Restaurant Directory?

[ggouweloos]

Hi,

I want to make a big Restaurant Directory on one of my sites.
Not sure what component I will use for that.

I can use the standard Joomla Contact component, but it will not fit the needs.
I can use the Contact XTD that will suit a little better.
I can also make a content Section/Categorie(s) and make a content item per restaurant.
I can use a static page with all info on it. Not really what I want, but it's the fastest to make I guess.

I might need to look into mosForms, but I'm not familiar with that component. (Any comments here?)
I have the skills to make my own database tables, no problem.
It will take me too much time now to build a component myself.

Any suggestions how to implement this?
Any ideas appreciated.

[ssmayer]

This is a fabulous suggestion. I want one, too, one that would include all my little comments on their food, service, etc, and a spot for a few photos, too.

I love this idea!! Keep me posted, please!

[ggouweloos]

If I would design one of my own I would make it more general.
Something with own fields, so it wouldn't only work for Restaurant, but also for Hotels, Airlines, TV Programs, etc.
Whatever one wants to make a directory of should be possible.

I can design a general database model for such a component, just building the component around it will take me too long at the moment.

Any one there that has some kind of directory on their sites?

[ssmayer]

Yes, making it more generic, would make it more friendly to many more uses. Great idea. Let's keep growing this thread, and get more people excited about the possibilities!

[visualweb]

Phil Taylor's MosDirectory "https://www.phil-taylor.com/Joomla-comp ... For-Mambo/" might fill the need. It's not OS (open source) but is quite flexible in design and implementation. I bought a copy from him late last year to utilize as a core-component in a projected "restaurant" directory that I've back-burnered due to lack of time and the deplorable condition of accessible chefMoz data structure.

There's options out there but, for the nuts-n-bolts work that you would probably want to incorporate into your listings, I'd either contract a coder to build up from scratch or, dig under the hood of a stable component like phils and tune and tweak.

best of luck

vis

[deejayh]

How about using Classifieds. Great program which is fairly easy to change
http://mamboforge.net/projects/classifieds-ge/

I use mine for a genealogy wanted listing!

You could quite easily use it for restaurants adding a picture and details, with them set into catergories (place or type!).

No! I have nothing to do with Classifieds - except that I use it!
Cheers,
Dave

[lenamtl]

Hi,

you could try this restaurant component
http://vb-dozent.net/index.php?option=c ... =0&limit=8

good luck

[Waseem Sadiq]

Hi Guys,

I made a hack of TEGDesign's Bokkmarks component. I loved the Bookmarks component because it's very flexible and does everything asked for in this post and more!!

Mine is a Business Directory as I need it that purpose rather than for bookmarks. All you need to do once you install it is set up all of the extra fields that you need such a Address, Tel number, Fax number etc etc. I decided against adding these as standard in case some of them weren't needed.

I've attached the component and searchbot to this post for anyone who wants to try it out {edit} I've had to upload the component to sendmefile.com as it's too big to upload to the forum. The url you need is http://www.sendmefile.com/00128173, the searchbot is still attached to this post {edit}

If you need the modules too (see http://www.tegdesign.ch for examples of the modules) just let me know and I'll knock these out for you too (I didn't need them for my project)

Any comments would be most welcome

[ggouweloos]

I made a hack of TEGDesign's Bokkmarks component. I loved the Bookmarks component because it's very flexible and does everything asked for in this post and more!!

I was thinking about the Bookmark component myself. It's pretty flexible, but on the other hand it is not possible to upload an image by hand.

Furthermore it's only possible to make just 1 directory of restaurants. And not another one, let's say a directory of tv programs on the same site. (Let's assume we want those on the same website).

Mine is a Business Directory as I need it that purpose rather than for bookmarks. All you need to do once you install it is set up all of the extra fields that you need such a Address, Tel number, Fax number etc etc. I decided against adding these as standard in case some of them weren't needed.

I will check out your version of the Bookmarks component. It might be usable for just the Restaurants.

Too bad Phil's Directory is not freeware. It might be the solution to all problems.
I already checked the mos_restaurant component, but:
- No Fields, besides some Editor text fields (no adress, no town, no country, etc. etc.)
- Not an easy image handler, just a list generated via a special File Manager. Not really easy for an end-user.

Was not very happy about the Classiefields component either:
- It look OK on the frontend, but the description field is not the Editor (mosCE in my case), just some plain text with no linebreaks
- Image uploads (resize) not working.
- Little crappy image upload window.

[Waseem Sadiq]

I was thinking about the Bookmark component myself. It's pretty flexible, but on the other hand it is not possible to upload an image by hand.

This is actually possible, and very easy to do. instead of using the alexa image you can specify the image in the back end.

Furthermore it's only possible to make just 1 directory of restaurants. And not another one, let's say a directory of tv programs on the same site. (Let's assume we want those on the same website).

This however is true, you can only have one directory on your site (databse table reasons) however it's very easy to make a new directory all you have to do is use a tool such as "k-free find files and replace" and replace every instance of "business directory" with "a n other directory" - That's all I did to make this business directory useable (ok so I had to go and manually update some sections of the language.php file - but that only took me about 5 minutes)

[Alejo]

I was thinking about the Bookmark component myself. It's pretty flexible, but on the other hand it is not possible to upload an image by hand.

This is actually possible, and very easy to do. instead of using the alexa image you can specify the image in the back end.

Furthermore it's only possible to make just 1 directory of restaurants. And not another one, let's say a directory of tv programs on the same site. (Let's assume we want those on the same website).

This however is true, you can only have one directory on your site (databse table reasons) however it's very easy to make a new directory all you have to do is use a tool such as "k-free find files and replace" and replace every instance of "business directory" with "a n other directory" - That's all I did to make this business directory useable (ok so I had to go and manually update some sections of the language.php file - but that only took me about 5 minutes)

With xtdratings (http://www.xtdratings.com) you can have multiple directories running at once. The directories are not as sophisticated as what you can get with bookmarks and it uses standard Joomla sections and categories. It is really a review system, but you don't need to install the comment/rating mambot if you don't want to and still take advantage of the directories. It also adds the ability to create input templates with custom fields (which could be different for each content category) allowing users (visitors or registered) to submit new content.

I have three directories running on the site right now, try it out.

[Waseem Sadiq]

Great Should Alejo!

I'll check it out

[ggouweloos]

I checked the xtdratings.com website. I like the view of the items.
Although the component is not really what I am looking for, it is a nice component.

Xtdratings is based on standard Mambo/Joomla content items.
I didn't get it to work under 4.5.3 (it did not install the xtd package during install)

The multiple directories is pretty nice also.

What I am looking for is a component where someone can define multiple directories.
e.g.:

Restaurants Directory
Hotels Directory
City Directory
TV Show directory
(All on the same website).

Every directory should be configurable (Fields, sorting, display in frontend, etc).
Restaurants could look like this:
Name, Description (via Editor), City, Telephone, Type (Category), Opening Hours (Editor), Menu (Editor)

City could look like this:
Name, Category (Country), No of Inhabitants, subway (yes/no), number of airports, places of interests (another directory with multiple items within the City!)

TV Shows could look like this:
Name, Short Description, Type (Category), episodes (another directory with multiple items in within TV show).
Episode could look like this:
Name, Short Descrption, Air Date, Cast, 

Ofcourse there should be a rating system, and a user-submit option.

Booksmarks would be perfect, besides the non-easy image upload and it's not possible to create multiple directories.

[lenamtl]

Hi,

examples of the com_restaurant


http://www.thaleischweiler-online.de/cm ... Itemid=108

[franco]

Hi Guys,

I made a hack of TEGDesign's Bokkmarks component. I loved the Bookmarks component because it's very flexible and does everything asked for in this post and more!!

Mine is a Business Directory as I need it that purpose rather than for bookmarks. All you need to do once you install it is set up all of the extra fields that you need such a Address, Tel number, Fax number etc etc. I decided against adding these as standard in case some of them weren't needed.

I've attached the component and searchbot to this post for anyone who wants to try it out {edit} I've had to upload the component to sendmefile.com as it's too big to upload to the forum. The url you need is http://www.sendmefile.com/00128173, the searchbot is still attached to this post {edit}

If you need the modules too (see http://www.tegdesign.ch for examples of the modules) just let me know and I'll knock these out for you too (I didn't need them for my project)

Any comments would be most welcome

I loaded the component.  It looks nice.  Thank you!

Question:  as I have loaded it, when you open the link to the business directory, it shows the links (photos, description, rating, hits, etc.)  How do I configure it so that the initial page would only show the category listing, i.e.,

Restaurants      Other Category
Other Category 2    Other Category 3
Other Category 4    Other Category 5

The viewer then clicks the Category link where the links (photos, description, rating, hits, etc.) are presented.



Do you have a module for this?

[Waseem Sadiq]

I loaded the component.  It looks nice.  Thank you!

Question:  as I have loaded it, when you open the link to the business directory, it shows the links (photos, description, rating, hits, etc.)  How do I configure it so that the initial page would only show the category listing, i.e.,

Restaurants     Other Category
Other Category 2     Other Category 3
Other Category 4     Other Category 5

The viewer then clicks the Category link where the links (photos, description, rating, hits, etc.) are presented.

Hi Franco,

If you only want to show the categories in the main initial page this is really rather easy. Just don't publish any links in the root directory. That way only categories will show up. If you need any further clarification PM me and I'll run you through it

[suthram]

People,

I am building a Web site based on Mambo 452 and need to create and maintain a membership directory.  I need to display the members' last name, first name, title, company, and email address.  If possible , I would also like to upload an excel sheet into the component with the same fields to continuously update my membership directory.

The viable solutions seem to lie with these components:

1. Phil Taylor's component
2. mos_restaurant
3. Classifieds component
4. Modified versio of TEGDesign's Bookmarks component

Did I miss any?

Please advise at your earliest convinience on which one would be best to create and maintain a membership directory.

- Suthram

[rsphaeroides]

People,

I am building a Web site based on Mambo 452 and need to create and maintain a membership directory.  I need to display the members' last name, first name, title, company, and email address.  If possible , I would also like to upload an excel sheet into the component with the same fields to continuously update my membership directory.

The viable solutions seem to lie with these components:

1. Phil Taylor's component
2. mos_restaurant
3. Classifieds component
4. Modified versio of TEGDesign's Bookmarks component

Did I miss any?

Please advise at your earliest convinience on which one would be best to create and maintain a membership directory.

- Suthram

I think any of the above would be overkill for you since you don't need images, ratings etc.  Why not just use the built in contact component and upload your additions as CSV or Excel format with phpMyAdmin?

[suthram]

After much thought, looks like that's what we're going to do.  Thank you for your input.

- suthram

[debian75]

I had somewhat the same problem. The thing is I had the restaurant directory before I know about Mambo and Joomla. So I was looking for a component to fit my needs but I haven't found any. Im my case I wanted to assing a restaurant to a region and that region to a parent region. No component could do this. In the end I write a module to display the restaurants while I manage them with my old non-jommla web application. I am sure it can be easily turn into a real component but I dont know how to write components.

Check the restaurant guide here: http://www.gastrolink.ch

If anyone wants to turn this into a real component mail me, I am willing to shared the code...which is a mess though

[naughtyleo]

Hi Haaris,

I am interested to try out. Why don't you create a project about it. Or rather variation of Bookmarks. Bookmarks (specially for business)... I am sure this would be hot...

Would it be possible for you to upload the modules too?

Best regards,
naughtyleo

Hi Guys,

I made a hack of TEGDesign's Bokkmarks component. I loved the Bookmarks component because it's very flexible and does everything asked for in this post and more!!

Mine is a Business Directory as I need it that purpose rather than for bookmarks. All you need to do once you install it is set up all of the extra fields that you need such a Address, Tel number, Fax number etc etc. I decided against adding these as standard in case some of them weren't needed.

I've attached the component and searchbot to this post for anyone who wants to try it out {edit} I've had to upload the component to sendmefile.com as it's too big to upload to the forum. The url you need is http://www.sendmefile.com/00128173, the searchbot is still attached to this post {edit}

If you need the modules too (see http://www.tegdesign.ch for examples of the modules) just let me know and I'll knock these out for you too (I didn't need them for my project)

Any comments would be most welcome

[Lucretia]

I've had to upload the component to sendmefile.com as it's too big to upload to the forum. The url you need is http://www.sendmefile.com/00128173, the searchbot is still attached to this post {edit}

Pity that this download isn´t working anymore - I just wanted to try it out. Is there any possibility to upload it again?

I am also looking for a component for a location directory. I need voting and rating, categories like Country -> Region -> City, subcategories like shop/club/other and the possibility to upload photos.
Any ideas which component would be best to realize this?

[pixie]

One answer I have found that seems to take care of most things....

Get yourself a download of Gary's Cook Book component and install it

Change it to a restaurant guide by making the following changes....

Overwrite english.php and garyscookbook.php with the files I have included and adjust to your likeing
You will need to change the extensions of these files back to php

You will need to make a couple of minor changes in the config.garyscookbook.php

You will then have a very nice restaurant component with catagories, images, ratings and comments.

This excellent component can be adapted to use as other components of this type.

[Lucretia]

One answer I have found that seems to take care of most things....

Get yourself a download of Gary's Cook Book component and install it

Change it to a restaurant guide by making the following changes....

Overwrite english.php and garyscookbook.php with the files I have included and adjust to your likeing
You will need to change the extensions of these files back to php

You will need to make a couple of minor changes in the config.garyscookbook.php

You will then have a very nice restaurant component with catagories, images, ratings and comments.

This excellent component can be adapted to use as other components of this type.

Hey, thank you, this sounds good!
I will try it later

[Lucretia]

okay, I´ve installed that one now.
It´s already a lot better than mos_restaurant, as you dont HAVE to upload pictures, users can upload their venues and you have the full voting and rating system.

But also this one doesn´t have any subcategories. I can´t believe that there is no one who has already changed one of those components and added subcategories - as I´ve seen this request already several times in the vb-dozent forum and so on. Ummm... 

[pixie]

As I understand it Mambo/Joomla is a 3 tier system consisting of SECTIONS, CATERGORIES and CONTENT and so it doesn't cater for subcategories.

Please correct me if I am wrong!

[Lucretia]

As I understand it Mambo/Joomla is a 3 tier system consisting of SECTIONS, CATERGORIES and CONTENT and so it doesn't cater for subcategories.

Please correct me if I am wrong!

um... on one hand, you might be right. At least Gary´s Cookbook and mos_restaurant _are_ using the normal Joomla categories.

But I don´t think its impossible to write a component which has subcategories - there is mos_directory for example. There you can add as many subcategories as you like ( you can try it at http://www.phil-taylor.com/Demo/ ). You can define parent and child categories.
So I'm pretty sure it should be possible for other components as well...

[maxa]

Hi,

examples of the com_restaurant

http://www.good2eat.com/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=29

http://www.thaleischweiler-online.de/cm ... Itemid=108

So where is this com_restaurant to be found?

[kenmcd]

 
MOS Restaurant
Restaurant directory component
Download
http://vb-dozent.net/index.php?option=c ... =0&limit=8

Attached below.

[adec]

thanks for those hints pixie..

i started with mos restaurants, but having to include the image everytime was annoying me, so i took your advice and looked at the cookbook instead....

just in the process of adapting to exactly what i want, which seems pretty straightforward...

ok i know rem'd lines to remove parts of the front end that i don't want, and altering other parts subtly is not the best way forward - especially if i never needed to upgrade it! but for now it seems to be coming along quite nicely....

..as soon as its just how i like, and populated with data i'll post a link somewhere ...

all in all though .. cookbook was a good way forward! thanks!