Meet the New eDirectory v13.5!

Meet the New eDirectory v13.5!

We are excited to announce the release of eDirectory v13.5, a major update packed with new features and game-changing membership options for our clients. This version brings significant improvements to our platform, making it more versatile and user-friendly. Let’s dive into the details of what’s new and what’s changed in this release.

What’s New

Combination of Modules and Levels Now Called Products

In this update, we’ve redefined the combination of modules (listings, events, classifieds, banners, and articles) and levels as “Products.” This change simplifies the way site owners can manage and offer these elements to their users, providing a more cohesive and streamlined experience.

Manage Levels & Pricing Updated to Products & Plans

The Admin section for managing levels and pricing has been fully revamped and is now called Products & Plans. This update includes:

Manage Products

 

  • Customizable Product Types: Site owners can create up to 10 types of products for listings, events, and classifieds.
  • Paywalled Content: Products can be defined to be available exclusively for subscribed members, enabling paywalled content.

Manage Plans

 

  • Unlimited Plan Creation: Site owners can create unlimited plans to advertise products on the website.
  • Free Trials: Plans can include a free trial option (available for Stripe only).
  • Flexible Pricing Models: Site owners can define up to two pricing models per plan with several renewal cycles, including weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, and one-time payment.
  • Product Combinations: Plans can offer different combinations of products, including unlimited products and specific listing templates per plan.
  • Access to Paywalled Content: Plans can grant access to paywalled content.

Additional Settings & Payment Gateways

  • Simplified Interface: The interface for managing additional settings related to payment gateways, currency, tax, and more has been simplified.
  • Paywall Functionality: The paywall functionality can be enabled on the website.

Paywalled Blog Posts

Blog posts can now be set as paywalled individually when the Paywall feature is enabled, providing more flexibility in content monetization.

Promotion Codes for Specific Plans

Promotion codes can be created and made available for specific plans, offering more targeted promotional opportunities.

New Subscriptions Page

A new page called Subscriptions has been added under the Revenue Reports section, allowing site owners to manage subscribed members more effectively.

Redesigned Checkout Process

The checkout process has been completely redesigned and simplified into three steps: user identification, checkout form, and payment confirmation. Each step’s pages are available in the Page Editor for full customization.

Updated Email Notifications

Email notifications have been updated to reflect the new approach to subscriptions and plans. Renewal reminder emails now work with subscriptions instead of individual listings, and a new notification for member sign-ups has been included.

Enhanced Modules Preview

The modules preview on the site manager has been updated:

  • Status Change: The pop-up for changing status has been replaced by a dropdown, simplifying the process.
  • Plan and Category Listing: The plan assigned to the product and its categories are now listed.

Customizable Renewal Dates

The renewal date for products is inherited from the subscription to which they are assigned, but site owners can customize it individually if needed.

Activate Products Without Subscription

Site owners can now activate products and define a renewal date even if they are not assigned to a subscription.

New Widgets for Promoting Plans

Five new widgets have been added to the Page Editor to help promote plans:

  • Single Plan Card
  • Pricing & Plans Cards
  • Pricing & Plans Cards with Custom Description
  • Pricing & Plans Cards with Topics (Type 1)
  • Pricing & Plans Cards with Topics (Type 2)

Simplified Sponsor and Profile Sections

The Sponsors and Profile sections have been consolidated into a single section called Members. This change simplifies the user experience and streamlines site management.

Updated Members Dashboard

The Members dashboard has been updated with a new user flow for signing up for plans, managing subscriptions, and adding content, enhancing the overall user experience.

eDirectory Facebook Group

What’s Changed

Plan-Based Product Charging

Site owners will no longer be able to charge for individual products. Instead, a plan should be created offering the product or a combination of products.

Popular Plans Configuration

Popular plans, previously known as levels, are now configured on a per-widget basis in the Page Editor, providing more customization options.

Category Pricing

Site owners will no longer be able to define prices for additional categories for listings. All listings can now have up to 20 categories without additional pricing.

Listing Template Pricing

Differentiated pricing for listing templates is no longer available, simplifying the pricing structure.

Discontinued Payment Gateways

Payments with 2CheckOut and PayFlow Link are no longer supported in this version.

Updated Approval Requirements

The approval requirements options in the General Settings section have been updated with new options to control how the status of products will be updated according to the subscription they belong to.

Simplified Email Configuration

The interface for configuring Administrator Email under the Email Sending configuration section has been simplified for easier management.

Removal of Feature Packages

Feature Packages, previously available under the Promotions & Packages section, are no longer available.

Removed Email Notifications

The following email notifications have been removed to streamline communication:

  • Visitor Account Create (site manager area)
  • Visitor Account Update
  • Account Activation
  • Listing Signup
  • Event Signup
  • Banner Signup
  • Classified Signup
  • Article Signup

Promotional Codes for Plans Only

Promotional codes are now applicable only to plan subscriptions and not individual products, aligning with the new subscription model.

Ready to start?

We believe these changes will greatly enhance the functionality and usability of eDirectory for both site owners and their members. Ready to experience the new eDirectory v13.5? Get a free guided demo at www.edirectory.com. Current customers, upgrade now to unlock exciting new features!

Read the changelog in full

Request your upgrade: https://www.edirectory.com/upgrade-form.php

Edirectory Free guided demo

 

eDirectory releases version 9.5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

eDirectory releases version 9.5

eDirectory has released version 9.5, and with it, a significant restructuring of the base code in order to develop a more robust platform to build upon in the future.

While users won’t notice many changes in the layout or appearance of the sites in version 9.5, the eDirectory base code team, under the leadership of recently appointed Product Manager, Darren Cornwell, has made a multitude of changes in the way the code is structured.

Notably, the import tool has been completely redesigned to be a bit more effective and seemless upload process. Imports are now limited to 100mb or 100,000 lines. With only a single file able to import at a time, the system will see significant performance improvements in a shared environment.

“With the new release of 9.5, eDirectory is now considerably faster. The basecode has undergone major rewrites in various sections, there is now the addition of a new import / exporter which makes updating and retrieving data much easier, based on customer feedback. In addition to these, there are a whole host of tiny fixes and updates which serve to continue to keep eDirectory as the leader in the online directory space,” said Product Manager, Darren Cornwell.

Additionally, the blog has seen several updates to it in 9.5 You can now add banners to the blog, through an ‘Add to Blog” module in the banners section, as well as have the ability to feature and disable categories as well as add subcategories to blog categories. For SEO purposes, the sitemgr now has the ability to change settings regarding SEO on blog components.

Like the blog module, the Deals section also saw a few notable changes. Site owners can now show recent reviews on both the deals home page and deals results page and like the blog, site owners can now add banners to the deals section. Lastly you can now access traffic reports from deals section, as well as pull statistical reports.

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eDirectory releases version 9.3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
eDirectory releases version 9.3
Annandale, Virginia – May 16th, 2012 – Arca Solutions, the parent company of eDirectory.com, has launched version 9.3, which introduces new a variety of new features and capabilities in the basecode of the software.

Version 9.3 was concentrated mostly on a number of smaller, but impactful features, mostly those suggested by the customer base. One of the more notable aspects of 9.3 is a new real estate template, which can be used for those trying to create a real estate listing-driven site to showcase properties. The direction of future releases may be concentrated more on creating niche, vertical focused ‘templates’ that work off of the base code, but each offering a different set of features that are most pertinent to their respective focus. For instance, the gallery on the details page uses a slider as opposed to a popup window and the template as a whole only uses the listings, blog and banner modules.

“The Real Estate theme is the first of many beautiful, stylish new directory themes to come. This release makes eDirectory the best solution on the market for creating a professional grade, multilingual real estate site,” said Arca Solutions CEO James Chubb.

9.3 also offers category sitemaps, meaning users can now generate category sitemaps for all languages. Other additions include an email import notification, the date selection tool now supports all languages in the system and the listings section within the site manager has been tweaked to preview listings more easily.

Lastly, an RSS feed has been added to the deals module and the advertising page has been restructured to support both graphical themes as well as the newly released real estate theme. To learn more about these features, please contact a sales representative by calling (703) 914-0770.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory releases version 9.0 with new bells and whistles

Annandale, Virginia – August 5th, 2011 – In their second software release in less than a year, Arca Solutions, the parent company of eDirectory.com, has unveiled version 9.0, which introduces new features such as Click to Call, SMS listings to others, Sugar CRM Integration, Google + enabled sites and more.

Unlike most other releases, version 9 concentrated on small, but impactful features to the base code that help site owners sell the functionality of their directories a bit more. With Click to Call, site visitors can click on a listing, enter their phone number, and upon clicking enter, will be placing a call to the business. Accordingly, the ‘Send SMS to Phone’ feature will enable visitors to send contents of that listing via a text message, including the business address, phone and listing link. Both features, however require an account with Twilio, who provides very affordable levels of web API services.

Based on the request of their customers, the eDirectory.com basecode team included an integration with SugarCRM in version 9, where sales reps can automatically populate orders from eDirectory into their Sugar account. With the popularity of Google +, visitors will also be able to share listings with others.

“I’m really excited about the work we did under the hood, completely overhauling the CSS to make it much easier to customize as well as taking measure to improve the SEO of our users’ sites,” commented CEO James Chubb regarding release.

The Back Link Builder incentivizes listing owners to link back to your directory with increased visibility. In short, when a listing owner links to their directory, the software will verify the link and increase the exposure of their listing in the directory. Other SEO changes to the software include now having a description field available for categories, where site owners can add in SEO friendly text. Lastly, all listing images are now tagged for Google Images, increasing your directory’s presence on the search engine.

A few final features changes include overhauled CSS to simplify customizations, entirely redesigned mobile html versions to look even better on more hand helds, in addition to overhauling the URL structure for multi-lingual sites. To learn more about these features, please contact a sales representative by calling (703) 914-0770.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory releases version 8.1, increases mobile profile

Annandale, Virginia – April 15th, 2011 – Following up the most paramount release since launching the product 7 years ago, eDirectory, the leading online directory software solution, has announced the release of version 8.1, which features new functionality in both the iPhone and Android, in addition to a revamped import tool, SEO-friendly URL structures, new language support and more.

Following up on the blockbuster release of version 8.0, which included multi-domain management, a revampled deals section (previously coupons), iPhone and Android feature updates, Package builder and GEOIP, the eDirectory basecode team focused their development efforts more on growing and improving existing features of the system as opposed to adding a slew of new functionality as they had in version 8.0. Perhaps the most notable change for existing users is a revamped import too, which includes a brand new interface, new import types and the ability to update listings, too. Additionally, version 8.1 will have a few improvements on the SEO of the software, specifically creating more SEO-friendly URL structures across the site, specifically those pulled from search queries within the database. Furthermore, eDirectory will have W3C validation to ensure all directory sites are crawled error-free.

Another notable feature based on demand is having Turkish language available for translation in the top corner of each site. The platform already provides a Spanish, French, Italian, English, German and Portuguese translations. Site owners can now provide category descriptions when visitors click on a category in order to better explain how the site is organized. The deals section will not only provide discounts by dollar value, but also by percentage of the cost, and user profiles now include a few new fields, all in addition to several other minor changes and fixes made to the platform.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory releases version 8.0. Increases mobile profile

Annandale, Virginia – November 18th, 2010 – In their most paramount release since launching the product 7 years ago, eDirectory, the leading online directory software solution, has announced the release of Version 8.0. The most recently version will see a widely robust feature set that includes multi-site management, mobile check ins, a new Android app, package builder, deals engine, GEO IP and more.

Version 8 quickly addressed a long standing issue many directory site owners faced; Managing multiple domains with both ease and affordability.eDirectory’s new Multi-core feature will allow users to add domains on the fly, manage multiple sites within one Content Management System, and up-sell your advertisers for sponsorships across all of your sites. For example, when an advertiser goes to purchase a sponsorship on your Chicago Pizzeria directory, the site owner can present that advertiser with the opportunity to also advertise on their Chicago Nightlife directory at a discounted rated. Along those lines, version 8 also includes a Package Builder feature, giving site owners the ability to develop bundled or packaged sponsorships where advertisers can purchase a mix of listings, banners, events, classifieds or articles.

With the release of eDirectory for the iPhone nearly a year ago, there has been a significant investment in the company’s mobile development team, adding an Android app in the new version. Now coined ‘eDirectory mobile’ to house both brands, the organization’s mobile team is pushing to keep their Android app features at par with their more developed, longer standing iPhone App. The iPhone now has mobile check ins and reviews, which while currently not in the Android framework, will be expected to follow in the months to come.

Another significant addition to the features within the system is the Deals Engine. Previously referred to as “coupons” within the site manager, the revamped Deals Engine will allow listing owners to create a “deal” or limited time discount on their products or services, which can then be posted and claimed through Facebook.

“eDirectory v8 is a pivotal release, with the ability to run multiple sites under one CMS, up-sell advertisers, a new Android app platform, iPhone-Facebook check-ins, a revamped Deals Engine, and too many smaller improvements to name. Site owners using eDirectory v8 will quickly generate more page-views and revenue than ever before.” says eDirectory CEO, James Chubb.

Other features that round out the release include a WYSIWYG navbar and footer interface on the site manager, giving site owner’s the opportunity to change the elements in these areas, previously not available. GEO IP will pre-load the location of visitors who come to directory sites, adding personalization to the user experience.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory releases 7.5, .net version

Annandale, Virginia – June 30th, 2010 – Just two months after its’ most recent release, eDirectory, the Leading Online Directory Software Solution, will be releasing its’ newest version, 7.5 and a .net platform of the system along with it.

With one if it’s quickest back to back releases in company history, eDirectory 7.5 will showcase new blockbuster features such as the integrated blog tool, visitor registration and visitor profiles. While eDirectory can still be integrated with wordpress and other external blogging systems, the most recent version has added a fully integrated blog tool that has most features available in bloging platforms. Visitor can now register through the system and create user profiles to create a basic community for their sponsors and members.  Members and sponsors can add reviews and create users profiles, and sponsors can share their listings, articles and other elements through Facebook.

“7.5 is a significant release for eDirectory. The visitor profiles and blog feature will go a long way to engaging traffic and building a successful directory site.” says eDirectory CEO, James Chubb.

Uploading images into your content has become significantly easier as they can now be imported with a new tool on WYSIWYG editor.  Upload and create  thumbnails of those images and setting your main images are now tasks that can be completed in a centralized location where you add listings.. Restrictions on both listings and categories have also been lifted as now you can have an unlimited number of categories with listings, and categories with an unlimited amount of levels.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory releases .net version

Annandale, Virginia – June 11th, 2010 – After a year long initiative to open up its’ platform to cater to more development arenas, eDirectory has announced the release of it’s .net version of the software.

While the original version was developed in, and since refined in PHP, the staff has recognized the importance to create a version of the system that can cater to more developers who are accustomed to a Microsoft enivronment.

“While it hasn’t been extremely detrimental to the growth of the software, we realized that the PHP platform was restricting to those more comfortable with, or used to developing in a Microsoft environment. As a company with a diverse backgrounds in software development, we appreciate the value of a system that can appeal to more than one platform” says eDirectory CEO, James Chubb.

Because eDirectory’s base code team has been so aggressive in releasing new features in the PHP version of the software in both 7.4 and 7.5, the .Net version will be contain all of the features through version 7.3. The most notable features not available in the .net version are the series of new graphical templates released in 7.4, the visitor login and profile creation, as well as Site Manager interface upgrades, access to a few payment gateways and other minor changes. Because version 7.4 was launched a little over two months ago, the .Net version of the system (7.3) will be as high, if not higher than a majority of all users.

With significant interest generated in the first week of it’s release, the .net version is now available on eDirectory.com Any questions about the new version of the system can be directed to sales@edirectory.com
eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory CEO James Chubb to Speak at GEODOMAIN EXPO in New Orleans

Annandale, Virginia – April 12th, 2010 – James Chubb is scheduled to speak on the local directories panel about strategies to capitalize on Local Search at the GeoDomain Expo April 28th – April 30th, 2010.

Associated Cities, who hosts the show, has selected New Orleans as its location after the show’s success in San Diego last year. GEODOMAIN EXPO 2010 will coincide with the 40th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. eDirectory, the market’s leading solution for developing local search sites, will also be exhibiting its latest software release and new iPhone application.

“The Associated Cities show is a great place to get the pulse of the industry.” said James Chubb, “With so many new ideas emerging, I expect this show to be a focal point for companies seeking to capitalize on local search for many years to come.” he added.

The show provides the opportunity for industry leaders to share best practices, learn about new trends, meet vendors in the business and network with those who have a stake in local and geo search. The two day show will include speakers and panels related to the business of operating sites, as well as social and networking events, a trade show and opportunities to purchase and invest in geodomain properties.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

eDirectory Releases Version 7.4

Annandale, Virginia – March 25rd, 2010 – In one of the most anticipated released in past years, Arca Solutions, the developers of eDirectory ,will unleash version 7.4 this Wednesday, March 24th, and will provide its’ users a slew of rich features based on feedback from our clients over the past several months.

eDirectory version 7.4 will provider its’ iPhone app users with a multi-language platform, as well as the ability to handle ratings.  Perhaps one of the most notable additions will be a graphical library of 14 new graphical themes to better suit the theme of your online directory including those designed for online magazine publications, medical, law and hotel directories as well as online buyers’ guides.  With a new Site Manager (SiteMGR) interface, users will also be able to choose payment gateways, search by promotional code on transaction searches, and much more.

Other features to note are the ability to maintenance mode, as well as new search query options on both the eDirectory results’ page and transaction searches and newly integrated username real time validation on add account forms.

eDirectory is a division of Arca Solutions, Inc, a digital media company headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area