Over the last month, we have been talking with our clients from the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies network and others to find out what needs changing with the directory. Thanks for their suggestions, we are able to release these changes are part of the network of live directories. If you are interested to learn more about our hosted online directory software, which we offer as a service, read more here.

The additions and features (and documentation, when appropriate) include:

• User experience:
  
• Better search features: Now you can search by industry, using the two-tiered hierarchy ability. See example. 
• Improved business list alphabetization (no longer case sensitive)
• More efficient global search. Use BALLE Global Search.
  
• Membership enhancing features:
  
• Better address mapping: Improved geocoding engines for business mapping and automated attempts to find addresses on the map make it easier for members to be visible on the maps (http://www.ifpeople.net/support/directory/technical/geocoderscript)
  
• Search Engine Optimization: Right from the listings of your directory, you get metadata for SEO! The title, description, industry, keywords, etc. create metadata in the system (and are editable by members).
• Business register and edit forms changed for easier interface (from dropdown list to checkboxes)
• Allowance of .coop e-mail addresses for members
• Directory administrator features:
  
• Customize your directory's language: Network administrators can now edit the names and descriptions of most fields (http://www.ifpeople.net/support/directory/admin/CustomizeDirectoryLabels)
  
• Field Length Control: Number of characters in business listing can be limited by network administrator (making directory appearance more uniform and making it possible to use the online directory to prepare a print version easily) (http://www.ifpeople.net/support/directory/admin/maxBusDescription)
  
• Ability to customize search form, adding or removing the industry search dropdown (http://<your_domain>/marketplace/customizeSearchForm)

• The industry dropdown box is optional and can be turned on or off from the Customize Search Form page in the Directory Setup (http://<your_domain>/marketplace/customizeSearchForm)
• Each administrative feature of the directory (found in the Directory Setup area) has a link to documentation online which will make use of the features clear and easy to use. If you have any questions about the documentation or want to request additional documentation, please contact us.
  

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing ideas for future directory changes. If you have requests or ideas, we encourage you to contact us and help shape the Directory!