Create a Directory with MyListing Wordpress Theme

MyListing: The Designer’s Choice for Directory Sites

Most directory themes look like spreadsheets. They function well enough—you can search, you can filter, you can click—but they lack soul. They feel utilitarian.

MyListing is the exception. It is arguably the best-looking directory theme on the WordPress market. It prioritizes design and user experience (UX) in a way that competitors like ListingPro or Wilcity often miss.

When you install MyListing, you aren't just getting a database search tool. You are getting a modern, polished aesthetic that feels closer to an Airbnb or a TripAdvisor than a generic Yellow Pages clone.

But beauty isn't enough. A directory needs to work. It needs to handle data, process payments, and load quickly. MyListing has been around for years, and it has matured into a stable, feature-rich platform. It allows you to build anything from a local event guide to a global real estate portal without touching code.

This review breaks down why MyListing remains a top seller, where it excels, and honestly, where it might frustrate you.

What is MyListing?

MyListing is a premium WordPress theme available on ThemeForest. It is designed specifically to create directory and listing websites.

The core philosophy of MyListing is flexibility through the Listing Type Creator. Instead of forcing you into a specific niche (like "Hotels" or "Restaurants"), it gives you a drag-and-drop builder to define your own listing structures.

You can build a site for:

• Events: With dates, ticket prices, and countdowns.
• Real Estate: With square footage, amenities, and floor plans.
• Cars: With mileage, make, model, and year.
• Tutors: With hourly rates, subjects, and availability.

It relies heavily on Elementor, the popular WordPress page builder. This means you can visually design your homepage, search pages, and single listing layouts. You don't need to know PHP or CSS to make it look professional.

The Architecture: How It Works

To understand MyListing, you have to understand its dependency stack. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. It uses established plugins to handle specific jobs.

1. Elementor (Page Building): This is your canvas. You drag widgets onto the page to create your layout. MyListing adds its own set of widgets—Listing Feeds, Search Forms, Categories—that fit seamlessly into Elementor.
2. WooCommerce (Payments): If you want to charge users to submit a listing, MyListing uses WooCommerce. This is smart. It means you can use any payment gateway that WooCommerce supports (Stripe, PayPal, Square, Razorpay, etc.).
3. Advanced Custom Fields (ACF): Wait, doesn't it use its own fields? Yes and no. MyListing simplifies data entry, but under the hood, it's all standard WordPress meta data.
4. Vue.js (The Frontend): This is the secret sauce. The search experience on the frontend is powered by Vue.js. This means when a user clicks a filter, the results update instantly without reloading the page. It feels like an app.

Core Features That Set It Apart

The Listing Type Builder

This is the heart of the theme. The Listing Type Builder is where you define what a "listing" actually is.

It is divided into three tabs:

• Fields: Here you add the data inputs. Text boxes, dropdowns, location maps, image galleries, hours of operation, and social links. You can create unlimited fields.
• Single Page: This is the layout editor. You decide how that data looks to the user. You drag "blocks" onto the layout. You can put the map at the top, the reviews at the bottom, and the gallery in the sidebar. It is fully modular.
• Search Forms: You build the search filters here. You decide which fields are searchable. Do you want a slider for price? A checkbox for "Open Now"? A radius filter for location? You configure it here.

This level of granular control is rare. Most themes hardcode the layout. MyListing lets you redesign the data structure whenever you want.

The Explore Page

The "Explore" page is where your users spend most of their time. It’s the search interface.

MyListing offers several templates for this:

• Map + Grid: A split screen with a map on one side and listings on the other (classic Airbnb style).
• Grid Only: Focuses purely on the visuals.
• Sidebar Filter: A traditional e-commerce layout with filters on the left.

The standout feature here is the mobile experience. The Explore page is responsive. On mobile, the map toggles cleanly, and the filters slide in from a modal. It feels native, not like a squashed website.

Monetization Options

You are building a directory to make money. MyListing provides three main revenue paths out of the box:

1. Paid Listings: You create "Packages" via WooCommerce. Example: "Standard" (Free), "Premium" ($50/month), "Pro" ($100/month). You can limit features by package. Maybe the Free plan allows 1 photo, but the Pro plan allows 10 photos and a website link.
2. Promoted Listings: You can allow users to pay extra to "bump" their listing to the top of the search results or feature it on the homepage.
3. Claim Listings: You can populate the site with data first, then allow business owners to "claim" their listing and pay for ownership. This is a classic growth strategy for directories (Yelp did it).

Direct Messaging

The theme includes a messaging system. Users can contact listing owners directly through the platform.

This keeps the user on your site. If they have to copy an email address and open Gmail, you lose engagement. MyListing keeps the conversation internal. You can also integrate this with third-party chat solutions if you prefer, but the native one works well for basic inquiries.

The Design Aesthetic

We have to talk about the visuals. MyListing is beautiful.

It uses a design language that relies on rounded corners, clean typography, and subtle shadows. It looks "soft" and approachable.

• Cover Images: It utilizes large hero images effectively.
• Iconography: It supports font icon packs out of the box. You can use FontAwesome or upload your own SVG icons for categories.
• Dark Mode: While not a "one-click" toggle for the whole site in the traditional sense, the theme is highly customizable. You can build dark-themed directories that look stunning because the containers and widgets are designed with transparency and layering in mind.

If you are a designer, you will appreciate the CSS organization. If you are not a designer, you will appreciate that the demos look good without you touching anything.

Real-World Use Cases

Who is actually using this?

The Local City Guide

This is the bread and butter of MyListing. Imagine a "Best of London" site. You have categories for Nightlife, Museums, and Parks. The "Events" listing type handles the concerts. The "Place" listing type handles the pubs. The map integration shows tourists exactly where to go.

The niche Marketplace

Think "Wedding Vendors in California." You have Photographers, Florists, and Venues.

• Photographers need a gallery-heavy layout.
• Venues need a capacity field and a map.
• Florists need a price range. MyListing handles these different data needs effortlessly within the same installation.

The Coaching Directory

A directory of life coaches or therapists. The focus here is on trust and personal details. The listing layout can prioritize the profile photo, the "About Me" text, and the reviews. The "Direct Message" feature becomes crucial here for booking consultations.

Performance and Speed

This is the big question. "Is it slow?"

Directory themes are heavy by nature. They query a lot of data. MyListing is average to good in terms of speed, but it requires optimization.

Because it relies on Elementor and Vue.js, there is a lot of JavaScript loading on the frontend. If you put 50 high-resolution images on the homepage without lazy loading, it will be slow.

However, if you use a decent host (Cloudways, Kinsta, SiteGround) and a caching plugin (WP Rocket), MyListing is snappy. The search functionality is particularly fast because of the way it fetches data. It doesn't reload the whole page to filter results, which makes the perceived speed very high for the user.

Warning: Do not host this on a $3/month shared hosting plan. It will crawl. You need a server with adequate PHP memory limits (at least 256MB, preferably 512MB).

Handling Objections: The Downsides

No software is perfect. Here is where MyListing might annoy you.

1. The Support Ticket System

The support from the developers (27Collective) is generally competent, but it can be slow. They use a ticket system. You might wait 24-48 hours for a reply. They also have a very strict "support policy." They will fix bugs, but they won't help you customize the code. If you want to change how the search logic works, you are on your own.

2. Lack of Native Booking

MyListing does not have a native booking calendar. It has a "TimeKit" and "OpenTable" integration, but those are third-party services. If you want a full "Airbnb-style" booking system where the money flows through your site and you take a commission on the booking itself, you need extra plugins (like WooCommerce Bookings) or a different theme. MyListing is primarily a directory, not a marketplace for bookings.

3. Update Frequency

The theme is mature. This is good because it’s stable. It’s bad because updates are less frequent than they used to be. They still patch bugs and update for Elementor compatibility, but we haven't seen a massive "Feature Drop" in a while. Some users worry about long-term innovation.

Comparison: MyListing vs. The Rest

MyListing vs. ListingPro ListingPro is an "all-in-one" solution. It doesn't need Elementor or WooCommerce. It has its own internal systems for everything.

• Choose ListingPro if you want a rigid, bulletproof system and don't care as much about custom design.
• Choose MyListing if you want total control over the design and the flexibility of Elementor.

MyListing vs. Voxel Voxel is the new kid on the block (from the same developers, actually). Voxel is more advanced, faster, and more complex.

• Choose Voxel if you are a power user who understands databases and wants the absolute highest performance.
• Choose MyListing if you prefer the standard WordPress workflow and find Voxel's learning curve too steep. MyListing is easier to set up for beginners.

Pricing

MyListing is sold on ThemeForest.

• Price: Typically around $59 (one-time fee).
• Includes: 6 months of support and lifetime updates.

You will likely spend more money on:

• Hosting: $10-$30/month.
• Map API: Google Maps is free up to a point, but Mapbox is also an option integrated into the theme.
• Plugins: You might need a paid SEO plugin or a backup solution.

Check the MyListing ThemeForest page for the current price. It goes on sale occasionally.

The Verdict

MyListing holds a unique spot in the market. It bridges the gap between "easy to use" and "highly customizable."

It is the best choice for design-conscious entrepreneurs. If you look at other directories and think, "These all look ugly," MyListing is your remedy. It allows you to build a platform that builds trust through visual quality.

It is reliable. It has thousands of active users. The ecosystem around it (Facebook groups, third-party tutorials) is large.

If you are ready to build, check out the MyListing demos. Click around. Try the search. If you like how it feels, it’s a safe bet for your next project.

Next Steps

You have a few options for building a directory. MyListing is the design leader. Voxel is the performance leader. ListingPro is the feature-completeness leader.

If you choose MyListing, your first step is simple: Map out your data. Before you buy, write down exactly what fields you need for your listings. If MyListing's "Listing Type Creator" can handle your data structure (and it almost certainly can), then the rest is just dragging and dropping widgets.

Try MyListing today