We are very pleased to announce that J-BusinessDirectory extension, version 5.0.0 Beta is now live. In this version, a new Application System has been integrated which allows you to add complementary functionality to the business directory. This upgrades the J-BusinessDirectory from an extension to a full-blown portal, allowing you to provide your users with a unique experience. 

Let's take a tour and see the new features and improvements that have been implemented.



New Application System with new applications

Starting with the 5.0.0 version a new Application System has been developed. Now you have the possibility to enhance the directory functionality with multiple applications that have been built.

The following applications have been developed:

  • JBD Appointments - online appointment booking system
  • JBD Event Appointments - online appointment for events
  • JBD Event Ticket Reservations - online ticket system for events
  • JBD Recurring Events - possibility to have recurring events
  • JBD Sell Offers - online shopping cart for products/offers
  • JBD Conference - conference system
  • JBD PayPal Subscriptions - PayPal recurring payments
  • JBD Stripe - Stripe payments
  • JBD Stripe Subscriptions - Stripe recurring payment


All available applications can be found now in the store. You can check all the available applications here.
More information along with the release notes for each application will be available in the days to follow.



New marketing section

Marketing is always important hence we decided to implement tools that will help promote your services better. In the Marketing section you are able to send the following emails to business owners:

  • Listing creation notification - this email should be used when a CSV import is being done to let the customers know that their business listing has been created on your website

  • Statistics of listings - this email contains the general statistics for business listings, offers, and events that belong to a business owner
    Total View Count
    Monthly View Count
    Monthly Articles Views
    Total Average Rating
    Review Number

  • Upgrade package notification - this email is sent to the business listing with free packages to take advantage of the premium packages



Bootstrap 4 integration and Joomla 4 compatibility

Since Joomla 4 is going to migrate to Bootstrap 4, we decided to already migrate the J-BusinessDirectory to Bootstrap 4 framework and provide full compatibility with Joomla 4.
All the necessary changes have been performed and once Joomla 4 stable version is released our extension is ready for it.



The complete list of new features and improvements

Bellow, you can find the full list of new features and improvements that have been developed in the 5.0.0 version.

New features

  • New Marketing section
  • New app installation system
  • New appointment booking application (premium app)
  • New event appointment application (premium app)
  • New event ticket reservation application (premium app)
  • New event recurring application (premium app)
  • New offer selling application (premium app)
  • New conference application (premium app)



Improvements

  • Improved admin dashboard and user dashboard
  • Overall design improvements
  • Refactored all views to use Bootstrap 4
  • Migrate general settings to a more dynamic structure
  • Import/export custom attributes for offers and events
  • Add custom attributes to offers & events search modules
  • Impersonate customer
  • Show only one recurring event on the business listing details page
  • Store all contact messages
  • Replace the rating system with a new rating system
  • Separate attribute configuration for events and offers
  • Add email on all business details views
  • Replace all icons to line awesome font
  • Modify results pages to open items in a new tab
  • Add the possibility to order the attachments
  • Save language changes on installation
  • Show the business listing detail view type based on the business type

 

Bug fixes

  • Categories do not display on the catalog list view
  • Review question issues
  • Add message for publish/unpublish items
  • Page refreshes when entering keywords
  • Unable to access automatic updates
  • Listing custom tab issue
  • Switch to the customer requires login



Thank You So Much!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped us throughout our entire journey, from the beginning until now. It couldn't have been possible to move forward without your valued feedback, so we can't thank you enough!


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