Business Directory Widget

With the business directory widget, you can display entries on your homepage that are published in the business directory on your local news website.

Monika Borowiec
02.08.2023 10:02

Business Directory Widget - sample look on homepage. Live preview: https://demo.4media.com/

Thanks to the available widget layout configuration options, you can customize it to suit your individual preferences and needs, such as displaying only promoted business listings on your website's homepage.

Important! The widget can only display active business directory entries. You can learn more about managing listings from the Business Directory module.

Adding the Business Directory Widget

The widget can be added to any template in the page builder. Simply log in to your administrator account in CMS 4media and navigate to the Page Builder module from the main menu.

Then, choose the template to which you want to add the widget displaying business directory entries from the list. The template edit view will open, where you can use the "+ Add Element" button to access the library of all widgets and select the "Business Directory" widget. If you don't see the widget in the list of elements, you can use the search function.

You can add several of the same business directory widgets to one page template. This way, you can easily create a portal with local advertisements, as each added widget can display ads from a specific category or subcategory.

Business Directory Widget Configuration

After clicking on the Business Directory widget in the library, the widget configuration wizard will open. You will be able to specify details such as the number of displayed entries, categories (all or only one), or the presentation style of the entries in detail.

The widget is divided into header section settings and content settings.

Header Settings

The header section of the widget consists of:

Header text - the content displayed on the top bar of the widget, such as "Business Directory." By default, it functions as a link leading to a subpage with all business listings.
Header link - here, you can decide whether the header text should act as a link and insert a URL address.
Icon - you can enable/disable the display of icons in front of the header text. Icons are available in the library of pre-made icons to choose from.
Menu - defines additional header menu functionalities, such as the option to enable scroll control buttons for widget content, display a category list, or show a "See More" button redirecting to the subpage with all business listings.

Header Settings in the Business Directory Widget.

Menu Settings in the Header of Business Listings Widget.

Content Settings

In the Business Directory Widget's content section, you can choose whether the widget should display entries from all categories, only from the main category (including subcategories), or from only one subcategory.

In the "Choose the type of classifieds" section, you can decide how to display promoted entries. These can be:

All classifieds,
Free classifieds,
Classified ads with paid time of emission,
Classified ads with additional emission in the widget.

If you toggle the "Display at random" switch, the widget will display entries in random order with each page view where it's published.

In the "Displaying results" section, you can configure how the widget should display entries. You have many combinations and elements to enable, disable, or configure.

Content Settings in the Business Directory Widget.

In Content section you can set:

Number of Companies - determines the number of displayed entries in the widget (max. 50).
Shorten Titles - here, you can specify whether titles should be displayed in full or shortened to 1, 2, 3, or 4 lines, allowing for better visual control of the widget.
Show Short Descriptions - if the slider is active, a shortened description of each entry will be displayed under the title (a text fragment from the business listing description).
Display Contact Details - with this option, you can decide whether contact information (phone, email) should be visible for each entry in the widget.
Show "See More" Button Below the List - here, you can set the appearance of a button that, when clicked, redirects the user to the subpage with all business listings on the website. The button is displayed below the list of business listings in the widget.
Text Placement in Relation to Photo - here, you can decide on the layout of text and images of business listings displayed in the widget (e.g., top, bottom, right, left, or above the image).

In the "Preview" section, you can see how individual entries will appear inside the widget.