RYO Membership Directory Plugin Administrator Manual
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When you install the plugin, most settings in this section are set for you to good, general values. You may not have to change anything other than the Help Page URL field (after you have the information for that).
Or... you can customize your directory setup extensively in the Member Directory, Settings section.
Like most software, after making changes remember to click 'Save' at the bottom of the page.
Strategic URLs
Main Directory or Search Page URL: Paste the URL for your primary Member Directory Page or Member Search Page here. This is required for certain links to work properly.
User Help Page: Paste the URL to your User Help Page here. This will be used on your Directory Profdile edit page so your members can go to your page and get the answers they need (without calling you).
Administrative Tools
Notification Minutes: The system will email you (the administator) as edits are made to the system. This enables you to easily check the profile pages for appropriate information. Rather than mailing after every edit, the system collects edit information and forwards it to you every 60 minutes or so, depending on the number of minutes you put in this field. We recommend 60, 90, or 120, but if you'd rather go 24 hours put in 1440. You won't get an email that often, unless member edits are occurring constantly.
Member Access to Admin Panel: When a member edits his directory profile, he is using the WordPress administration screens. WordPress normally displays menu options for such things as 'Profile' and 'Tools,' which may confuse the member. We normally have the system hide these options.
If you're using WordPress Roles and Member Status for your directory, members must be at Level 1 or above, generally a Contributor. Since you may not want to give them access to Posts and Comments, we also generally choose to hide these options. This may present a problem if you actually want Contributors to contribute articles to your website. In that case you can use Wishlist Member or use a Role Manager plugin to create a Role like Contributor but change it to Level 2. (Level 2 and above will see the menu items even with the above settings set to Hide.)
WordPress Login Page Style: While we usually use a sidebar widget on our website pages (like the RYO Member Access Widget) for a login/logout form, sometimes a user will still see the login page. Selecting 'Yes' here will replace the WordPress logo with a more generic 'Member Center' header. Note: If you use the RYO Member Access Widget it also has this feature, so setting this to 'No' may still display the 'Member Center' logo.
Member Directory Listing: In a member directory, if you list everyone the page may get too long to read effectively. The system will break the list into pages. Depending on the format of your listing and how many lines each listing takes, you may want to display more or fewer listings per page. This setting determines the maximum number of members listed on a page.
Manage Members List: Sort Member List determines the order of member listings in the 'Manage Members' section of the Member Directory control panel. (It does not control order in your website's regular directory or search results.)
Wishlist Member Integration: If you choose to use Wishlist Member Levels for Directory Listings, Directory Pages will be prepared including members who have designated Wishlist Member levels. Otherwise, the system will use WordPress Roles and the 'Member Level' field in the Directory record.
If you don't use Wishlist Member Levels:: There are several settings to make to help the system try to manage your members, including Membership Expiration Grace Period, whether or not to display expired memberships, and which member roles relate to members and non-members.
Allow users to edit their own member status? This is NOT the WordPress Role, but the member status or classification. This is field optional if you use WishList Member levels, but if you use Roles for the directory this field is used to determine what is displayed.
Photo Uploads
Maximum Photo Size Allowed (In MB): Size should be between 1 and 4.5. Normal: 1. This needs to be smaller than the maximum allowed by your server's php installation (typically 1mb or 5mb).
Main Photo Upload Title: This is displayed in the Profile edit page where your user uploads images.
Main Photo Resizing: After images are uploaded they are resized to the size you specify.
If you enter a height and width, images will be resized and cropped. If you enter a Max Side, image will be resized to this size on longest side.
Crop From Bottom: You want to crop from the bottom if images are normally head shots of people. This way when images are uploaded the system won't crop off the top of their head.
Additional Photos: The same information is requested for additional photo uploads. You may allow users to upload additional photos to include in their profile text. These images are normally smaller than the main image.
Minimum Photo Allowance: The minimum number of photos allowed regardless of individual user settings. Normal: 1, which allows for the main image.
Jpeg Photo Quality: When resizing the system automatically optimizes the image as a jpeg image. You can specify how you want this handled. Smaller numbers will load faster. Normal: 77. Response should be in the range of 20 - 90.
Field Labels
You can edit the displayed prompt for various Fields used in the system. If you leave a label field blank, the field will not appear on your profile edit form.
Custom Field Labels
Custom Fields are used to collect and display information unique to your system, beyond name and address. Enter a label here and the field will be made available on your profile edit form.
Custom Fields may also be used to select a value from a designated list of options, if the list is entered in the Directory Choices utility. (Otherwise, it's an open field for any data entry.)
Paragraph and Text-Select Field Labels
Here you edit the label for Profile Copy, Promo Copy, and three general Text-Select fields.
You are given an option to restrict copy to 35 words, recommended for promo copy used in Search Results. Long copy in those instances makes a very long, ugly page, and a simple click will display the full profile anyway, so long copy is not needed.
Text-Select fields are usually used for Business Categories or additional paragraph text fields.
When using a Text-Select field where there is a list to select from, it's wise to include information about how to select multiple entries. Use something like:
Business Categories:<br>(Hold Ctrl or Command key and
click to select multiple topics.)
For open paragraph text a title would be simpler, like:
Titles (One per line):
Designation Edits
Some organizations are concerned about certain designations, like upper level college degrees or special certifications provided by the organization, a school, or the government.
For these we have provided a "Designation" field.
Member Designation Self-Edit Option: If you want members to be able to edit this field, turn it on. If you leave it off; an administrator will have to edit these where they apply.
Designations to strip from Last Name: To keep members from adding these designations to their last name, bypassing your security process, you can enter designations you want to strip from the last name.
Rotating Ad Script
Rotating Ad Width: If you use the Rotating Ad Script, this specifies the actual width of the ads, to assist in formatting the display. We recommend 468 (a standard bannersize is 468x60) but you can use a narrower width if required by your theme.
Resetting Values
At the bottom of the Settings page is a checkbox that, when checked, will reset all values on this page to the original values. It will wipe out all changes you've made, so we normally warn: Do NOT check this box. However, in the event that you want to start over for some reason, this is the way to do it. (It will NOT affect data entered in individual members' profiles and it will NOT affect any templates you may have set up.)
Choices (Tab)
This tab gives you access to edit choices for lists and categories used in your system.
Member Status Choices
You may enter various member classes, such as "Member," "Associate Member," "Vendor," or anything else appropriate.
Custom Field Choices: cf1, cf2, cf3, cf4, cf5, cf6, cf7
Seven custom fields are provided which can be customized with any desired information, either entered as free text or selected from a drop down selection list. These fields are 255 characters long.
Using a selection list means that members choose only one of your offered options.
To create a selection list, create a display label for the field in Directory Setup Options. Then go to Directory Choices and select the list that matches your label. Enter the list of selections (one per line) and click Save. Now your member will be given that list to select from.
If you leave the option in Directory Choices empty, the member may enter any information in that field.
Text-Select Field Choices: ts1, ts2, ts3, ts4, ts5, ts6, ts7
Three Text-Select fields are provided which can be customized with any desired information, depending on your requirements. These may be used for free paragraph text entry, or for selection from a drop-down selection list using your offered options. Multiple choices are allowed.
To select from a list of options: To create a selection list, create a display label for the field in Directory Setup Options. Then go to Directory Choices and select the list that matches your label. Enter the list of selections (one per line) and click Save. Now your member will be given that list to select from.
Note: In your list of options, you may add bold headings to groups of options if you'd like the options displayed in groups. You may also add headings to the drop down lists your members see when selecting categories. This is controlled by adding special characters at the beginning of a line:
# -- Creates a heading, appears as a heading in the website directory list and in the dropdown.
## -- Creates a heading in the dropdown, does not appear in the website directory list.
### -- Causes the line to be ignored.
###maxchoices=nn -- Optional. Sets the maximum number of choices to the number in nn.
To enter paragraph text: You may set up one of these special fields as an open text entry field. To do this, create a display label for the field in Directory Setup Options. Then don't enter anything for this "choices" option in Directory Choices. Now your member will be able to edit the text freely.
To ignore: If you don't need this field, leave the display label blank in Directory Setup Options.
Ad Rotator Choices
If you're using the Ad Rotator capability, ads should be entered here, one per line. See the Ad Rotator instructions to make this work.
Templates (Tab)
The Templates tab gives you access to the formatting of profiles, search results, and featured member results.
These templates are used to format your search and profile listings. In most cases, you can ignore these as they are already set up. They are provided so you can customize these displays to your requirements.
These involve HTML so should be left to a qualified HTML programmer.
The two main templates are for search and the full profile. You may have more than one directory page. Alternate templates are provided so the display on one directory can be different than the results on the other.
Templates are provided for:
- Directory View Templates: List Templates are provided for the initial listing in a directory. See templates.
- Search View Templates: You can choose a different format for search results. Since a search probably is a smaller list, you may choose a List Template that shows more information. See templates.
- Detail View Template: Detail Templates format the display of the member profile information. Three templates are provided in case you need to set up separate displays for different directories like members, vendors, and member offers. See templates.
- Featured Member Template: This template formats the featured member box if you use this feature. Two templates are provided. See templates.
- Featured Member History Template: This template formats the listing for Featured Member history pages. Two templates are provided. See templates.
- Board/Directors Page Template: This is the List Template used for the Board/Directors Page searches. It is slightly different, allowing you to display specific information like Office, Administrator Notes, or other information relevant to the special position. See templates.
Templates can be reset by checking the box under the template and clicking 'Save.'
Templates use basic HTML code with certain codes where the system will insert data from the member profile. Your HTML programmer will see in the standard templates there is logic added for conditional display of certain data. See Template Layout Codes.
At the bottom of the Settings, Templates page is a checkbox that, when checked, will reset all templates to the original values. In the event that you want to start over for some reason, this is the way to do it.
