Vantage Beta Launched
Ladies and gentlemen, Vantage beta is now available to all AppThemes Club members and beta testers. We are truly happy that we can finally pull the curtain back to give everyone a peek at this long-awaited and much anticipated theme. Here it is folks…Vantage, the business directory theme for WordPress.
So let’s get to it and see what this theme is all about.
What’s in Beta?
All the basics of what you would expect from a business directory theme.
- Business listings with business address, contact, website, social links and description
- Pictures including a thumbnail / featured image – pictures open in a lightbox
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Listing tags and categories (custom taxonomies)
- Reviews and ratings (custom comment type)
- Editable user accounts
- User dashboard to manage reviews and listings
- Keyword and location-based search using Google Maps API
- Multi-tier categorization system
- Search engine optimized
- Multiple page templates
- Editable menus in header and footer
- Email notifications for new listings and reviews
- Localization support
Vantage Extras
- All new custom forms and custom fields with an even easier to use AppThemes form builder (custom taxonomy)
- Refine search features with search radius, category and sorting filters
- User admin bar that leverages the power of the WordPress admin bar
- Easy log in form on every page
Sidebars and Custom Vantage Widgets
- Four fully widgetized sidebars: main, single listing, search results and single page
- Four widgetized spots in the global footer
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One widgetized spot in the global header, perfect for a 468×60 ad banner
- Create listing button is widgetized so you control where it is placed on a page
- Sidebar map widget with exact location of business listing
- Recent reviews
- Recent listings
- Popular and related categories
- Sidebar and footer ad widget
- Vantage social connect widget for footer
Monetizing Vantage
- Charge a fee for business listings
- View all transactions via admin panel
- Additional fee for home page and category featured listings
- Standard ad widget can be used in four pre-installed sidebars and four slots in the global page footer
- Widgetized location in the header that is perfect for a 468×60 banner
Taking Payments
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All payment gateways created as plugins
- Comes prepackaged with PayPal
- Uses PayPal Payment Data Transfer for greater security
- Test gateway for testing transactions on your site (available version 1.0)
What’s Planned for 1.0?
There are a handful of items that did not make beta but are planned for the first full release of Vantage.
- Completion of sidebar map widget
- Menu item that displays all categories
- Integration with ShareThis plugin
- Theme color options
- Themed log in, register and recover password pages
- Vantage help tab in admin
- Business listings tag widget
- Separate blog to promote your directory
What’s Planned for 1.1?
- User defined favorite listings
- Ability to add more than five images
- Allow business listing owners to reply to reviews
- Custom fields for user profiles
- Bank transfer payments plugin
- Coupons and discount codes for business listings
- Ability for business owners to claim existing business listings
- Responsive design for better viewing on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones
Beyond Vantage 1.1
- Improved map and location based search features
- Facebook log in, and potentially a Google log in, too
- More pricing options
- Child themes
- Contact business owner form
When Will All of This Become Available?
The beta testers are already hard at work and we’ll give them a week to see what they discover. While we anticipate beta testing to continue past next week, the development team will meet next Monday (Mar 12) to review the ticket list at that time. We will then create an estimated release date for Vantage 1.0.
Any release dates for 1.1 or beyond would be completely speculative at this point. We can only say that we want to release everything as quickly as we possibly can. As always, we will keep you updated as we get new information.
Until then, have a gander at our Vantage live demo. This demo will be updated regularly. As new features are added, you’ll see them in the demo.
Comments (189)
Hi Shannon,
Vantage seems to be taking shape.
1. Have a launch date in mind?
2. The theme looks fine for mine. The biggest part is that it is readable and fast loading as well as pleasant on the eye. This does it for me. The product listings should be the hero, not the theme in my view.
3. Will there be “in post” ad areas if admins choose this for monetization rather than charging for listings. Or maybe have an option for either? I can add this myself to a template, but it would be better for the lister to choose paid or free, with “free” showing ads.
Good idea, Radlam. We had not considered adverts within listings. There are ad widgets in the header, sidebar and footer. There are multiple sidebars in which to place the add widget. So, there will be plenty of ad opportunities. Thanks for always presenting great ideas.
You are most welcome Shannon. See you have included responsiveness in the release. As someone once said. “Ideas are a dime a dozen, but those that implement them are priceless.”
BTW when I saw the mockups of the site, I can now see how this theme can be used in all sorts of ways. Great job.
Hi Shannon, do you now have a date for publication Version 1.0 ?
We will be announcing a release date next week.
Hello Shannon,
By “announcing a release date” do you mean to say that THE release date will be next week or you’re simply announcing a date that will be sometime in the future? Don’t mean to be a pest, but I’m very eager to use this theme and want to know exactly when I can expect to be able to!
We will not be releasing this week, only announcing the release date.
Looks good, cant wait
where is the category look, like http://www.suggest-url.org ?
we want SEO friendly features too.
Thanks
Hi Shannon,
I loved your vantage works and waiting to buy it when finished.
However, I have one suggestions for adding a feauture to vantage. If possible, add a online chat option at the each listing page which when the owner of the listing is online then the visitor can see the listing owner is online and can chat to them. You can check this kind of directory as http://www.alibaba.com
It is very attractive for the listing owners to be member.
One more thing, if possible creata a page like visitors leads published.
Waiting Vantage to buy urgently:)
Have a great days Shannon.
Agreed that chat would be a powerful feature but not one that I think we would be able to add anytime soon. We’ll be focusing on some of the features we consider critical to the theme in the near future. We do invite you to post this idea on the ideas exchange.
It will be possible to make compatible with HeadSpace2? would be great. thanks
Adriano, there are so many things to make compatible with the theme, it’s tough to single anything out. Perhaps you can let us know after the theme is released if it works with HeadSpace2 and then we can take it from there.
Here’s an idea, why not have a login in bridge for all appthemes, so registered users won’t have to login everytime.
Great idea, pablocustodio. Can you post that to our ideas exchange?
downloaded the beta any ideas on a release date.
Just a thought. Clicking the “Create a listing” link anywhere in the demo directs the user to a message “It seems you do not have permission to create listings”. If you know that the user is not registered, the message seems a redundant dead end.
This looks like a sales opportunity to me.
Would it be better to present the actual registration form required to be completed to get permission to create that listing, with the message “please register now to get your listing started”, instead of that message?
Will I be able to import ‘business name’ ‘phone’ ‘address’ ’email’ ‘website’ easily into my Vantage-powered niche “yellowpages style” wordpress database from multiple cvs files?
thx Shannon.
I have the same need. I plan to convert a custom programmed site which has several hundred listings already.
So,
Any launch date announced yet?
BTW Awesome theme!
Hi guys,
I’m anxiously waiting for the launching date of Vantage! Any news?
Shannon, it has been 2 weeks since the end of March, when you said in one week an announcement would be made.
I am eager to hear, as I am wanting to make use of a local directory theme — but am pressed for time. How are things looking, can you give an estimate date?
Chris
Chris, we announced the release date over a week ago: http://www.appthemes.com/blog/april-release-dates
We added a follow up post a couple of days ago: http://www.appthemes.com/blog/wow-aprils-going-to-be-huge
We also tweeted the news.
By the way, it’s April 27 for Vantage.
Awesome, good stuff. I can wait 10 days!
one week to go.
can’t wait!
Will it be possible to add locations by latitude and longitude, as great as it is Google Maps is not perfect and sometimes places the marker the wrong place.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/appmaps
Meloniq is an AppThemes developer, but he has produced this plugin independent of his AppThemes work. We’ll have to talk to him about making sure his plugin works with Vantage, too.
Excellent… this would be perfect, I am awaiting the release patiently.
In the demo when a new listing is being created, I notice there is the option to check for Featured on Home Page and in Category.
Will this option be open to everyone creating new listings?
For example, if all listings are free, but you want to charge only for being featured.
In the admin, you can enable or disable featured pricing. You can then set separate prices for both.
It would be nice to have the ability to remove one search box or the other from Vantage’s settings.
Reasoning:
For directories where all the listings will be in one location. Like businesses from only one town. (only need listing type)
For directories where all the listings are the same type. Like a bicycle shop directory. (only need listing location)
It would be nice to have the ability to control who can add listings.
For Example:
1) Listings are Free but you need to be a site or network member.
2) Listings are Free if you are a site or network member.
Listings are Paid if you are not a site or network member.
3) Listings are Paid and you need to be a site or network member.
The first option would be a good start to at least minimize spam.
Good ideas all, Sean.
We also need to see filtering of search & browse results but I don’t see any evidence of that in Vantage so far. It seems to rely on Google Maps for geographical aspects which in my opinion is a really BAD idea!
You need to get Scribu on the case.
Templatic’s similar product is beating you hands down right now.
There is a problem here, when you look for “restaurant” the results only show the businesses with that keyword in the name, not in the tags or category.
When you search for “japanese food” it happens the same, there are no results to generic searches unles the keywords are in the name. So tags and categories are not used.
From the user side this could lead to “never return” customers.
Any plan to improve this?
Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll look into it. If we can recreate the problem, we’ll fix pronto.
I experienced this same problem.. the only results returned are when the keyword is in the name… Would be much better it the search cover tags, categories and names..
Also, that manual map marker plugin would be very useful.
thanks
You dont need to “recreate” the scenario. Its on the demo linked from this post and it is independent of dissabked features on the demo.
This is serious, 1 year waiting from upgrading my memebership to get this theme and it lacks of main functionality of any directory: search.
Can you confirm we are still on for the release tomorrow as scheduled?
(im) Patiently waiting to purchase 🙂
Yes, we are on schedule for tomorrow.
Just wondering if there is a way to make the regular listings last forever. now im sure you can do this but then if they feature there listing it will be featured forever, so I was wondering if there is going to be a way that you can feature your listing for like 30 days, then after the 30 days the featured part goes away but the regular ad is still listed. Then the business owners can decide if they want to feature there listing after that.
I was wondering this same thing, since I will be adding a lot of the listings and aiming to have businesses pay to be featured.
Right now and for the foreseeable future, featured duration will match listing duration. As an admin, you would be able to manually change featured status. Could you post the idea to our ideas exchange?
It’s still Coming soon!
It would appear so, and sadly no word from the development team.
Communication with customers and potential customers is very important guys.
Yup, it’s up. Just been working hard on the various release tasks. Thanks to our awesome devs, Vantage 1.0 was ready to go by Thursday night.
So where do I download it from?
http://www.appthemes.com/cp/signup.php
For those of us that think Vantage’s design is a bit dated or would like something totally different from the look & feel it ships with, here’s a screenshot of what’s in our workshop as we speak: http://bit.ly/ILjFum
Looking forward to your childthemes Rihaan!
Discussion is closed.