GeoDirectory Franchise Manager

A review written on one branch can show up on all of them

A chain wants to join your directory with all of its locations. Without this add-on, each location is an independent listing: someone rewrites the description, uploads the logo again and, when the brand changes its copy, has to correct every one by hand. In GeoDirectory, a listing also has a single address and a single map marker, so putting several locations into one listing is no way out.

Franchise Manager links a main listing to a separate listing for each branch. The important decision comes when you create the main listing: which data belongs to the brand and which to each location. Every locked field is shared with all the branches, and that includes something less obvious than the logo. Comments can be locked, and then reviews appear on the main listing and on every branch. The rating one location receives becomes part of the whole chain's image.

How main listing and branches divide the work

The add-on works on two levels:

• Main listing: a normal listing with the Has Franchise? option ticked. This is where you choose which fields are locked.
• Branch listing: has its own address and its own marker, so each location appears on the map and in location searches.
• Locked fields: a branch cannot edit them, and what you change on the main listing is copied to its branches. Most available fields can be locked, with the description and the logo as examples.

The list of franchises is added as a tab from the content type's tab settings. To show it only on listings with franchises, GD Dynamic Content makes it conditional on the franchise field.

GeoDirectory > Settings > Franchise Manager has two switches: Show Main Listing? includes the main listing in that list and Show Viewing Franchise? includes the branch being viewed.

Charging for each location if you use Pricing Manager

With Pricing Manager you get two options per package, under CPT > Settings > Packages:

• Remove the option: add Has Franchise to Exclude Fields and that package stops offering branches.
• Charge for each branch: keep the option and enter an amount in Franchise Cost.

The limits on who can add branches

Branches can only be added by the same user who created the main listing, and only from the public side of the site. If you sign up a chain yourself, keep that rule in mind before promising that its staff will manage the locations.

The add-on does not replace Location Manager either. One divides up a business's branches; the other lets the directory cover many cities, regions and countries.

Requirements and step-by-step setup

You need GeoDirectory. Pricing Manager is only needed if you are going to charge per branch. Setup goes like this:

1. Install and activate Franchise Manager.
2. Under CPT > Settings > General click Show Advanced, tick Enable Franchise? and save. The setting is per content type.
3. Add GD > Author Actions, which can be a widget, shortcode or block, to the sidebar of the listing details page. That is where the Add Franchise link comes from.
4. Create the main listing, tick Has Franchise? and choose the fields in Lock Franchise Fields.
5. Open that listing on the public side, click Add Franchise and fill in the branch details.

GeoDirectory pieces that work alongside it

Pricing Manager creates the paid packages where the per-branch cost is set. Location Manager opens the directory to many locations, each with its own page.

If businesses are already published with no owner, Claim Listings lets each one claim its listing. If you mix sectors, Custom Post Types adds listing types of their own, which matters here because franchises are enabled per type.

When you sign up a chain with several locations

Can one listing have several addresses?

No. A listing has one address and one marker. For several locations, you create one branch listing for each.

Can I add branches from the WordPress dashboard?

They are added from the public side, with the main listing's Add Franchise link.

Is the Add Franchise link not showing?

Check that the Has Franchise field is active on the content type, that the listing has it set to Yes and that Author Actions shows its links on that page.