What used to be a decent directory plugin got botched with the major update

  • I used to be a fan of the Directorist plugin. I use it on a few client websites and I was happy to recommend it to the community. Not anymore.

    What used to be a good performing directory plugin, close in feature set and quality to GeoDirectory, got a major downgrade with the much touted version 8.0.

    This extensively announced v 8.0 game-changer actually expossed the major issues with the Directorist causing the frustration among its user base. I’ll try to summarize some if the issues as a constructive critique that will hopefully nudge the Directorist team to steer the ship in the right direction.

    Not listening to users feedback and providing slow and sluggish response to support tickets seams to be the major one. Asking for a postive review as a condition for the support to be provided, is a no no, and no serius company that advocates customer love should be engaging in such practices.

    Further, the Directorist plugin has significant room for improvement, especially when it comes to understanding its user base. It feels like the target user persona isn’t clearly defined; it was my understanding that the plugin was aiming for mid-level users, as the lack of flexibility and customization options made it difficult to adopt for developers and more advanced users. That user persona would’ve gravited toward custom based solutions built on top of ACF and FacetWP anyhow. Version 8, with its introduction of the Bricks Buillder adon was supposed to change that. Well, that did not happen, with Bricks extension not living up to expectations. The Bricks adon ended up being a bunch of shortcodes wrapped in builder elements that did not offer any customizationflexibility Bricks users were expecting. On top of that, Bricks’ templating engine and its powerfull query loops cannot be used to customize the single listing post type, nor to apply different tempalte based on defined conditions. A major miss! The lack of integration with Bricks’ core features makes the extension largely ineffective for developers, and I have to question Directorist product manager decision to waste the DEV team time on such useless feture.

    In terms of styling and customization options that the user base has long complained about , version 8.0 did not bring any positve change, but rather kept the customization restriction in place and applied the styling that feels rather outdated and that requires extensive CSS customization to fit with your existing website. The user experience would benefit greatly from a modernized design with a focus on user manage customization over imposed styling control. Thsi plugin to let its users display and style data in any way they want, as oppsed to mandating them to apply the Directorist style.

    Lastly, for the major change, it does not seam that the Directorist team applied sufficient testing, causing issues and breaking live sites. A stronger emphasis on quality assurance and beta testing would prevent a lot of these problems. To add insult to injury, the Support team does not seem to be living to its promise with users reporting delayed responses to their support tickets that often last days.

    At this point, I cannot recommed Directorist to anyone. I am keeping my live sites on old version of the product and will avoid updating it until the v8 is fixed. Hopefully, no security issues will surface in the meantime. I may even consider rebuilding the sites with a new off the shelf product or going fully custom way. The wonders can be done with Bricks + ACF Pro + WS Form.

    I would be willing to take a look at Directorist at some future point, providing the users are listened to and the issues with the product are properly and transparently addressed.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • Plugin Support rashed848

    (@rashed848)

    Hello digitronic !

    Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. We truly appreciate the time you’ve taken to offer such a thorough critique, and your insights are invaluable to us. We understand your frustration and want to address your concerns in a constructive way. Please know that we genuinely value your input as it helps us grow and improve.

    1. Performance and Stability Concerns with v8.0:

    We completely understand that the v8.0 update has been challenging for some users, especially given the significant changes that came with this release. It’s important to acknowledge that, like many major updates in the industry, there can be initial bumps, particularly when plugins evolve to improve performance and scalability. While the update may seem challenging at the moment, we want to reassure you that over time, it will truly be a game-changer. The v8.0 release focused on performance optimization and a comprehensive restructuring of the layout, settings panel, builder, and appearance to ensure that Directorist remains lightweight, intuitive, and highly effective. We ask for your patience, as this transition will ultimately benefit the plugin’s long-term functionality.

    2. Support Response and Feedback Integration:

    We understand your concerns regarding support and the request for positive reviews as part of the support process. We want to clarify that we take user feedback very seriously, and most of our updates are shaped by what our users share with us. Our support team is known for going above and beyond to assist users, especially with intensive customizations, and we strive to resolve issues as quickly as possible. However, we do recognize that some tickets, particularly those requiring global fixes, may take additional time due to the complexity of the issues involved.

    We also want to address the mention of positive review requests. Please rest assured that support agents do not ask for positive reviews as a condition for offering assistance. 

    3. Target User Persona and Flexibility:

    Directorist aims to serve a broad range of users, from intermediate users to professional developers. We understand that advanced users may prefer more flexibility, and we want to highlight that Directorist is an open-source plugin. This means that experienced developers have the freedom to customize the plugin to their needs, even if the out-of-the-box features don’t fully meet every use case. We just launched Bricks integration. Our team is actively working on enhancing this integration to provide the flexibility that developers expect.

    4. Design and Customization Options:

    We appreciate your feedback on the design and styling limitations in v8.0. Our design team is continuously working to improve the plugin’s layout and provide a more professional and modern user experience. We understand that design preferences vary from user to user, and we are working toward a more flexible, block-based solution that allows users to fully customize the layout of each block according to their individual needs.

    5. Testing and Quality Assurance:

    We are fully aware of the importance of quality assurance, and each release undergoes intensive testing. We’re pleased to inform you that new users typically do not experience significant issues. Any challenges that arise are often related to the migration process, as each WordPress site may have a unique combination of plugins, which can make migration a complex task. That said, we’ve addressed the most common issues and continue to regularly update Directorist to further enhance stability and performance. We remain fully committed to providing the best possible experience for our users and make Directorist as stable as possible.

    In Closing:

    We understand that your experience with v8.0 has not been ideal, and we appreciate your patience as we continue to refine the plugin. We genuinely believe that with time, the changes made in v8.0 will lead to a more powerful and flexible product. We ask that you stay with us through this transition, and we are confident that the next updates will make a significant improvement to your experience with Directorist.

    Thank you again for your honest feedback. We are committed to making Directorist the best directory plugin available, and your input plays a vital role in that process.

    Best regards,

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this review.