eDirectory - Support Center

If you're planning to import a large number of listings into your eDirectory platform, the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format is your best friend. This versatile format allows you to organize and upload your data efficiently. To make this process smooth and trouble-free, you need to understand how to fill out the import fields correctly. This guide will walk you through each field, ensuring you're equipped to import your data seamlessly.

1. Listing Title

Enter the title of your listing here. This is a required field for the import. 

2. Listing SEO Title

Provide an SEO-friendly title for your listing, enhancing its search engine visibility.

3. Listing Email

Specify the email address associated with the listing. 

Note: Be careful when typing the email, because if the email is in the wrong format, the import will display an error. Please, refer to the below screenshot for an example. 

4. Listing URL

Add the URL link to the listing, if applicable.

Attention: If the URL typed in the URL field does not have either the https:// or the http:// formats, when the user clicks on the link "Visit Website", it will not work correctly, and will display a 404 error. The URL must not be typed only with "www" or without it. Check these examples:

 www.edirectory.com ❌
 edirectory.com ❌

Always type the URL with either the https:// or the http:// formats in this manner: https://www.edirectory.com  ✔

5. Listing Address

Input the primary address of the listing.

6. Listing Address2

Include any additional address details, if needed.

7. Listing Country

Specify the country where the listing is located.

8. Listing Country Abbreviation

Provide the abbreviation for the listing's country.

9. Listing Region

Specify the region or area where the listing is situated.

10. Listing Region Abbreviation

- Add the abbreviation for the region.

11. Listing State

- Enter the state associated with the listing.

12. Listing State Abbreviation

- Include the abbreviation for the state.

13. Listing City

- Specify the city where the listing is based.

14. Listing City Abbreviation

- Provide the abbreviation for the city.

15. Listing Neighborhood

- Input the neighborhood of the listing.

16. Listing Neighborhood Abbreviation

- Add the abbreviation for the neighborhood.

Note: When filling out the location for your listings, it is fundamental to take into account your site location settings, only add the location data which is enabled in your site. For example, under Settings → Language & Geography, check which locations are enabled:
In the example above, the site has Country, State and City enabled, so when filling out the CSV file, this site owner will fill out only the Country, States and City fields to match the location settings with the site, and leave blank the other locations. 
It is also important to be attentive when typing the locations because it is needed to type the data for all enabled locations. If there is a listing which misses one of the enabled locations, the site will not import the file, and it will display an error related to the location. Here is one example:


If there is a missing location as demonstrated above, when trying to import, the site will display in which row the error is and display the following message: "Location hierarchy doesn't match the system settings. One or more locations are missing (for instance, city without state)"


In this case, open the file in the indicated row, type the missing location, save your file, and import it again.  

17. Listing Postal Code

- Include the postal code for the listing's address. 

18. Listing Latitude

- Enter the latitude coordinates for the listing, if applicable. 

19. Listing Longitude

- Input the longitude coordinates for the listing, if applicable. 

20. Listing Phone

- Provide a contact phone number for the listing.

21. Listing Short Description

- Add a concise description of the listing up to 250 characters.

22. Listing Long Description

- Provide a detailed description of the listing .

23. Listing SEO Description

- Enter an SEO-friendly description for better search engine visibility.

24. Listing Keywords

- Add relevant keywords associated with the listing, separated by || as seen in the screenshot below. 

25. Listing Renewal Date

- Specify the renewal date for the listing.

26. Listing Status

- Indicate the status of the listing (e.g., Active, suspended, pending).

27. Listing Level

- Enter the level of the listing. When typing the level, take into account the level names you configured under Settings → Manage Levels & Pricing:

Make sure to match the levels you type on the file with the configured levels you have on your site.

28. Listing Categories (1-5)

- Specify up to five categories that apply to the listing. Each category should be in a separate column. If you would like to associate with a subcategory, it is needed to specify the main category first, add and arrow -> and then the subcategory

Note: If you are importing categories which already exist in your site, be careful to type the categories exactly the same way as they are spelled in your site. If the category you typed has at least one different character from the site, the site will interpret it as a new category, and it will duplicate the category. When the category already exists in your site, make sure to match it with the existing category. 

For example, if the site has the main category "Travel", and its subcategory "Resorts" when importing listing under these categories, it is needed to type them exactly as they are spelled in the file:

29. Listing Template

- Indicate the template to be applied to the listing. When typing the level, take into account the listing template names you configured under Content → Listings → Listing templates. 

Make sure to match the listing template names you type on the file with the configured templates you have on your site.

30. Listing DB Id

- This is the database ID; it is not needed to fill it out when importing listings for the first time, since it is auto-generated by the system. This field is used if there are listings on your eDirectory website which you would like to update in bulk. Check this article for more details: How to reimport listings without duplicating them

31. Custom ID

- Optionally, you can assign a custom ID to the listing.

32. Account Username

- Provide the listing owner's email account in order to create an account for him/her in your site. 

33. Account Password

- Enter the password for the listing owner to log in your site. 

Note: The fields "Account Username", and "Account Password" are used to give the listing owner a login access to the site, if you do not intend to provide the listing owner with a login when importing, these fields are not required, and you can leave them blank. 

34. Account Contact Information

- Fill in the contact information for the account holder: First Name, Last Name, Company, Address, Address2, Country, State, City, Postal Code, Phone, Email, and URL.

Note: The fields for Account Contact information are also not required, and if you did not fill out the fields "Account Username", and "Account Password" to provide the listing owner with an account in your site, it is not needed to fill out the Account Contact information fields since they are directly attached to the user's account in your site. 

Note: To correctly import the listings on your site, we do not recommend changing the names of the fields in the first row of the CSV file. 

These fields are default in the system's database, and during the import process, the site will map the fields to check if they exist in the database. If there are any changes to these fields, the import may display errors. Therefore, do not alter the field names, do not delete columns, and do not add new columns to avoid errors during import. Always use the standard import file available for download on your site.

If there are fields that you do not need to use to import your listings, don't worry, only the field "Listing title" is required when importing listings, and the others are not. You can simply leave the fields that you do not need blank. 

These import fields are essential for organizing your data effectively in your eDirectory platform. With this guide, you'll be able to streamline your data upload process and make the most of your eDirectory platform.