Build your directory
Build the directory your category actually needs
Picture the site you're trying to build. Maybe it's a guide to wineries in your region, scored on the things wine drinkers actually care about. Maybe it's a marketplace for used kayaks where sellers pay before their listing goes live. Maybe it's a directory of dentists, fly-fishing outfitters, dog trainers, or climbing gyms — and each business runs their own page once they claim it. JReviews is the software that builds it on WordPress or Joomla, shaped to your category instead of stretched to fit a generic template.
Each kind of listing has its own set of fields. Wineries get varietal, region, and vineyard age. Dental practices get specialty and accepted insurance. Kayak guides get skill level and put-in point. Your visitors filter on those same fields, see ratings scored on what matters for that kind of place — a wine bar isn't judged by the same standards as a ski lesson — and reach owners through a form that keeps email addresses private. You set the rules: charge sellers to post, expire listings on their own, sell featured placement to the ones who want to stand out.
Below are walkthroughs for five common builds. The conversation looks pretty different depending on whether you're selling listings, collecting patient reviews, or running a directory of certified pros — so pick the one that sounds most like yours.
Verticals
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Travel directories
You're putting together a guide to a city, a region, or a specific kind of trip — restaurants in Lisbon, family activities in Costa Rica, walking tours in Edinburgh. Your visitors land on the site already comparing: what's the food like, what's kid-friendly, what's open in winter, what's a short walk from where they're staying. Each listing scores on the things that matter for that category, photos and a map sit on every page, and proximity search (through the MapsPro add-on) ranks places by distance from wherever your visitor wants to start their day.
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Classifieds directories
You're running a marketplace where sellers pay to post — used cars, RVs, equipment, long-term rentals, jobs. Sellers fill out the right form for whatever they're listing, pay you at submission, and their post comes down on its own when the plan runs out. Renewals and featured-placement upgrades happen from their account page, so you're not chasing anyone for money. Payments go through PayPal out of the box; Stripe and Mollie are available as add-ons. Free listings can run alongside paid ones on the same site.
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Professional and trade directories
You're listing accountants, lawyers, contractors, or certified tradespeople — and each one runs their own page once they claim it. A tax accountant claims her listing from your public site, fills in her license number, practice areas, hours, and a few photos, and replies to a client review herself — without ever emailing you to ask. Visitors reach her through a form that keeps her email private. You decide whether new claims and edits go live right away or wait for your sign-off.
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Healthcare and wellness directories
You're building a finder for dentists, vets, chiropractors, fitness studios, or alternative-medicine practitioners. Patients aren't picking a provider on a single star — they want to know about bedside manner, wait time, cleanliness, and value, side by side. Each practice claims its own page and keeps specialties, accepted insurance, and languages spoken current. To be clear about what this is and isn't: JReviews is directory and reviews software, not a clinical system. No appointment booking, no patient records, nothing pretending to be HIPAA-regulated software.
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Outdoor business directories
You're putting together a directory of the businesses that take people outside — rafting outfitters, ski schools, fly-fishing guides, dive shops, climbing schools — not another consumer trail app. Clients filter by activity, region, and which months the operator is actually open for bookings. Each listing carries route maps with elevation data (through the MapsPro add-on), photos from last season's trips, certifications, and reviews on guide skill and gear quality. Operators claim their own listing, update their season each spring, and pay for featured placement during their busy months.
Sites built on JReviews have also covered event calendars, book and film review communities, course and school directories, and real estate listings — and plenty of things in between. If your project doesn't match one of the five above, the easiest way to see how the pieces fit your category is to poke around the live demo. Click into any listing and you're looking at the custom fields, ratings, and search filters you'd ship on day one.