It is a pleasure to announce that the long-awaited J-BusinessDirectory extension, version 5.5.0 Beta is now live. This is one of the most important releases that integrates multiple enhancements. The new version is compatible with Joomla! 4 and contains a lot of new features and improvements.

After the extension update, we recommend updating the view overrides and also clearing the browser cache.



Let's take a tour to showcase some of the major features that have been added or improved.



EU Tax System

 

It is now possible to add different VAT values for each country for which you offer services and products. The settings are available in the directory general configuration -> business details tab.



Customizable autocomplete address

Since the autocomplete mechanism is not consistent for all countries, we have implemented a mapping mechanism that allows the possibility to link the google address fields with the address fields.


Easy social integration 

You can now link the J-BusinessDirectory extension with the EasySocial extension with the new EasySocial apps for listings, offers & events.
We also provide an EasySocial stream plugin that will post all the activity on the user profile.



Limit cities/regions

Having the users enter the city and region in the address fields can cause some errors in the naming, so we have decided to offer the possibility to just select the city and the region, instead of entering the information in a text field. You can enable/disable the mechanism in the directory general settings -> limit cities/regions.

 


Improved import mechanism for business listings

It has never been easier to import a high number of business listings. The new import mechanism will allow importing a high number of listings with one click without the need of splitting the big files into smaller parts.

 


Enhance the user registration process

The registration has always caused some confusion among users and we have decided to improve the registration mechanism and to keep the user on the desired flow.
The only possibility to implement this mechanism in Joomla is to set the New User Account Activation to none.
After the user creates an account using the J-BusinessDirectory User module, it will be redirected to the page that is set in the Registration Redirection Page.




The complete list of new features and improvements

Below, you can find the full list of new features and improvements that have been developed in the 5.5.0 version.

New features

  • New  EU Tax system - possibility to set a different VAT for each country
  • Add flexibility to address autocomplete - possibility to map autocomplete fields to address fields
  • Easy social integration - new Easy Social apps
  • Limit cities/regions - render the city/regions as select boxes
  • New privacy policy - for each user form.
  • New  package upgrade info for free listings on CP - if a user has only free listings a banner will appear in the business listings section
  • Redirect after user registration (J-BusinessDirectory user module)
  • New filter for listings that offer appointments
  • Show how many times a listing has been bookmarked
  • Added the area of interest on the user profile (user suggestions will appear in the user front-end control panel)
  • Added export / save pdf for all bookmarks
  • New view button for main items in backend, in the edit view
  • Added offer type to menu item and module
  • Connect user groups with user dashboard
  • Possibility to order speaker in session edit view
  • Add a message after the listing and the account is created in the front-end
  • Add recommended badge
  • New MercadoPago payment method

Improvements

  • Search filters are loaded with React.js resulting in a performance boost
  • Show RSS icon on business listings
  • Optimize files loading
  • Apply taxes to business services
  • Improve canonical tags/links
  • JBD Appointments improvement
  • OpenStreetMap improvements
  • Add to cart on all offer views
  • Improved filter queries for business listings
  • Improved structured-data-markup
  • Improved quote request section front-end
  • Improved style for search modules
  • The quote request description is shown directory on the list view
  • New event appointments link
  • Optimized and unified billing details for all JBD apps
  • Changed float to decimal for price fields
  • New setting to apply VAT to prices directly
  • Enhanced user registration process
  • Ordered permissions by sections
  • Updated open street map directions
  • Refactored the booking process
  • Refactor the packages mechanism
  • Improve all front-end CP views
  • Migrate URL keywords from defines to general settings
  • Improved import mechanism for business listings
  • Popups improvements
  • Automatically enable add language code to URL
  • Hide the request quote module if no results are present
  • Add the radius also on the events search module
  • Overall UX improvements
  • Native Language tab names

Bugs

  • Fixed translations for months for events
  • Fixed secondary Location issue
  • Clustering for open mapsExpiration date not calculated OK
  • Fixed mechanism for allowing to contribute
  • Custom fields bug
  • Shipping method price issue
  • Fixed types order
  • Export issue on appointments bookings
  • Appointment at the same time to different providers
  • Messages issue - when a message is read in the back-end, it was read also in front-end
  • Click on the last items in projects does not open the projects
  • Fixed speakers/business removal in session admin
  • Add missing translation for the directory
  • Item decouple issues

 


How to update?

At the moment you can only update manually. Download the latest version by log in to your CMSJunkie account and selecting the My Downloadable Products menu item on the left.



Bug reporting

Since this is still a beta version, some bugs may have eluded our QA team but they will definitely not get past you.  
We have created a dedicated section for reporting bugs
http://www.cmsjunkie.com/forum/jbd-beta-testing/?p=1





Download    View Demo

 




From our Joomla extensions category: Joomla Business Directory