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Managing Listings

DirectoryEasy provides comprehensive tools for managing member interactions, listing reviews, favorites, and bulk operations. This guide covers everything from review moderation to advanced listing management features.

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Member Reviews

Members can easily add reviews to any directory listing. The review system is designed to maintain quality while encouraging community engagement.

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How Reviews Work

  1. Members submit reviews through the listing detail page.
  2. Every review is automatically set to Pending status until approved.
  3. Directory owners receive instant email notifications when new reviews are submitted.
  4. Reviews become publicly visible only after owner approval.
Important: Ensure your SMTP email settings are properly configured to receive review notifications.

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Approving Reviews

To manage incoming reviews:
  1. Open your dashboard sidebar and go to Reviews.
  2. Review pending submissions and decide whether to approve or reject them.
  3. Approved reviews become visible to the public immediately.
Listing owners can view reviews left on their own listings directly from their member dashboard, giving them insight into customer feedback.

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Favorites System

The favorites feature allows members to bookmark listings they’re interested in for easy access later.

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Using Favorites

  • Members can add any listing to their favorites with a single click.
  • All favorited listings are accessible from the member dashboard.
  • This feature helps members track businesses or services they want to remember.
The favorites system is simple and intuitive, requiring no configuration from the directory owner.

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Listing Management Dashboard

After a listing is submitted to your directory, you have powerful tools to manage it individually or in bulk.

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Available Actions

From the listings section, you can:
  • Delete listings: Remove individual listings or multiple at once.
  • Change status: Update listing status one at a time or in bulk.
  • Export data: Download listings as CSV files for external use.
  • Import data: Upload new listings or updates via CSV.

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Listing Status Options

Every listing can have one of four statuses:
  • Pending: Newly submitted listings awaiting review.
  • Rejected: Listings that don’t meet your criteria.
  • Approved: Reviewed and accepted, but not yet public.
  • Published: Live and visible to all visitors.
Remember: Only published listings are visible to the public. Approved listings remain hidden until you publish them.

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Verification and Claim Settings

The verification toggle controls whether a listing can be claimed by business owners.

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Verified Listings (Toggle Checked)

When a listing is marked as verified:
  • The listing is protected from claims by other users.
  • Nobody can claim ownership of this listing.
  • Use this setting for:
    • Listings you’ve added yourself as the directory owner.
    • Listings already claimed by their rightful owners.
Note: When members claim their own listings, this toggle is automatically checked by default.

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Unverified Listings (Toggle Unchecked)

When a listing is unverified:
  • The listing becomes available for claiming.
  • Business owners can claim and manage their own listings.
  • Perfect for encouraging business owners to take ownership of their profiles.
Featured listings receive special visibility and prominence in your directory, making them valuable for monetization through subscription plans. You can choose how featured listings appear:
  1. Slider presentation: Display featured listings in a prominent slider on the homepage.
  2. Top positioning: Force listings to stay at the top with a colorful border.
  3. Both options: Combine slider and top positioning for maximum visibility.
  • Featured toggle: Enable to give the listing premium visibility.
  • Exempt from automation: Check this to prevent automation rules from affecting the featured status—useful for listings with permanent featured placement.
Tip: Featured placement is often what you promise members when they subscribe to premium plans, giving their listings more exposure.
We’ll cover automation rules for managing featured status in a separate guide.

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Subscription Plans

Assign subscription plans to control which features each listing has access to.

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How Plans Work

  1. Select a plan from the dropdown menu in the listing settings.
  2. Starter: The default plan assigned to all new listings.
  3. Other plans: Unlock additional features like featured placement.
  4. Click Update to save your changes.
You can apply plan changes to individual listings or update multiple listings at once using bulk actions. Configuration of subscription plans and their features is covered in detail in another guide.

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Importing and Exporting Listings

DirectoryEasy supports bulk operations through CSV files, making it easy to migrate existing data or make mass updates.

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Exporting Listings

  1. Go to the listings section in your dashboard.
  2. Click the Export button to download all listings as a CSV file.
  3. Use this file as a template for future imports or external analysis.

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Importing Listings

The import process supports both new listings and updates to existing ones:
  1. Click the Import button in the listings section.
  2. Upload your CSV file.
  3. Review the field mapping (if necessary).
  4. Click Import to complete the process.

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Best Practices for CSV Imports

For the smoothest import experience, follow these recommendations: Option 1: Use the Template
  1. Download the official template from the import page.
  2. Fill it with your data using the correct column names.
  3. Import without needing to map fields manually.
Option 2: Export and Modify (Recommended)
  1. Submit 2-3 sample listings through the form with all fields filled in.
  2. Export those listings as CSV.
  3. Replace the sample data with your actual scraped or collected data.
  4. Import the file back.
This approach ensures:
  • Correct column names that the system recognizes.
  • Proper value formatting (e.g., false for unchecked featured status, not no or -1).
  • Clear reference for how each field should be formatted.

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Field Mapping

If your CSV contains columns not recognized by DirectoryEasy:
  1. Create the corresponding custom field first in Customization → Custom Fields.
  2. During import, search for your column name in the mapping interface.
  3. Match it to the newly created custom field.
  4. Complete the import.
If column names in your CSV exactly match your custom field names, they’ll be automatically mapped without manual intervention.

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Bulk Operations

Apply changes to multiple listings simultaneously:
  • Select multiple listings using checkboxes.
  • Update status for all selected items at once.
  • Change verification settings in bulk.
  • Assign subscription plans to multiple listings.
  • Delete unwanted listings together.
Bulk operations save significant time when managing large directories with hundreds or thousands of listings.
With these tools, you can efficiently manage your directory’s listings, maintain quality through review moderation, and provide members with a rich, interactive experience.