Directory Spark – Business Directory & Listings

Description

Directory Spark is a WordPress directory plugin built for local business directories, niche listings boards, and anything in between. Run the step-by-step setup wizard, add your categories, and you have a fully working directory accepting public submissions in minutes.

Activate, run the wizard, create your categories, and publish. Most directories are live within minutes of activating the plugin.

Use Directory Spark for local business directories, restaurant guides, service provider listings, community noticeboards, freelancer directories, accommodation guides, membership organisation directories, and more.

Free Features

Listings

• Unlimited listings with no cap on how many you can create or accept
• Title, description (rich text), and featured image on every listing
• Standard fields on every listing: address, phone, email, website, and business hours
• Latitude and longitude fields for precise map positioning per listing
• Business hours: per-day open and close times with a day toggle for each day of the week
• Custom fields: add extra fields to every listing, with your choice of type
• Category system: a hierarchical category tree with browseable archive pages per category
• Featured listings: flag specific listings to highlight and filter them separately

Custom field types

• Text: single-line text input
• Textarea: multi-line text input for longer content
• URL: a URL field rendered as a clickable link on the listing page
• Number: numeric input with browser validation
• Email: email input rendered as a clickable mailto link
• Select: a dropdown with custom options defined in the field manager
• Checkbox: a simple yes/no field

Frontend submission

• Logged-in visitors can submit listings from any page using [directory_spark_submit]
• Submissions land in a pending queue for admin review before going live
• Full submission form includes all standard fields, business hours, and any active custom fields
• Honeypot spam protection on every submission
• Submitters receive an immediate on-screen confirmation after submitting

Admin approval workflow

• All submissions arrive as pending listings in a dedicated admin screen
• One-click approve and reject actions directly from the listing editor and list table
• Bulk approve, reject, or trash from the listings list view
• Rejection note field: write a message for the submitter explaining why their listing was declined
• Submitter receives an email on approval and on rejection, with the rejection note included

Listing display

• Grid template: image-first card layout with title, address, phone, website, and category pill
• List template: horizontal layout with image on the left and listing details on the right
• Every card is fully clickable; phone and website links remain independently clickable within the card
• Single listing page: featured image hero, description, business hours, custom fields, contact details card, and contact form
• Contact form on every listing page, routed to the listing owner’s email address
• All brand colours inherit from the button colour set in Settings, so the directory matches your site

Search and discovery

• [directory_spark_listings] shortcode: full listing archive with search bar and category filter
• [directory_spark_search] shortcode: standalone search bar for embedding anywhere on the site
• Keyword search, category filter, and pagination in the free plugin
• Native CPT archive at your chosen URL slug, with individual archives per category
• pre_get_posts integration: no secondary queries; the main WP query does the work

WP Go Maps integration

• Works with the free WP Go Maps plugin
• Enable a map embed on every single listing page from Settings – Integrations
• Map centres automatically at the listing’s lat/lng coordinates when set
• Map ID picker populated from your live WP Go Maps maps

User account area

• [directory_spark_account] shortcode: logged-in users view all their submitted listings in one place
• Status displayed per listing: pending, published, or rejected
• Rejection note shown to the submitter when a listing is declined

Email notifications

• Admin notified by email on every new listing submission, with a direct link to review it
• Submitter notified when their listing is approved
• Submitter notified when their listing is rejected, with the admin rejection note in the email
• All emails sent via wp_mail() for full compatibility with any SMTP plugin
• Toggle each notification type on or off from Settings – Notifications

Settings

• Setup wizard on first activation: choose directory mode, set a listing label, create pages automatically
• General: listings per page, listing label (singular and plural), current mode display
• Design: grid or list template, featured image size, contact field visibility toggles, brand colour, button text colour, and border radius
• Fields: add, remove, and reorder custom fields without writing code
• Pages: assign the archive, submit, and account pages
• Integrations: WP Go Maps toggle and map ID selector
• Inquiries: contact mode, and editable form labels, headings, and success/error messages
• Notifications: toggle per email type, set the admin notification email address
• Developer: template override documentation and shortcode reference
• Danger Zone: reset wizard, delete all listing data

Directory Spark Pro

Directory Spark Pro unlocks monetisation, advanced search, deeper map integration, reviews, galleries, and the tools that growing directories need.

Paid listing packages

• Charge for listing submissions via Stripe or PayPal
• Free, standard, and premium tiers with per-tier field access and featured status
• Listing expiry dates with automatic renewal reminders

Claim listing

• Visitors can claim ownership of an existing unclaimed listing
• Verified badge displayed on claimed and verified listings across cards and single pages

Reviews and ratings

• Star rating system with admin moderation
• Aggregate rating displayed on listing cards and the single listing page
• Schema.org LocalBusiness markup for search engine rich results

Advanced search

• Radius search: find listings within a set distance of a location, powered by WP Go Maps Pro
• Map-synced filtering: the map and listing results update together as visitors adjust filters

Multiple listing types

• Run a business directory and a classifieds board from the same installation
• Per-type field schemas: different custom fields and templates per listing type

Photo galleries

• Unlimited images per listing, displayed in a lightbox gallery on the single listing page

Import and export

• CSV bulk import: populate a directory from a spreadsheet in minutes
• CSV export: export all listings, custom field values, and status to a CSV file

Better email delivery

• Reliable email delivery via SendGrid or Amazon SES

Developer tools

• REST API with bearer token authentication
• Outbound webhooks for listing approved, rejected, and claimed events

Get Directory Spark Pro

Built by CodeCabin

Directory Spark is built and maintained by CodeCabin, the team behind WP Go Maps, one of the most popular mapping plugins on WordPress.org. We build for the long term: clean architecture, minimal footprint, regular updates, and genuine support.

Documentation

• Getting started with Directory Spark
• Setting up the submission form
• Custom fields guide
• WP Go Maps integration
• Template overrides for developers
• Directory Spark Pro

External Services

Directory Spark does not transmit data to any external services. Email notifications are sent through your WordPress site’s own email system (wp_mail()), which uses whatever SMTP or mail delivery you have configured on your host — no data is sent to external servers by this plugin directly.