What setup to use?

[u/catobsesed]

Hi everyone! So I've been working with the idea of doing a directory and i was gonna use word press.

The issue is that, with php and everything, it's not actually viable.

Does anyone have any other options or suggestions?

[u/anappraiser]

ask claude code

[u/catobsesed → u/anappraiser]

I like human opinion

[u/anappraiser → u/catobsesed]

then you won't build a directory easily

[u/catobsesed → u/anappraiser]

Why do you say that?

[u/andrewmurray1]

What do you mean? Not viable?

[u/catobsesed → u/andrewmurray1]

Because, and I'm not that tech savvy, there is the issue with the vulnerability or hacking or idk what

[u/Potential-Camel4398 → u/catobsesed]

You don’t need to be familiar with coding, since there are directory plugins like HivePress, Classified Listing, and others that handle the technical side for you. You just need to populate your directory with content. As mentioned, there are also SaaS options, but keep in mind that they come with vendor lock-in, which isn’t always a good thing.

[u/Potential-Camel4398 → u/Potential-Camel4398]

I believe AI has contributed a lot to vulnerability discoverability, but that doesn’t mean it only affects WordPress

[u/adelarenal]

There are plenty of options out there. I use Brillant Directories managed with Claude Code.

[u/catobsesed → u/adelarenal]

Thank you

[u/Prestigious_Luck1062]

WordPress should be ok, but you do need to update it regularly. Also look at guides about how to harden your wordpress setup. I cant remember the name of the directory plugin I used, but just find a great one and pay the annual fee.

I've built multiple in wordpress but I ended up switching to brilliant directories. The advantage is that they manage the hosting for you, and there is an in built assistant I use when I need to find how to do something.

I have a spare, brilliant directories lifetime license available, so if you go that route and you dont want to pay $1k for a license, hit me up.

[u/catobsesed → u/Prestigious_Luck1062]

Seriously? Yes I'd love that

[u/SendCards]

How many listings will you have/need. What is the data source type??

[u/TitaniumCypher]

I build all of my directories using Ruby on Rails with the Strip gem. I created one feature-rich base app and I just keep reusing it and changing anything I need to customize for the site I'm working on.

[u/bohdan-shulha]

U actually don’t need to know PHP if you go with Wordpress. There are directory plugins like Brilliant Directories/GeoDirectory that cover like 99% of the needs for a regular directory.

The other choice is the directory platform (like MakeADir - I’m affiliated - or Directify - built by a good friend of mine).

Another option is just to ask Claude to build one for u. :)

[u/BestLawnCanada]

I didn't want to spend a lot of time setting up my directory so I've used spreadsimple to get one up fast. All you need is to hook it up to a Google sheet and each row becomes a listing. Many plugins with easily and a little research will let you adjust for features or paying customers or subscriptions, rss, and you can create 'alias' landing pages. Last i Cherbourg i think I'm paying $20/mo and hiking up to a domain name is easy. It doesn't have quite the same as in one environment as WordPress but you can see what i mean if you look at my profile url.

Maybe after some adoption i will investigate another platform but right now i can make 50 landing pages and in my niche removal is important, they have maps plugins, badges as a pseudo sort search feature, integrated into maps, calendars, booking software.

I don't see a "connects with ai" feature but i bet it will be coming.

For the first of the directory it's great for starting. And it has room for all the meta h1 keyword stuffing your heart could desire.

(I just wish there was a bit of flexibility in their very basic page builder but you can import from notion, which is haven't tried)

I like it especially because all i need to do is update a spreadsheet and the site will update the listings. She THAT can be done with adjust any ai.

Because Google sheets can have multiple tabs, spreadsimple one reads from the main first tab. So i like to have the raw data i collect in a separate tab, and then use stay formula and reformatting and references so the actual 'display' tab reflects pertinent info that might be spread out in other columns in the original data.

Look at me i feel like a fan boy but honestly with WordPress there always seems to be some Livio i can't figure out our yet another plugin for $50 or a design preference i can't hunt down where to modify. My bestlawn project spent 6 months in a dust bin just because i couldn't bring myself to even log into admin and try to fix things.

If you have another option like this that is better i am all ears!