The new directory widgets: Part 1

These updates and widgets concern only those who use the directory. If you have not yet enabled your directory add-on, you can do so easily, sign-in to the site manager and click enable. For more details, this tutorial is mighty helpful: How to use the Directory add-on on your site.

The purpose of a directory is to guide your users to the best sites (or letting them submit sites that could be useful). To make your directory more dynamic and show off the time and attention spent we recommend that use the widget latest sites added to directory.

This widget can be added to the side menu of your site or directly in a page.  This widget can be personalized to a display a specific category of the directory and the number of sites you would like to be displayed. At a glance, your directory users will see the new sites displayed in all their glory, just like that of the directory add-on. 

You can even take advantage of another new feature that lets you incorporate the illustrative image when referencing the site's of your directory. To activate this feature go to Add-ons > Directory > Options and tick the box show the illustrative image in an item's list.

Help your users navigate your directory faster and more efficiently by clearly displaying the different directory categories available to them. The directory add-on makes it easy to create categories and sub-categories in an intuitive way, clearly organising the websites.

We have three different widgets specialized to display your directory categories. Some are better for pages and some are better utilized in a side menu.

For instance, we recommend that you use the Directory categories (displayed like the add-on) widget in a page. This widget imitates the exact display of your categories like that which is on your directory homepage.

This is another way to spotlight your directory and up its use, clearly indicating to users what they will find in exploring your directory. This widget can be specified to a certain subcategory as well. The other two widgets are more convenient for better navigation when in a side menu.

The Directory categories widget is a basic list of the title you have given to your categories. This list links to the corresponding category page of your site, and is auto-generated for you and updated. This widget is a nice compact display that fits well in the side menus.

Just as with the other category widgets, you can display all the categories or choose one specific category. One could imagine using this widget as a compliment to a page that has the same area of interest. For example, a book club website may have a page dedicated to the low cost and ease of reading, and in the side menu visitors can see the directory category free reading resources.  

The widget List of categories and websites (detailed display) is fantastic when you want to provide a clear description of your categories.

To take full advantage of this widget you will have needed to fill out the information fields in the directory categories, by simply editing the directory category from your manager. This can be helpful when your site visitors are new and not sure of the content you offer. In a glance they can understand the logic to the categories created. 

But there is more to come...

There are new widgets that are linked to the directory add-on and will be discussed in the next Widget Wednesday.