Thread: Questions regarding viability of switching to Vantage for state business directory...

Questions regarding viability of switching to Vantage for state business directory...

Hello. I operate a state-wide business directory currently broken down into 5 business regions of the state. So, instead of one database, I have 5 databases - one per region. It also means 5 different admin areas!!
I'm currently using the phpMyDirectory software as the business directory and would really like to migrate to a WordPress Business Directory solution. Currently, there are approximately 600,000 total business listings and 2-3,000 (SIC) categories in my directory. The categories are all one level - no sub-cats. The site runs on a pretty robust VPS and hasn't had any performance issues to date, also, it has quick search response.

Is Vantage suited to presently accommodate and support future growth of this type of business directory?

Would you run one instance of Vantage versus 5 to handle my directory?

Any examples of larger business directories using your theme?

Can I have unlimited custom fields for the Listing pages?

How much customization can be done regarding the theme design(s) used with Vantage?

Also, how soon will you have a responsive theme as I would want it to easily handle the mobile platforms as well as desktop?

Any issues or concerns I should have if I select Vantage?


I really like the simplicity "look and feel" and user-friendly design of Vantage.

Thanks so much in advance for your response.

Currently Vantage does not include a specific regional capability which would create a separate instance for each location, however you could achieve something similar with the use of a WordPress multisite setup and some additional customization. Technically you would not *have* to run 5 instances for each region, however this is really up to you as to whether or not you want the site visitors to have to search through all locations, or have a specific instance for their own region.

Ultimately any question of whether or not Vantage (or any of our themes) can handle a large and busy website is based on what WordPress itself can manage as well as your hosting setup. You can find some useful information about this topic in the WordPress Codex here.

The only examples we can offer of existing Vantage sites will have been submitted to our AppThemes customer showcase, so you may be able to find a larger one in there if a customer has chosen to share it with us in this manner.

There is no limit to the number of custom fields which can be used for listing pages. Other than a small amount of encryption on the homepage which allows the theme to display correctly in older versions of Internet explorer, there is no encryption which would prevent you from customizing the theme layout and design to suit your needs.

Our plan is for the responsive design to be available by the end of this year/early next year. It's being worked on right now, so isn't far away.

The biggest aspect of making your purchase would be that you review the functionality of the theme from our Vantage theme page and try out the demos to see what functionality is available to check that it includes what you actually need for your project. There are some functions which are still planned for the next major release (timeline available on our theme release status page), so if for example, events is something you require - this is coming soon, but it's not there yet. Multiple category selection is also planned for that release, so you may prefer to wait for v1.2 if these are high on your list of requirements. Thanks.