FOR VISITORS
Useful, organized information
Bring services, locations, contact routes, practitioner details and educational articles into a consistent public experience.
Custom Development Case Study
A directory built around people, providers and real workflows.
For Alternative Medicine List, we created our own WordPress directory system: a public provider directory, a member account area and an editorial workflow designed to work together. This is how 360 Web Firm turned a collection of listings into a manageable platform for alternative medicine and wellness businesses.
One Connected DirectoryCUSTOM WORDPRESS BUILD
DiscoverFind providers by service and location
ManageOwn and maintain a business profile
ReviewKeep public changes under approval
Public DirectorySearch, profiles, galleries and inquiries
Member AccountsClaims, profile updates, articles and receipts
Editorial ReviewListing approvals and protected revisions
Listing PaymentsHosted checkout, expiry and manual renewal
HTML illustration of the platform’s connected functions.
The Challenge
A directory needs more than a search box.
Visitors need enough information to understand a business and choose their next step. Providers need a way to maintain that information. Administrators need control over who owns a listing, what gets published and how paid listings stay eligible. The challenge was to make those needs fit together without turning every update into a manual website edit.
FOR PROVIDERS
A practical account area
Give members access to their own listings, proposed updates, author profiles, submissions and payment records.
FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Control over publication
Keep ownership, payment and review decisions distinct, with clear queues and protected public content while changes are pending.
Our Approach
We developed the directory logic ourselves.
The core is a purpose-built WordPress plugin developed by 360 Web Firm, rather than a standard directory package configured to look different. WordPress supplies the content and account foundation; our code connects listings, ownership, review, payment eligibility and the public layouts.
- Custom listing records and service categories.
- Account-bound applications and ownership rules.
- Protected revisions for listings and articles.
- Shared public visibility rules across discovery and sitemap output.
- Branded public pages, account views and login screens.
Build for the Workflow
Design and administration were planned together.
We built and refined the platform on a separate development website, using controlled test records and real user feedback before moving it to the live domain. Forms, email messages, galleries and member tasks were adjusted around how people actually used them.
The directory distinguishes courtesy FNMB provider listings from paid public-business applications. It also separates listing review from affiliation: an administrative review badge is not a claim about medical outcomes or an invented professional credential.
That distinction matters. The website should communicate what is known, while giving staff a workable process for checking and maintaining the information.
Platform Features
What we built into the directory.
These features work across public discovery, member participation and day-to-day administration. Some fields are optional, and availability follows account permissions and listing eligibility.
Discovery, illustrated
From a search to a useful provider profile.
A simple route through the directory.
Service + location
Business profile
Provider discovery
Keyword search and filters for service category, province or state, and city help visitors narrow a directory of alternative medicine and wellness businesses. A separate FNMB provider view gives that audience a clear starting point.
Detailed business profiles
Each listing brings together the business name, summary, description, services, address, telephone, website, booking link and business hours. Optional appointment types, languages and service areas make the information more useful before someone makes contact.
Practitioners and helpful details
Profiles can include up to three named practitioners with supplied credentials, payment methods, billing or receipt information, and links to social and professional profiles. Fields describe information supplied by the business; they do not promise insurance coverage or clinical outcomes.
Logos, galleries and image handling
Applications accept a business logo and up to three gallery photos. Responsive galleries and lightbox viewing preserve image proportions. Upload validation, resizing and WebP conversion help keep images manageable, with descriptive metadata fallbacks for editors to refine.
Member accounts and profiles
Branded login and password screens lead to My Account. Members can maintain their public display name, biography, website and profile photo, access their listings and articles, and view their orders and receipts.
Verified listing claims
Eligible FNMB listings can be claimed through a private email verification and password-setup process. Ownership changes only after verification, giving an existing provider a path to manage their listing without publishing the private ownership email.
Business applications
A public application belongs to the signed-in account and starts pending review. Account identity and the public business inquiry email remain separate. Required fields, consent, description limits and duplicate checks make submissions easier to administer.
Reviewed listing changes
Members submit proposed listing changes through their account. Published information stays visible while the replacement content waits for administrator review. Administrators can approve or return changes instead of allowing an unreviewed edit to overwrite the public listing.
Hosted payments and manual renewal
The custom workflow connects eligible public-business applications to Stripe-hosted checkout, annual listing terms and manual renewal. Payment confirmation and administrator approval are separate requirements. The system supports expiry, renewal records and optional reminder scheduling without automatic recurring charges.
Order administration and receipts
Members have an account-based order history and printable branded receipts. Administrators can review payment and listing status, separate test and live records, and use recoverable order trash controls. Deleting a record does not automatically refund a payment.
Provider and guest articles
Providers can submit educational articles, and guest contributors can apply to write without owning a business listing. Drafts and proposed edits go through editorial review; published articles remain available while revisions are pending.
Author profiles and article discovery
Published articles display an author section with the selected account’s biography, photo and website. An author’s article view, categories, pagination, featured sidebar posts and homepage article cards connect the educational content into a usable publishing system.
Direct business inquiries
Listing contact forms route inquiries to the business contact address. General directory inquiries have their own administrative route. Consent, spam checks, request limits and validated fields support both paths without collecting patient medical records.
Administration and notifications
Administrators can assign owners, review listings and revisions, approve articles and inspect orders. Pending items have visible review cues. Administrative notification copies are handled separately from private password-reset and verification messages.
SEO and structured information
Automatic titles and descriptions, canonical URLs, social previews and structured data describe public listings, organizations, services, articles and authors. Sitemap visibility follows public eligibility, while account and other utility pages are kept out of indexing.
Responsive design and ongoing care
A shared layout, mobile hamburger navigation, readable cards and consistent page headings connect the directory, articles and account forms. Public page caching is separated from account, checkout and verification flows, with source snapshots and guarded file backups supporting continued development.
Updates, illustrated
Keep the public page available while an update is reviewed.
Members propose changes. Staff control publication.
Current profilePublic
Proposed changesPending review
Approved updatePublished
Connected Workflows
From an application to a public listing.
Submitting information, paying for a listing and approving its publication are separate steps. The platform tracks each one so a successful checkout alone cannot publish an unreviewed business.
Register and verify
The applicant establishes access through the account email and completes the protected business form.
Submit the profile
Business details and images enter the review process. The member can follow the application from My Account.
Confirm both requirements
For a paid listing, the system records confirmed payment and staff separately review the application.
Publish and maintain
An eligible approved listing becomes public. Later edits wait for review, and renewal follows the listing’s term.
Publication, illustrated
Two separate checks before a paid listing goes live.
Payment and review work together.
Confirmed paymentValid listing term
Administrator approvalReviewed application
Public discoveryEligible listing
Existing FNMB listings have a different path: eligible providers verify their private ownership email to claim an administrator-created listing. They then use the same account and reviewed-update experience.
Content and Discovery
Search-friendly information starts with clear pages.
We structured business pages around a single clear heading, useful descriptions and consistent details. Articles connect to author profiles and, where selected, to the author’s business listing. This creates understandable relationships between people, businesses, services and content.
Metadata, canonical URLs, social previews, structured data and public sitemap eligibility support that structure. Private account and transaction pages serve members rather than search results. Clear content and crawlable public pages also give AI systems better information to interpret, although discovery and inclusion remain outside the website’s control.
Our SEO & AI Search ApproachPractical Engineering
Keep private actions separate from public pages.
Ownership checks, review permissions, upload validation and protected forms are part of the custom implementation. Administrative notification copies exclude private password-reset and verification links.
We also separated cached public browsing from member accounts, payment pages and verification flows, and used source snapshots and backed-up changes during development. Ongoing testing and maintenance remain part of operating a platform with accounts and payments.
- Members act on their own records.
- Pending revisions stay out of public content.
- Payment confirmation does not replace approval.
- Private authentication links remain private.
The Delivered Result
A live directory with the systems behind it.
The result is a custom platform at alternativemedicinelist.com that brings provider discovery, business profiles, member ownership, reviewed contributions and listing administration together. Providers have a structured way to participate, visitors have a consistent way to explore, and staff retain control over publication.
The staging signup, payment, receipt, article and email workflows were tested during development, with live-domain public pages and sitemap checked after launch. The final live payment transaction and longer-term indexing results were not established for this case study. This describes the functionality delivered, rather than claiming a measured increase in traffic, leads or revenue.
Common Questions
Planning your own directory website?
Can you build a directory for another industry?
Yes. The same planning approach can apply to professional associations, local businesses, service networks and other directories. Search fields, ownership rules, review steps and payments would be scoped around your organization.
Why use custom development for a directory?
Custom development is useful when standard tools do not fit the required workflow. Here, separate listing types, verified claims, protected revisions, guest articles and payment eligibility needed to work together. We assess existing software before recommending a custom build.
Does a provider payment automatically approve the listing?
No. This implementation keeps payment confirmation and administrator approval separate. A public paid listing also needs a valid listing term before appearing in the directory.
Do structured data and SEO guarantee search or AI visibility?
No. They help describe content and make public pages easier to understand and discover. Search engines and AI systems decide what they index, display or cite.
Related Case Study
First Nation Medical Board
Explore our ongoing work supporting a complex membership website, including custom workflows, communication and technical support.
Read the FNMB Case StudyRelated Services
Build around your organization.
Explore custom web development, health and wellness website design and ongoing website care from 360 Web Firm.
See More of Our WorkHave a directory or member platform in mind?
Tell us who it serves, what members need to do and how you want to manage it.