eDirectory.comAvis 

Daniel offered a very thorough overview of the platform and was able to answer all my questions effectively. He was very clear on what was and wasn't included which was appreciated and helped me finalize my decision quickly.

We had a great experience from initial conversation to confirmation of eDirectorie's service.

I was looking into edirectory and asked for a demo, was immediately contacted by Daniel who answered all of my questions that I didn't find from browsing the website. The Demo is set up very well, able to see lots of information that helped us make the decision to move forward.

The walk through of the software was thorough and all my questions were answered.

First of all, I would like to thank Darvin for his help and assistance in purchasing the program, and Larissa, who was of great help in the process from designing the program to publishing it on the website. Larissa has fulfilled all my needs in every e-mail I sent, day by day. A reliable and customer friendly company.

I contacted no less than 7 similar service providers, but edirectory, and specifically Daniel, was the only truly engaged and motivated company. I booked 2 online appointments, which helped to answer my initial questions. Prompt email responses everytime. Very impressed. I felt like edirectory wanted my business.

Daniel has been great in helping me make the decision to use E-Directory vs. competitors I was also comparing at the same time.

Very easy to navigate. The sales team was amazing walking me through the demo version and answering all my questions.

eDirectory software is far inferior, even when compared to the most basic $50 WordPress directory plugins. Here is how:

1. No comment module for blogs and articles. They only way to post comments is via Facebook. This feature was available for older versions, but now have been removed from the latest release. I was quoted $600 for basic comments and $3000 for replies to comments.

2. Search is very outdated and non-functional. If you make a typo i.e. 'Brazil' vs 'Brasil' or say 'Pizza' vs 'Piza' - there is no suggestion or fuzzy search. Visitors have to type the exact phrase.

3. No tags - Visitors are unable to filter search results using tags such as - Free Parking, Accept Credit Cards, Accepting New Patients etc. The only way to narrow down results is by 'Category' or 'Location'

4. No author pages - You can't see all the articles or blogs posted by an author. There are visitor and sponsor profile pages, but you can't aggregate content under a profile.

5. Login (Visitor and Sponsor), claim and add listing workflows are useless at best. Most sponsors abandon adding listing because the workflow is too long.

6. Google Maps is the only mapping service option. You can't use Mapbox or OpenStreetMap to save costs.

7. Images are real low quality. No PNG or SVG support.

8. Unable to filter articles and blogs by author or date or tags.

9. Very limited customization options and all the basic features, such as nested menus, global javascript insert are sold as 'plugins'

Basically, the software is pretty stripped down to sell customization, professional services and plugins. I would rather hire a WordPress developer to extend a $50 plugin.

I purchased self hosted enterprise license and used it for over a year. It was a painful experience to get the website and mobile apps up and running. I wish I could add screenshots to make my points clear, but below is a summary of major flaws with this software:

1. The core software architecture is from the 90s with some modern looking widgets. There is no RSS feed, social media platforms are limited to FB, Insta and Twitter only. No Zappier or AirTable integration. SVG image type is not supported, which makes the graphics on mobile apps and website look ugly on high resolution displays. You can’t even use an HD logo image.

2. Search is completely broken. There is 'type ahead' suggestion capability, but if you do not type the exact ‘keywords’ or listing, article name, nothing shows up. There is no recommendation or fuzzy search… Did you mean this? Or Try similar sounding names? MySQL Fuzzy Text Searching Using the SOUNDEX Function has been around for many years, but they chose not to implement.
3. Native comments for articles, blogs and listings are are now removed and sold as an extension or advanced review plugin. There is no option to use Disqus for comments. The only option is free Facebook comment plugin, which is pretty useless as young audience don’t use this platform anymore. Documentation still points to comments capability being included, but that is not true.
3. Poor UX on both desktop and mobile - Themes are not dense. About 70% of the screen space is wasted in all the default themes. Users have to scroll to see more information. Widgets come in different shapes depending upon the summary abstract.
4. Mobile apps have too many bugs in the GUI and haven’t been updated since many years.
5. Signup, login and claim listing UX is completely broken… to many links and pages to click through
6. Data harvesting - eDirectory support has a ‘super admin’ login and they also use ‘Mixpanel’ analytics to collect data. This may be helpful for support, but no mention in their documentation. It is very easy for eDirectory support personnel to export all your customer data, emails and payment info. This is precisely the reason I purchased ‘Enterprise’ license to protect my customer’s information, and Arca solutions is not very transparent with their policies and data handling practices.

In a nutshell, this software is just a bait to sell you PHP customization services and plugins at three times the developer market rate. Better bet would be to open source the software so community can help improve and Arca can offer professional services.

Super easy to work with and amazing staff

I was unsure about the right solution for our team. Daniel made it easy for us to get the answers tot he questions we had. We are starting to use the tool and are optimistic about our launch. This is so much better than the alternative option. We are happy we chose eDirectory.com.

I highly recommend Edirectory. They are surprisingly fast at communicating back, very efficient in their support and they keep their word. The software is best in its class with lots of options for personalization. You will save time and money working with these guys. Thanks for the great service!

I was looking for a platform to not only list businesses and offer coupons but to also have a classifieds section, be able to post events and then have the option to build the site out through optional plugins. We are excited to get started.

Daniel did an amazing job helping me make an informed decision for my project. He was patient and took the time to explain everything to me, and I’m not tech savvy. I really appreciate the patience!

I have just recently started my site so its hard for me to review it but so far, it seems to pretty intuitive. My experience with the people has been limited as well but so far so good.

This is the perfect solution I've been looking for to launch my directory site. They were helpful and answered all questions I had.

I'm revisiting eDirectory after putting it on the backburner for a couple months. My requests for help have been responded to in a timely manner. I'm hoping to add on the plug in features I've recently selected and launch my directory to serve my market here in South Western Manitoba, Canada.

I am just getting started but the demo was pretty in-depth, not rushed, and answered my questions. From my research, this was the only service that would provide the look and feel that we are going for!