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Seeking recommendations for directory software

by BethWilliams
16 replies
Hi Warriors!

I am planning to put together a web site that contains a directory of online service providers in a particular niche (let's pretend it's car dealers). So I'd like the site to be able to drill down to one page per city, and that final page would contain a list of links to the car dealers in that city that have a web presence.

Top page might have a list of US States or Canadian Provinces, user would click on their selection, which would go to a page specific to that state, with a list of counties or cities. A click on the county would go a page of cities, a click on a city would go to the final page.

I wish I could do this in Word Press, because I'm pretty proficient with that, but I don't think it will have the functionality I'm looking for. I'm asking to see if anyone knows of a good software package that would support this kind of site.

Any thoughts?

thanks!
Beth
#directory #recommendations #seeking #software
  • Profile picture of the author marcolav
    Hello Beth

    your requirements should be ok with pretty much all directory software out there. You can try PHP Link Directory Script - Latest Version Released September 2010 or go for something a little more powerful like Directory Script, Free Directory Software, PHP Directory Script, Business Directory Software :: eSyndiCat Directory Software, Directory Script ( I just finished moving one of my sites TheOpenDirectory.Biz*:: Web Directory to the Esyndicat script and it does have a lot of options, plus they offer a free installation service)

    Marco
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  • Profile picture of the author gottahave
    iDevSpot : PHP Scripts also has a low cost BizDirectory script.

    I use the Esyndicat software for an article directory but the script can be used for an directory. There were numeous setting up problems but now everything is OK. There are also a lot of plugins for various requirements.

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author lvsniper
    eDirectory.com - Online Directory Software Solution, Custom Development, Business Directory Script, PHP - never used it, but heard that it is the best
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  • Profile picture of the author BethWilliams
    Thank you for all the suggestions - this gives me lots to go on!
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    • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
      Beth, did you find a suitable solution. I'm looking for basically the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Melody
    EDirectory is great - but also VERY expensive and quite a learning curve. If you have the money, it would probably be a great fit - but be warned - all of the bells and whistles on the demo are not included in the core package - there are lots of upgrades to get all of the 'neat stuff'.

    You might also want to look at Mark Fail's stuff - they are WP based and they do work very well - he also upgrades them pretty frequently:

    Directory Script for Wordpress - DirectoryPress
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    • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
      Originally Posted by Melody View Post

      EDirectory is great - but also VERY expensive and quite a learning curve. If you have the money, it would probably be a great fit - but be warned - all of the bells and whistles on the demo are not included in the core package - there are lots of upgrades to get all of the 'neat stuff'.

      You might also want to look at Mark Fail's stuff - they are WP based and they do work very well - he also upgrades them pretty frequently
      Is there anything "in between" the two? Edirectory is expensive, complex and doesn't have the best reputation. DirectoryPress is a lot less expensive, but can't come close to matching the features of eDirectory.

      Isn't there a competitor out there that's somewhere in the middle ??
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      • Profile picture of the author TPFLegionaire
        Originally Posted by SoundsGood View Post

        Is there anything "in between" the two? Edirectory is expensive, complex and doesn't have the best reputation. DirectoryPress is a lot less expensive, but can't come close to matching the features of eDirectory.

        Isn't there a competitor out there that's somewhere in the middle ??


        yes....and no

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        I have it...it's 1997$

        But since I bought it pre launch I didn't pay that much...Maybe you should do a JV with me
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      • Profile picture of the author Melody
        Originally Posted by SoundsGood View Post

        Is there anything "in between" the two? Edirectory is expensive, complex and doesn't have the best reputation. DirectoryPress is a lot less expensive, but can't come close to matching the features of eDirectory.

        Isn't there a competitor out there that's somewhere in the middle ??
        Trust me - ED is not as great as it sounds, and it really did not live up to the ad copy. We had it for more than 6 months, and finally dumped it.

        I was dazzled by the feature list - but reality was another story.

        Melody
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        • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
          Originally Posted by Melody View Post

          Trust me - ED is not as great as it sounds, and it really did not live up to the ad copy.
          This is what I'm hearing from friends that have used eDirectory. Apparently the customer service is less than stellar and the cost is outrageous since they charge extra for ANYthing and EVERYthing!

          But... what to use instead? For those of us that want to focus on a serious directory site (not just throw up a bunch of small sites) which directory is really the best?
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        • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
          Originally Posted by Melody View Post

          We had it for more than 6 months, and finally dumped it.
          Melody, I forgot to ask: what directory software did you move to? Please feel free to PM me. (thanks! )
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          • Profile picture of the author Melody
            Originally Posted by SoundsGood View Post

            Melody, I forgot to ask: what directory software did you move to? Please feel free to PM me. (thanks! )
            I hate to say it but we never did find anything that was affordable that would do what we felt the project needed, so we moved on. It was a project that really needed a 'high' quality directory with all the bells and whistles, and we did not find one for less than 5k.

            And yes, ED nitpicks you to death on the charges, and no one seemed to ever know who was in charge of any particular area. One wonderful moment was when after about 5 emails I finally got a response back from the person that HAD been handling everything telling me that the 'next phase' of the set-up was someone else's responsibility, and that was why she had not responded to the first several emails...yikes. It was pretty typical of the whole experience.

            really nothing that I would highly recommend - but you might want to look at hiring someone to make some mods to a good WP directory - I am beginning to think it may be the only way to get all of the features at a decent price!

            melody
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            • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
              Originally Posted by Melody View Post

              It was a project that really needed a 'high' quality directory with all the bells and whistles...
              That's exactly what I need too. This will be for a premium site, not a rinky-dink little site. I can't believe there aren't better solutions out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnhoefer
    WooThemes just came out with a theme called Listings. You can see my directory in my signature. Its a great theme.
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    • Profile picture of the author SoundsGood
      Originally Posted by johnhoefer View Post

      WooThemes just came out with a theme called Listings. You can see my directory in my signature. Its a great theme.
      Thanks, but I need something a bit more robust than this.

      BTW, I lived in Irvine myself for a while. Great place to live!
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Turner
    I did a bit of research on this a while back
    my final choice was - phpMyDirectory - Web Portal, Business Directory, Classifieds, Link Indexing
    good out of the box - and relatively easy to customise
    at under $100 good value
    if you need it customised - there are people available on the forum that offer that service -though I hired someone from Odesk to do some work on mine
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