But what about all the people that had active sites with engaging customers? Whoops….so sorry…you’re screwed.
Sorry Mark, but it doesn’t make any sense buying your product again, only to have it crash on the next Word Press Upgrade.
Cheers all, and have fun !
You can try Vantage theme instead.
Jean, I bought vantage for $99 but that was a big mistake. The theme missed lot of basic functionnalities of a business directory . For instance, there is no recurring payments and a user cannot upgrade from a plan to another. It’s a shame to ask fro $99 for an unfinished product. They do not allow people to get to their forum until they buy a theme but when you get there you see that customers are waiting for more than 1 year for some functionnalities. They have a network of developers who build sale for $29 the plugins for what the customers are asking (and that should be included in the theme). Anything you ask they say no it’s not included and we are working on it or we do not provide support for customization. A theme is not a plug-and-play device it’s a group a files needed to customized to fill the customer design.
Thanks for sharing your experience Aleph. Vantage is one of the most popular but it’s always good to make sure beforehand that the features you need are truly built into the theme.
When you can check in their forum you will see their customers asking since 2012 for basic functionnality like recurring payment and member swtiching plans. That’s basic for a business directory or membership plugin or theme. If they have trial version like other themes they will no longer be the most popular because people will see that lot of things are missing. That’s shamefull for developers to ask that money for their low quality theme.
Do not waste your time with Vantage. After trying it and struggling with this unfinished and overrated product, I decided to lose my $99 and search for another Directory theme. The one I found is amazing. It’s called Directory by Templatic. Check this template for the same price with 100 times better features than vantage. Easy to setup, good tech support and recurrent payment, plans upgrade and more and more. Here is the link:
BYE BYE VANTAGE.
I am creating a business directory that needs to have many categories and many sub-categories attached to them. I also need a search function that can search for types of businesses and/or location. To be able to add maps too would be nice but not necessary. Did I mention that it needs to also be free?
There are so many different options that I hope someone can suggest a few to narrow the list down for me!
Thanks
I’m looking for the same thing – did you find anything?
You can take a look of Directory Theme by Templatic. Here is the link templatic.com .
For making a restaurant directory for a certain geographic area would Business Directory Plugin for WordPress or SabaiDirectory for WordPress be better to use?
Hey All…
I’m looking to add a GeoLocator (not sure if that’s the right term), to my WP build. It’s going to be a list of about 2000 companies that carry my brand. We want people to be able to type in City/State or something similar and be able to find the closest store.
Would also like to be able to manage these via CSV or similar, since it’s constantly changing.
Any suggestions? Appreciate your responses.
Hi Jean
I’m looking for a directory plug-in that’s more geared to product listings, but one which any registered user can update. Any recommendations?
Hi Jean,
I can’t believe you failed to mention the directory plugin that is listed at the top of most searches in WP.org and Google:
I’d love it if you could add this to your review!
Dave – I am trying to create a member directory on our organization’s site. I need to be able display (or not display) listings based on the users’ membership status which is date sensitive. Could your plugin integrate with a membership function? Please advise
Hey, thanks for the good list of links – wonder if you can help?! I’m creating a site which will include a directory of Teachers and their classes they teach. I’d like this to be searchable with Map and include a front-end admin system for the teachers profiles. Do you think one of these might work, or might be overkill? Can you suggest anything else?
I’m building a local business Directory for the towns Radio Station, what do you think would be best I’m thinking WPMU?
Most of the recommended plugins are not plugins, but WP themes. It is big difference !
Author, do not lies !
Nice collection, Jean. I’ve used one called Business Directory Plugin – – which has some interesting but expensive paid-for extensions. How does it stack up against the others? It would be nice to have a side-by-side comparison.
Now that I’ve loaded and tested most of the directories mentioned in this post, I must agree with you, Jean, that Sabai Directory is possibly the best – not only for its features, but also for its excellent support. Thanks for helping me find it.
I need a directory plugin that has the multiple city function.
Thanks. That is cool to know. So any responsive theme recommendations?
Check out our roundup of best responsive themes for WordPress.
Is it able to work on mobile devises as well? If so then I am sold. I like the features and the demo. Now on to picking out a theme. I will read next all your theme articles and see which I like or just pick a wordpress theme like 2012 and make it my own. Thanks for your help so far and more questions to come.
For mobile devices it’s the theme rather than the plugin which will need to be responsive.
I have looked at them all and which do you think would be best for creating a restaurant directory for a city? I want something that will allow reviews and also a menu option and photos and can show on a map next to the other places as well as where it is itself. I am also looking for it to be able to integrate into my current theme seemlessly like it is just part of my site. Any suggestions will be great since I am new to wordpress and this inparticular
Sabai directory should do the job Scott.
Thanks for the article. I actually moved from Geotheme V3 to Sabai and have not looked back. Simply outstanding plugin so far. A few more updates and I am certain I will have every feature I could want.
Glad you’ve found Sabai useful AC.
Can you tell me how it is different then geotheme? We’re you able to create a category top menu? Any chance with sub categories? Thanks for any help you can provide.
Awesome share. Thank you
I found this one usefully as well
Your collection is awesome !
Thanks, Connections seems pretty solid too.
I might suggest Broadstreet for businesses
hello i am looking a biz directory that does NOT have any geo applications, just business listings, products/services, and later i can charge a membership ,,,a type of B2B site , any ideas?
A nice collection of plugins. Maybe GeoTheme is also worth a look, which is not only plugin, but a more or less complete theme with enhancements for geolocation.
We’re currently doing a beta-test on and I’m suprised who easy it is to build a geo-directory.
I agree with you Michael, that one looks good and I’m going to go ahead and include it in the list. Thanks for drawing my attention to it.