🚀 Overview

Business Directory – Store Finder | Local lets you launch a revenue-ready directory site where merchants create or claim listings, add photos, hours, and offers, and customers discover nearby businesses via powerful search and interactive maps.
Ideal for tourism boards, chambers of commerce, local publishers, agencies, and niche communities (beauty, healthcare, auto, food).

Experience-driven: Modeled after real city-guide operations — category curation, featured placements, review moderation, lead forms, and coupon campaigns — so you can monetize traffic while helping shoppers find the right place fast.

✨ Key Features

• Smart Search & Filters: keyword + location search, radius filter, open-now, price range, amenities, categories/tags.
• Interactive Map: map/list toggle, clustering, pin cards, directions deep-link to Google/Apple Maps.
• Listings & Claiming: create/claim listings, verification, owners can edit details, photos, hours, social links, menus/files.
• Reviews & Ratings: star ratings with moderation queue, photo reviews, flag abuse, owner replies.
• Deals & Coupons: publish promo codes, printable/QR coupons, start/expiry, usage counts.
• Events & Announcements: per-listing events with dates, venues, tickets/RSVP links.
• Lead Forms & Bookings: contact forms, call-to-action buttons (call, WhatsApp, website, email), optional booking link.
• Monetization: featured placement, sponsored categories, banner zones, membership tiers, commission-free leads.
• SEO Suite: clean slugs, meta controls, Open Graph, local business schema, XML sitemaps, canonical/hreflang.
• Content Blocks: blog/news, city/area landing pages, curated collections (“Best of…”, “Near the Stadium”).
• Analytics: listing views, CTR on CTAs, calls/clicks, coupon redemptions, top categories.
• Localization: multi-language UI, RTL, currency/date formats, unit preferences (km/mi).
• Moderation & Safety: role-based access, spam protection, audit log, content flags.

⚙️ Technical Stack

• Framework: Laravel 9/10+ (typical) or similar PHP MVC
• Language: PHP 8.1+ recommended
• Database: MySQL 8.0+ / MariaDB 10.5+
• Frontend: Blade templates, Bootstrap/Tailwind, Alpine.js/Vanilla JS
• Maps: Google Maps or OpenStreetMap/Leaflet (API key configurable)
• Search: SQL full-text; optional Algolia/Meilisearch integration
• Cache/Queue: Redis or database queues for emails, image jobs
• Server: Nginx/Apache with HTTPS & OPCache
• PHP Extensions: pdo_mysql, mbstring, openssl, curl, intl, fileinfo, json, zip
• Build Tools: Composer, Node.js (Vite) & NPM/Yarn

🧩 Installation Guide

1. Upload: deploy files to your Linux server/hosting; enable HTTPS.
2. Configure: set .env (APP_URL, DB, MAIL, CACHE/QUEUE, MAP_API keys).
3. Install: composer install --no-dev & php artisan key:generate.
4. Migrate/Seed: php artisan migrate --force (seed sample categories/cities if provided).
5. Assets: npm install & npm run build.
6. Storage: php artisan storage:link; make storage/ & bootstrap/cache writable.
7. Optimize: configure queue workers (Supervisor/Horizon) for emails & image processing.

Tip: Pre-create city and category landing pages; add 20–30 seed listings to launch with credibility.

📦 Deliverables

• Full GPL source code for the Business Directory platform
• Listing management, maps, search & filters, reviews
• Coupons, events, featured placements, ad zones
• Admin dashboard, moderation tools, analytics
• Docs, sample configs, GPL license text & changelog

📱 Supported Platforms

• Devices: responsive UI for mobile, tablet, desktop
• Browsers: latest Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox
• Server OS: Linux recommended; Windows/macOS suitable for development

🧠 Notes

• License: Distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) for lawful self-hosting, testing, and education.
• Monetization Tips: sell featured spots, category sponsorships, and subscription tiers (claim + enhanced profile).
• SEO Strategy: unique titles/descriptions, local business schema, city + category landing pages, internal linking.
• Data Quality: validate hours/phones; encourage owners to keep listings fresh with photos and offers.
• Compliance: obtain consent for reviews/photos; honor takedown requests; include Terms/Privacy/Content Policy.
• Security: enforce HTTPS, rate-limit forms, moderate user content, back up database regularly.

👨‍💻 Original Developer Credit

Originally authored by the vendor listed on
CodeCanyon.
Please support the creator by purchasing a commercial license when your use case requires it.

🔒 Disclaimer

This is a GPL redistribution intended for lawful testing, education, and self-hosting.
We are not the original developers and provide no implied warranties.
Business data accuracy, review moderation, and regulatory compliance are the deployer’s responsibility.