Business directory use cases¶
Business listing creation¶
We provide several ways on creating a business listing. For more details please check chapter 2 Populating the business directory.
Business listing creation with free/paid package¶
In order to provide different payment plans we have created the package section. The packages can be configured with the desired features, time period and price. The package mechanism can be activated from general settings of directory extension in general tab.
If package mechanism is active, your business listings will be shown on front-end only if there is a free package of type lifetime defined or there is a paid order associated with the business listing. If a free package is defined all business listings will be associated with the package features defined on the package.
When a package is selected on business listing creation/editing the features that are contained in the package are available on edit business listings fields. For example, if a package contains map feature, a map will appear on business listings fields for entering the business location.
If a package is not free, an order will be created upon saving the business listing.
The selected package features that are available when creating/editing business listings, will be shown on front-end only if the order associated with the package is paid.
When a package expires the business listing is automatically associated with a free package of type lifetime (if one is defined) otherwise it will not be shown anymore on front-end.
Business listing package expiration & notification¶
When using packages it is useful to notify the company owners that a package is about to expire. The notification message can be customized in the manage emails section.
- Companies can be notified using the following link:
http://yoursite/index.php/component/jbusinessdirectory?task=companies.checkBusinessAboutToExpire
The link can be put also in a cron job that will be called daily.
A cront job usually runs a linux executable file. The content of the file is