There are several Link Directory or Business Directory plugins for WordPress. As a long-time Joomla user I really like to use SOBI on my Joomla sites. In my adventures in WordPress I started to search something similar to SOBI. So far, I haven’t had a lot of luck. I did give each of following a good test run and started a comparison. There is hope in this area and I have patience. Each time I try one again I will update this page…and if you have some notable information to add to the comparison, please let me know!
WordPress Link Directory
This is the first directory plugin that I installed and the first one I put into production (see the Pet Directory). It configures simply and works great. It has a nice landing page that shows all of the link categories. The only catch is that you have to trick it a bit to make permalinks work. Creating a custom style sheet took less than two minutes and I haven’t hit any errors yet.
Notable Features:
- Nice Directory landing page.
- Automatic Page Rank Checking.
- Featured listing option. Make some revenue from your link directory.
- Reciprocal link checking that can be configured based on page rank.
Wp-Directory-List
This Directory plugin is OK. It appears that the version that I downloaded didn’t populate the directory page and the submit form layout. This just meant I had to create the submission form and layout page manually. It would have been nice to have a default page created. This is not a big deal, but it does take several minutes to setup. The configuration is well organized. Links can be added through the admin pages, but each link must be activated — no matter who enters the link.
Notable Features:
- Captcha enabled
- Collects address information, but only displays it — doesn’t do anything with it yet.
- Shrink the Web Image enabled
Business Directory
There is not much functionality available in the administrator area. At first glance it is confusing as the installation requires going to the developer website. You need to manually create two pages, one page for the directory and a second one for the submission form. There is not any configuration available through the admin area. To add a link, go to the submission form on the front end of the site. There are quite a few fields including: Name, email, org name, org description, keywords, org website, org email, phone and address. After submitting the entry, you can review, approve or delete the listing in the admin area. The new entry appears in the directory. The address information does not appear to do anything at this point in time.
Notable Features:
- Address information is collected, but not used. I’d expect a future update to activate this.
- The layout is clean, but it links directly to the site rather than a secondary information page.
WP-Business Directory
I was not able to make this one work.
zeList
For an internet directory this should become a good option. When I first tried this plugin it seemed to be buggy. It is not ready for use, but looks like the developer is packing it full of features. The author is definitely making progress with this plugin. I like how the links were part of the standard WordPress links. The part that initially confused me was finding it there. All of the other link directories had their own area for links and I was just “trained” to look in a different area. It also did not have a nice landing page showing all the link categories, but the revision created a list at the top of the directory page. There is some styling necessary to clean it up, but this is still a young plugin. I expect some great things from this link directory.
Notable Features:
- Features include checking for dead links — Nice!
- Allows creation of link tags
Open Links Directory
This is a simple directory with a nice layout. It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out and it did not produce any errors. I submitted a site and it took a little time to figure out how to make it appear in the directory. This one has some potential and I plan to look at it again in the future.
Notable Features:
- Nice Directory landing page
- Page rank checker
Which WordPress directory plugin do you use and for what purpose?
Related posts:
Thanks for taking the time to put this together — I selected zeList from your list!
Nice – your directory looks good. I have one in the works with zeList, but I am working on a couple of the CSS tweaks that it needs.
zeList looks most promising. Will see in a moment.
I have implemented two sites using zeList and one with WordPress Links Directory. My goal is to implement one of each and watch them grow…I just need to dream up a couple more projects to use them on.
Keep me posted on your success and thoughts!
Back already. Loaded it up, set the settings and entered a test listing. To enter the listing, the person actually enters the dashboard of your wordpress site.
I don’t like that at all. I want something that provides a submission form on the website, not the admin side.
zeList does require registration (as a contributor) on the site. And then you can submit from the frontend. But to add the details it does take you to the backend….but the details are optional from a submission perspective.
Let me know which one you choose when you pick one. Good luck.
I have tried the Business Directory which is very easy to install and setup. Visitors can add their business details online and I get to approve – disapprove. Would like to know how to edit the form – I’m in the UK we don’t use the term zip code (postcode) and most people live in towns not cities. perhaps small details but important in the UK.
I just went through the list and thinks zeelist is better. I’m currently trying that one. so you can add your site