[kon tiki]

On Dashboard for example at the BePro Listings Link, indication of submitted unapproved listings, in the style of plugins available for update would be good, so the admin knows right away there is something new. (Saw this in some other directories or similar plugins). … with or some email notification of submission?

It should be indicated web links added on submission form should NOT include “http://”, or if I remember well, the “Website” link on page link will not work

Regarding the pop-up “bubbles(?)” that appear on the map when you move the mouse over a location, it would be good, if they would automatically close after the mouse leaves them.
If one moved the mouse over 2 dozen, assuming the map covers a large area, u would have countless pop-ups open that make it hard to access particular points unless you closed at least some.

I would like to suggest, that the name of the item (location) in that pop-up, be linked at least to the listing in the directory, just like the red arrow.

I have just a couple of listings to which I have manually added lon & lat, which I hope will be done away in favor of just the Google-recognized physical street address. When you move the mouse over one, it seems to move away, but you can then all the same click on the red arrow. In one particular case, though, it is not possible to click on the red arrow which seems to move away the moment the mouse comes near. The data for this particular listing is the same as that for other listings. So I do not understand why this plays hide & seek, unless I am missing something. Is there an explanation for this behavior? On the main listings page with [display_listings], at least with the Custom Community theme, “Item name” font is not much different from the rest. At least using some header font would help.

Regards

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.
• This topic was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.

[BePro Software Team]

Hi,

These are definitely some good ideas. Can you share a link to your website so we can see the progress and how the plugin is working out for you?

• We are planning on improving the map dramatically in two stages. The plan includes making the entire plugin design responsive. Also, we hope to provide an entire map add-on for the plugin to a) store and cache map images, b) change map icons and behavior. Note that you can currently turn off the pop-ups with a shortcode option in favor of a click to open.
• It sounds like you are having a css conflict. For an item to suddenly react during mouse hover really leaves two options. Since our javascript doesn’t have any functionality like that, i would focus attention on a css conflict.
• New listing notification is something we also have in development. The visual indicator is a good addition that we have not planned yet. Overall, we want to add an entire notification system which would alert both the admin and the user of changes to the listings
• You should not have to manually add lat/lon unless the marker is in a location without a street address. These fields should not be required and should be automatically calculated once, address, city, and country are provided.  It is very rare that our team has had a situation where we needed to change the Lat/Lon settings. Its one of the reasons why providing the option to end users has not been a priority.

As always, we appreciate your comments and they are being used to improve the plugin.

BePro Software Team

[kon tiki]

Hi

The site is quite new & still under development. The Bepro Listings connected links are currently under “Web-Verzeichnis” under Links, as sublinks. [as you will note, still trying to understand how to best use the plugin, short codes, …] I am using the Custom Community theme. I am waiting including more links, partly to see how some things proceed, like the overview of categories/subcategories on the main listings page, etc. One reason for this is because I have to write instructions on how to submit links. A simple to use web directory is a feature we would very much like to add with the capacity to host several thousand links.

I decided to submit a new listing as a normal use to see if I had got the last point on lan & lon in your response above wrong. The link was approved by the admin. One thing that I noted not for the first time was quite often the site takes way too long to transfer data from maps.googleapi.com, … though it has to do with the directory map on the map page, several minutes in some cases, with Firefox not completely loading or not fast enough.

The particular new listing on the map that I added, apparently with street addresses which Google Maps proper & plugins used on this site like events manager & lots more use, but as you see in the case of the last listing “Afrika Haus Berlin” on the “Webverzeichnis Links” page, there is no “View map”. This only comes, like in other listings currently shown on that page when one manually adds lan & lon, which I have NOT done. You can try this out yourself by submitting a link HOWEVER, with European format addresses. … An example is any listing in this directory. They all have addresses.

Am I mistaken or the user currently has no chance to edit his submitted link?

As you note, the Cost – Free [which as said before would be grateful if the option for this not to appear at all] & the “names” used so Email & Phone can appear & considered as only personal – not business, etc is good but makes this a bit inappropriate in a good number of cases. Only the administrator being able to edit the link & add the optional form fields means only he can add additional info, which he might not even know, like additional phones, faxes, business opening times, etc. It would be good of the this feature would be in the general directory settings, so the administrator can set for all the form fields to be available for the directory he offers. I think most if not all of the current listings have additional fields I added + data, which only the admin see, but are not visible at the frontend.

I have added a map manually on a couple of current “item” pages. … Unfortunately you said you intend to add that function as a paid add-on …

I requested in an earlier post including the website link on the “item” page proper as well, which although it is available in the preview, it would be good if all information related to a listing was again available on its page. Just a thought.

On the preview page => [display_listings] maybe the layout could be made more flexible … Must the “Item” open in a new page? It seems all HTML elements at the frontend, even added by the admin are stripped. That’s why “View larger map” /”Großere Kartenansicht” coming from added Gmap appear. Wondering about that text just below the image in black, & where it comes from … As you note, some text seems to disappear under the line diving the listings …

On the registration form as you note under Categories, even the number that is already there takes a good fraction of the page. I put off adding subcategories of each. Using Select dropdown form element I think would take much less space, also in widget.

On the page map, Links => Web-Verzeichnis, the strange location pointer I mentioned before is located at “Hamburg”. The others can be clicked, that particular keeps running away from the mouse making it impossible to click on it. Quite strange, I think ;).

I find the pop-ups OK, just suggesting it would be good if after the mouse is away, that they close automatically so one does not have many open that the mouse has passed over & if possible, not bad if the location on them could be linked to “item” page.

I hope it will be possible in the short term to know the scripts where one can manually edit text like “item”

I these observations help …

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.
• This reply was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.

[BePro Software Team]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the website link. We had someone visit the links page and compile the following report. Please note that we found the listings map but not the actual listings?

• Definitely understand your need for the sub-categories and appreciate your patience with us implementing this feature.
• Again unfortunate about the google maps loading time. We specifically addressed this in a recent releases and no longer experience the issue in any browser. Have you been able to test the plugin on any other servers?
• The user should be able to use all form fields that the admin can use except for, lat/lon, tags, and custom fields. So the user is able to change the website link for the listing.
• Good idea on the link being available on the actual item page. This was definitely an oversight.
• The cost free visibility option is probably best implemented by yourself. This is because we believe that some users would like this to show up in a site where prices are expected. With that said, the other point of specifying which fields show up instead of our grouped settings is *very* valid
• During an earlier release, the listings page was a little more flexible. It allowed you to specify if the links went to a new page.  At some point this must have been removed. We currently only offer the ability to change the size of the listings. Can you itemize the features you are interested in regarding flexibility for [ display_listings ]?
• On your map, that pointer does move around. Cant imagine why that is, and a quick google search reveals no similar widespread issues with google maps.
• Further to the last point, we do intend to add the listing link to the pop up bubble.  Also, we are evaluating options for closing the bubble. OnMouseOut may work for your setup but our team is uncertain that all individuals will appreciate this. It may end up being an option for the admin in a future release.

If anything was missed, or not fully answered, let us know.

 

BePro Software Team

[kon tiki]

Hi

Thank you for the comprehensive response.

Just want to say if I end up repeating an already stated feature request, just ignore it … because I am sure you have noted all, and some might not be implemented in the short term. 😉

The user should be able to use all form fields that the admin can use except for, lat/lon, tags, and custom fields. So the user is able to change the website link for the listing. — CORRECTION, I discovered the OPTIONAL fields available to the admin seem to be added by another plugin & have nothing to do with BePro directory plugin. What I may be missing is exactly where/how users can edit already submitted links.

The cost free visibility option is probably best implemented by yourself. This is because we believe that some users would like this to show up in a site where prices are expected. With that said, the other point of specifying which fields show up instead of our grouped settings is *very* valid.  — I will be grateful for any option, that allows only showing what is relevant, and if possible additional freely configurable fields, that allow adding non-personal tel/fax + other content, like business times, availed & set by admin.

Further to the last point, we do intend to add the listing link to the pop up bubble.  Also, we are evaluating options for closing the bubble. …. It may end up being an option for the admin in a future release. —- As an option for the admin. to set, would be fine.

Actually I had mentioned:

The Bepro Listings connected pages are currently in last post under

“Web-Verzeichnis” under Links, as sublinks., … So here is the Listings page, with Filter Form, Search page, and submission form.

You will note the Filterform & Search do not work properly.  I have tried to understand the statement in a post in the forum at WP:

2) The [ search_form ] shortcode has options to supply a url where the form should forward to (ideally where you put [ display_listings ] ). Remember, the shortcodes can exist on infinite pages/posts. So you need to tell the plugin which page/post you want to forward to.

How exactly should that be implemented, to point the search form short code to the listings page? I tried adding some link combinations to [search_form ], thinking I was pointing it to the listings page, but all produced page not found & like errors. Assuming the listings page is http://www.abc.com/listings, how exactly do u implement it in that shortcode on page with [search_form ]?

Regarding the listings page:

During an earlier release, the listings page was a little more flexible. It allowed you to specify if the links went to a new page.  At some point this must have been removed. We currently only offer the ability to change the size of the listings. Can you itemize the features you are interested in regarding flexibility for [ display_listings ]?

If you look at the Listings page, I would just like it to look better, like content generated by some other plugins to fit in the available space. No content should disappear below or be partially hidden by the line dividing the listings, etc

Since some directories (are to) contain more than just a few dozen links, but hundreds or thousands, divided into dozens of categories & subcategories, it would be good to have a page with a quick but appropriate overview that is not too crowded, and having say only top categories. That would mean if you have 20 main categories, the option of the category image sizes, e.g. much smaller, in this direction => this, so one has image + text beside it, or being editable or not having any at all, so u only have text. A click on one leads to a subcategory, etc. … OK, you said that might take sometime to implement on [ display_listing_categories ] … …     For directories having hundreds/thousands of links the page with [display_listings] would be having the newest or oldest links (?), paged, I guess, a couple per page. If you have 1000 thousand links, and want to have a good number on each preview page, I would suggest a design of this page not taking too much space, possibly with the option of NO images or smaller ones, probably showing the title, and at least a few lines of the description or whatever other preview information, etc like => here which compared to => thistakes much less space. If one has just a couple of links, the case is of course different & the current very generous use of space does not matter much.

Looking at the [ display_listings] page, you will note the “Item” title does not differentiate itself much from the rest of the text. May be making it bold & slightly larger would be good. How about linking it + the picture to the “item” page? Just thoughts … the dark text immediately under the image, like “Heidelberg,,Deutschland”, city & country?, a comma too much + [in most parts of Europe if not all of it, states are not a required part of the address + many countries have nothing equivalent] … not sure if that text is set in CSS to black, would be good if it conformed to theme?

… also, it happens to be FORMATTED text/html elements added as ADMIN are stripped, meaning what remains might end up looking awkward. “View Larger Map” or “Größere Kartenansicht”, you see on listings page are remnants of html code used to manually add Gmaps by admin in the process of editing/approval. Any way to deal with this?

I would like to request some little expansion of the explanation on the use of [search_form] & [filter_form] and their options on the How to use page. The simple reason is for a good number of users like me, who are NOT coders or new to WP, etc, implementing some cool functions is  not that intuitive.

Not being a coder is the reason why I can currently only shower you with lots suggestions, without being able to help with coding them. 😉 I am otherwise a bit conversant with some other directories based on other scripts that I run & so have an idea of what I & other users of similar scripts need but found missing in other WP directory plugins. Since I have some WP based community site to which we want to include a listings directory, … It is good your support team is not only available but open to suggestion …

Regards

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.
• This reply was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.

[kon tiki]

One small addition: it seems there is something fishy about post formatting when making posts on your site. It seems to (at times at least) ignore the ALLOWED text formatting elements. I had used unordered listing, bold text & italics, …

Regarding lon & lat, as mentioned in last post, doing without them does not seem to work for me at least. On the listings page mentioned in links above, the last/newest listing on that page [Banana-Lunge Heidelberg] was added after updating to current version with normal European style addresses, like => [Poststr. 36, 69115 Heidelberg – the 69115 being ZIP code] sufficient for Google maps & several WP plugins using maps like Event Manager plugin BUT as yoNO map link is included in that information. At least with my set up, the map only appears with manual addition of lon/lat.

May be missing something …

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by kon tiki.

[BePro Software Team]

we are looking into this. please stand by

 

BePro Software Team

[BePro Software Team]

Hi,

Thanks again for the feedback. We will try to help where possible.

The shortcode is used like [ search_form listing_page=”url_enter_here” ] You can see it working on the home page of : http://maritimetransit.com. We are actively working on tutorial videos created by our Ad Coordinates sister brand, to explain to members exactly how to utilize the plugin options.

You are right about the design elements. However, as noted on the listings plugin page, we recommend that you know css or hire someone who does. The look is not a major priority for the free plugin at this point. Although in the long run, a responsive stock theme is being planned.

Regarding the formatting of the post, you are right again. Nothing fishy going on though. It is a security procedure performed on the submission before it is saved to the database.  Ideally, future generations of the plugin may offer options to allow owners to specify which html tags are aloud.

The fact that you are not able to generate a lat/lon from the form is difficult to diagnose. Hopefully other customer also experiencing the issue will chime in. So far we have not been able to duplicate the issue but are continuing to test it. This is obviously an intricate part of the Cost, Contact, Lat/Lon model.

Note, our primary goal is to guarantee that the plugin works for everyone in its current state before developing new features. We are actively working towards fixing all known bugs and providing opportunities for others to build features into the plugin easily.  Expect the next few releases to focus more on, functionality repair, api hooks, and overall ease of use.

We definitely understand and appreciate your ideas for the category feature. However, note that most directory and listing plugins actually charge for this feature while we provide it for free. The enhancements you are suggesting will definitely make it into versions released within the next few months.

BePro Software Team

[BePro Software Team]

Also, none of your post pages worked for our team. Are you sure that you re-saved your permalinks?

Consider taking advantage of our BePro Software Team for custom development. Prices are posted here.

 

BePro Software Team

[kon tiki]

Hi,

Thank you for the response.

I appreciate the offer for paid services, but of interest are basic features I thought are for everyone, though I agree some paid customization might be necessary. I am also aware of the many suggestions, many may end up being add-ons you want paid for. You have however implied appreciating suggestions to improve the plugin … which I have been providing, and yet have to be made aware of when one should stop, etc.

Responding to the last post first, after reading the statement on saving permalinks again, it was the first thing I did & if it is the culprit, whatever it held up should work. I must add, that the page with the filter form might not work and I yet have to look at your instructions again. I however have NO non-working links elsewhere on the site because of permalinks.

Regarding the search form page , thank you for the clarification. I assume this should be a live example => [search_form  listing_page=”http://www.aspectusafrica.com/links/webverzeichnis-links/”%5D with that page link being one of the page containing => [display_listings]. On that page at the front end (http://www.aspectusafrica.com/links/webverzeichnis-links/weblink-suche/), if I try to search for the listings with one of the titles of the “items” like “Sompon Socialservice e. V.” … and this item is on the listings page, Firefox takes me to Google instead. Assuming that is a local issue, Google Chrome => “We’re sorry, but we can’t find the page that you’re looking for. Perhaps searching will help.”

Do I implement the shortcode correctly? I have used real links & pages …

Regarding CSS page formatting, I will have to look at this. I might ask a question or 2  later on if it is a matter of users themselves having to do it.

Preventing html formatting for security reasons is understandable. Just have to think about what to do with a manually added Gmap even by the admin on the display-listings page & its effects.

About lon/lat … I decided to assume you are right, & there is something wrong with this specific site, buddypress-based & using a good number of plugins. So I decided to install your plugin on ANOTHER much simpler WP-based site, with much fewer plugins, no Buddypress or related plugins & using a different theme.

It has all Bepro Listing default settings checked (Show Cost, Show Contact, Show Geography). I added 2 links, with European style addresses & NO lon/lat. the result is here  => http://www.gdvfu.de/impressum/verzeichnis/on the [display_listings] page.

The ITEM page like => http://www.gdvfu.de/bepro_listings/guineisch-deutscher-verein-freiburg-e-v/, does not seem to fully load, both in Firefox & Chrome with some wheel endlessly rotating.

Furthermore, you will note there is no Googlemap link, even if the street address & zip & city & country are given.

Then, on this => http://www.gdvfu.de/impressum/verzeichnis-karte/ map link with => [generate_map size=4] … only YOUR default example CANADIAN location is shown, even if the 2 links I included have the location data which I can view as admin.

So I think there are probably a couple of issues on lon/lat that are not peculiar to my one website, but appear on another unconnected site on another server & that otherwise functions normally & 100%.

I assume helping solve what seem to be general issues does not fall into your paid services … 🙂 … I might be mistaken, but the lon/lat issue is not local, unless there some unfortunate coincidence on 3 sites, I hope to try the plugin on yet another unrelated website of another customer, ….

Last reference to categories, just wanted to make a last explanation that the probably most used WP directory plugin ODLINKS (as shown) has what I had in mind – in last post. Will not mention it again. 😉

Kind regards

[BePro Software Team]

Hello,

Thank you for your suggestion. The following has been implemented into the latest release of BePro Listings

“Regarding the pop-up “bubbles(?)” that appear on the map when you move the mouse over a location, it would be good, if they would automatically close after the mouse leaves them.”

 

Regards,

BePro Software Team

[Author]

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