How to Create a Directory list with search/lookup

Hello Is there a way to create a phone or organization directory list with search or a lookup function based on department or category of people and function?ThanksBuck

There isn’t a built-in function to specifically do this but, depending on the requirements, you may be able to build something using a Blog Collection, with one post per contact. A search bar, linked only to this blog, could then be used to search for matching posts (contacts). 

Thank you Paul2009

What are my options then? How would I go about doing this. Is there an zapier integration that I can use that will allow me to create a searchable directory list?

Thanks

Hello Paul2009OK, so its really phone directory lookup (similar to 411.ca) that will have search bar and then a visitor can either lookup either by name or some category such as department. The search should return a specific result such as name,phone number and email address if searching someone specific by name or if the search is by department then it should return a list of people in that department with all the particular mentioned above.Thank you again

Hi Buck, this might be a bit late for you but there is a directory tool called Community Box that allows you to create searchable listings: https://www.communitybox.co/squarespace I'm not sure it's exactly what you're looking for but you can have people in categories and then search and sort by name, categories or location. It's free for up to 25 entries if you wanted to have a play around. 

Full disclosure, I was involved with making this tool but we created it because I'm a Squarespace designer and was frustrated due to the lack of directory options. 

Hello 

this question is for thewheelexists I’ve looked at the community box and I like how it’s set up. However I don’t have a membership site. I just wanted to have a directory on my website. In terms of functionality is that possible? 
 

my thanks in advance,

Katty

Hi @katyjanneh, you can create a directory on your site using Community Box... Try it out, with a free trial account. Here are the instructions for adding it to your Squarespace site - https://www.communitybox.co/support/how-to-add-community-box-to-your-squarespace-website

Good luck!

Karen

hello im not a big fan of community box. Are there any alternatives ?

There is a tool Awesometable, have you try it?

On 7/22/2020 at 1:55 AM, ionna said:

hello im not a big fan of community box. Are there any alternatives ?

Hi Ionna, I'm looking for a directory solution too. Can you share why you don't like community box? Appreciate it. 

On 2/2/2021 at 2:51 PM, kspeed said:

Hi Ionna, I'm looking for a directory solution too. Can you share why you don't like community box? Appreciate it. 

We are a non-profit and don't want to pay in perpetuity. We would prefer either an open source tool or to pay outright. 

Take a look at Sheets2Site, it's a pretty great directory for $29/mo.

https://www.sheet2site.com/templates/employee-directory/

It embeds into Squarespace: https://www.sheet2site.com/add-google-sheet-to-squarespace/

I've been trying Community Box but the styling is just very clunky. The profiles open in little pop up windows and I need more room for text in each profile page.

Hey @racheljcox I'm one of the Community Box co-founders and we are currently working on adding more template and layout options for the directory, as we appreciate the grid and popup option doesn't work for everyone! But that will take a few months. There is an option to create a custom layout for Community Box if you have an idea of the design you want, but there is a one-off fee for this. We can also help with CSS customisations (if you just want to make the popup bigger for example) so feel free to reach out via the live chat or book a 1:1 call from the home page. 

On 5/17/2021 at 7:31 AM, katycarlisle said:

Hey @racheljcox I'm one of the Community Box co-founders and we are currently working on adding more template and layout options for the directory, as we appreciate the grid and popup option doesn't work for everyone! But that will take a few months. There is an option to create a custom layout for Community Box if you have an idea of the design you want, but there is a one-off fee for this. We can also help with CSS customisations (if you just want to make the popup bigger for example) so feel free to reach out via the live chat or book a 1:1 call from the home page. 

@katycarlisle Are you able to remove the map and just have the actually directory entries listed?

4 hours ago, Ash_vibeindie said:

Are you able to remove the map and just have the actually directory entries listed?

@Ash_vibeindie Yes you can either hide the map completely or have it show on a toggle (so it's not visible when the directory first loads). The option to do that is in the "Look and Feel" tab in the dashboard. If you need any help you can always reach out via the Community Box website. 

1 hour ago, Caroline_Smith said:

It's called Category Specific Search and Filter, and it allows you to search and optionally filter through any collections page.

Universal Filter is a well-known utility that can do this too.

Could Community Box work in Costa Rica? (With the map and all, I mean)

Would anyone know if and how Community Box works with paywalls within SquareSpace?

Hi @mcalixtro!

I'm one of the developers of Community Box.

Community Box works with both MemberSpace (recommended) as well as Squarespace's own Member Sites, both of which provide paywall functionality on Squarespace.

If you already have a different payments solution in place then you can probably connect that to Community Box via our Zapier integration.

You can test the options above on the Free plan of Community Box to make sure it all works the way you need it to before committing to anything. We'll be happy to help with any setup problems you run into (you can message us through the chat widget in the Community Box dashboard).

All the best,

Roland

@hopefulhoopla Yes Community Box should work without problem in Costa Rica! You can always try adding it to your website while on the Free plan, this way you can have peace of mind that the map will work as you need it to, before you commit to any upgrade. If you run into any problems, don't hesitate to message us via the support widget in the Community Box dashboard ✅

On 1/4/2024 at 8:15 PM, roland_cb said:

Hi @mcalixtro!

I'm one of the developers of Community Box.

Community Box works with both MemberSpace (recommended) as well as Squarespace's own Member Sites, both of which provide paywall functionality on Squarespace.

If you already have a different payments solution in place then you can probably connect that to Community Box via our Zapier integration.

You can test the options above on the Free plan of Community Box to make sure it all works the way you need it to before committing to anything. We'll be happy to help with any setup problems you run into (you can message us through the chat widget in the Community Box dashboard).

All the best,

Roland

@roland_cb: Can you embed Community Box in multiple places on a single website? For example, we have a member directory in our memberspace, I need to have a service partner directory in there as well (separate from the member directory), and then there's a public facing directory that's on our site (opt-0in from our members). Am I able to set up all 3 of those in the different sections of the same Squarespace website without? Some people will be in 2 places, but that's fine, as the audiences are different.

Hi!

Yes, for sure that is possible. You can either:

• add the same directory to multiple pages of your site, with each instance being pre-filtered by tags. For example, say you have a directory of service providers on one page of your site. Then on another page, you want to highlight the subset of service providers who are participating in a seasonal promotion. You would then embed the same directory on the page about the seasonal promotion, but configure Community Box to filter away any profiles lacking the promotional tag, on that page.
• alternatively, you can embed different directories on different pages of your site, or even on different sites altogether

I hope that answered your question, if not then feel free to reach out to me directly via the website and I'll be happy to help further ✅

All the best,

Roland