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Directory
Directory is a map-based listings module for Cactus. Group entries into Categories, drop a pin on a map for each one, pick out a few as Featured, and let visitors browse, search and filter the results - all from your own admin.
The directory lives at /directory on your site (or /directory/cafes for a category, /directory/cafes/the-kettle-and-bean for an individual entry). If you already have a page at /directory, that page wins and the directory's front page stays hidden until you rename one of them.
Directory has two permissions, set on your core roles from Users → Roles:
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directory.access- see the Directory section in the admin sidebar and its dashboard summary. -
directory.manage- create and edit categories and entries, change settings, and run CSV imports.
Give someone directory.manage without directory.access and they can still work the API directly but won't see a sidebar link - in practice you'll want to give people both together. Core admins always have full run of Directory, permissions or no permissions.
From Directory → Categories, anyone with directory.manage can add a category with a name, an optional description, and an emoji icon. Drag rows, or use the up/down arrows if dragging isn't your thing, to change the order they appear in on the public front page. Click an entry count to jump straight to that category's entries. A category can't be deleted while it still has entries in it - move or remove those first, then the category will delete cleanly.
From Directory → Entries → New entry, fill in:
- Core details - name, category, and whether it's a draft or published. Tick Featured to pin it above the rest, with an optional end date after which it quietly drops back to normal (checked once a day).
- Content - a short description (shown on cards and in map pins) and a longer write-up using the same block editor as the rest of your site.
- Location - type an address and click Find coordinates to look it up automatically (no API key needed, just a moment's wait), or enter latitude and longitude by hand. A small map preview shows exactly where the pin will land. There's also an area, a sub-area, and an optional numeric "route marker" for anyone building an ordered trail or route out of their entries.
- Contact - phone, email and website, shown as a contact card on the public page if any are filled in.
- Media - add one or more images from your media library; drag to reorder, the first one becomes the cover photo.
- Tags - free-text, with suggestions drawn from tags you've already used elsewhere.
Save Draft keeps it hidden from the public site; Publish makes it live straight away, and a quiet "Saved" tick confirms it went through. Once an entry is published, a View live link appears so you can jump straight to its public page. Duplicate copies an existing entry (handy for near-identical listings), and Copy preview link gives you a private link to a draft, safe to share for a look before it goes live - generating a new one cuts off the old link.
Directory → Entries lists everything with filters for category, status, featured, and a "missing location" flag for anything without coordinates yet, plus a search box, a running count of how many entries match, and bulk publish/unpublish/delete for tidying up in one go. Click anywhere on a row to open it, and anything without a map pin gets a little
If you've got listings sitting in a spreadsheet, Import CSV on the Entries page takes a CSV file with columns for name, category, coordinates, description, contact details and tags (piped together with a |). Not sure of the format? Grab the Download example CSV button for a template with one filled-in row to copy from. Drop your file onto the page or click to choose it as normal; Cactus checks every row before anything is written, flags anything it can't make sense of, and lets you download a report of just the problem rows to fix and try again. Everything comes in as a draft, so you can give it a once-over before publishing, and once it's done you're offered a direct link through to the entries list. Turn the importer off entirely from Settings → Directory, if you'd rather nobody used it.
Visitors land on a front page showing your categories, a map of everything published, and a paginated "All listings" section with featured entries pinned to the top and a running count of how many there are. Each category has its own page with a breadcrumb back to the directory, a filterable map, an area filter, sorting (newest, alphabetical, or by route marker if any entry in that category has one set), a live search box, and a count of what's currently showing. An entry's own page shows a breadcrumb trail, its photos, write-up, a click-to-call phone number, and a Get directions link that opens the address in Google Maps - handy for anyone actually trying to get there.
The look of a category page and a listing's own page can be customised in Appearance → Layouts, under the Directory tab (with Category and Entry sub-tabs) - the same drag-and-drop editor used for your header and footer, with Directory's own blocks (listings grid with filters, map, contact card, and more) alongside the usual layout and content blocks.
Install Directory from v0.1.13 onwards and one Category design and one Entry design are created and published for you, arranged exactly as the pages already look - the map included, and it stays out of the way on a category with nothing pinned. Two more of each are offered under + New Layout.
If your Directory went in before v0.1.13 those two tabs will be empty, and updating will not fill them - the module only creates its starting designs once, on the way in, and yours has already had its go. Nothing is broken: your listings carry on using the built-in look. Click + New Layout, pick a Category design and an Entry design, publish each one, and set it to show on the entire site.
When editing a menu (see Appearance and design), choose Module content and then Directory to link directly to the Directory home page, a category, or a listing, instead of typing out the address by hand.
Settings → Directory covers the intro text shown on the front page, the map's default centre point and zoom level, the label used for featured entries (defaults to "Featured", change it to "Sponsored" or whatever suits), and the CSV importer on/off switch.
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