Directorist Pay Per Lead lets a directory owner monetize listing inquiries. A visitor submits an inquiry from a listing page, the listing owner can see the non-locked fields immediately, and locked fields (like email or phone) stay masked until the owner pays to unlock that specific lead. This guide covers requirements, configuring pricing and form fields, adding the form and leads sections to a listing, and what the full flow looks like for the visitor, the listing owner, and the admin.
Requirements #
- Directorist core must be active.
- Directorist checkout/payment system configured – at least one payment gateway active, since unlocking a lead goes through a real Directorist order. The example below uses Bank Transfer and Stripe, but any native Directorist gateway works.
- Directorist Pricing Plans extension can be active but is not required. Pay Per Lead uses Directorist’s core checkout directly.
- If a checkout page is not present, make sure to create a Checkout page and map to Directorist checkout page from Directorist Settings → Site & Pages → Pages.
Install and Activate #
- Go to Directorist → Themes & Extensions → Pay Per Lead → Install → Activate or
- Plugins → Add New. Upload the directorist-pay-per-lead ZIP file. Click Install Now, then Activate.
- Once active, Pay Per Lead appears as its own item in the Directorist admin menu.
Configuring the Extension: Step-by-Step Guide #
Step 1 – Open Pay Per Lead settings #
From WP Admin → Directorist → Settings → Extensions → Pay Per Lead
Step 2 – Enable and Configure Pay Per Lead #
- Toggle Enable Pay Per Lead on.
- Open the Pricing Model dropdown and pick one:
- Fixed – every lead costs the amount set in Lead Unlock Price.
- Commission – the price is calculated as a percentage of a numeric value found in the submitted form data. Set the percentage in Commission Rate (%).
If you choose Fixed #
Enter the amount in Lead Unlock Price. It uses the default currency set in Monetization → Currency
If you choose Commission #
Enter a percentage in Commission Rate (%) (0–100). When a lead comes in, the plugin looks for the numeric value among these submitted field keys: budget, amount, offer, price
To use Commission based payment, make sure that you have an amount field set in lead form with either of these keys.
The unlock price is the value submitted in the first field with the key, multiplied by the commission rate. If none of those keys exist in the submitted form, or the value isn’t numeric, the plugin falls back to the fixed Lead Unlock Price instead as a safety net.
Step 3 – Configure the Lead Form Fields #
Still on the same settings page, scroll to Lead Form Fields. Under it, Form Fields lists every field on the contact form with various types.
Clicking a field (for example, Name) expands it into an editor with:
- Key – the internal identifier used to store the value. This is also what commission pricing checks against for budget, amount, offer, price.
- Type – controls the input and validation format: Text, Email, Phone, URL, Textarea, Number, Select, Radio, Checkbox, Date, Time, or Consent.
- Label – shown above the field, gives you an idea of what input it will take.
- Placeholder – shown inside the empty field for the user’s understanding.
- Field behavior – two checkboxes:
- Required – Visitors must complete this field and
- Locked – Hide the value until the lead is paid
Use + Add field to add a new one, or Remove on a field’s row to delete it.
By default email and phone fields remain locked and the rest unlocked so that listing owners are prompted to pay based on the available information such as details or budget. Required/locked status is fully configurable per field, so treat the defaults as a starting point rather than a fixed rule.
Save changes once your fields are set up.
Step 4 – Add the form to a listing body #
Open Directory Builder from WP Admin → Directorist → Directory Builder → Choose Your Directory (For multi-directory sites) → Single Page Layout
- In the Form fields panel on the left, scroll past Preset Fields to other Fields. Pay Per Lead Form and Owner Leads are listed there.
- Drag Pay Per Lead Form onto the page – typically where visitors should submit inquiries on the single listing page. Rename it to your actual form name i.e.; Request Quote, Book a Session etc.
- Use Owner Leads onto the page as well if you want to show other visitors which leads were submitted with locked fields that remain invisible.
- Click Update to save the layout.
Repeat this for every directory you want Pay Per Lead active on. This part is configured per directory for multi-directory sites, not site-wide.
If you’re using a Custom Single Listing Layout, Use this Shortcode #
If you’re not using the builder’s default layout and utilizing a custom single listing layout from our builder, use these shortcodes directly to display the form in your listing body:
- [directorist_ppl_contact_form] – for lead form
- [directorist_owner_leads] – for owners lead display
That’s it. Your setting up the lead form is done. Moving onto the lead unlock workflow.
How the lead flow works, end to end #
1. A visitor submits the form #
On the single listing page, the visitor sees the Pay Per Lead Form with whatever name and fields you configured – in this example, Name, Email, Phone, Message as required fields, plus an optional Budget field.
2. The lead lands in Listing Owners Leads #
The lead is saved against that listing and its owner sees it with a Locked status on respective fields.
Unlocked fields show their real values (Name, Message, Deadline in this screenshot), while locked fields show “Locked until purchase” in place of the value (Email, Phone here). An Unlock for $10.00 button sits next to the listing name, using a fixed price set in your pricing model.
3. The owner clicks Unlock and pays #
- Clicking Unlock for $X.XX sends the owner to the Directorist checkout with the lead ID and a lead_unlock checkout type.
- Checkout shows an Order Summary (“Lead Unlock – [listing name]”, total amount) and a Choose a payment method list of whichever Directorist gateways are active.
- After paying, a Payment Receipt page confirms the order (Order ID, date, transaction ID, payment method, status, amount) etc.
- For offline methods like Bank Transfer, status shows Pending until you confirm the deposit
- For real-time gateways it updates automatically.
4. Once the order is paid, the lead unlocks automatically #
When that order’s status changes to paid, the plugin automatically marks the lead Unlocked, records the unlock time, and links the order ID to the lead – no manual step needed. The listing owner can now see every submitted field value, including the previously locked ones, and can act on the lead directly (call, email, etc.).
If no Directorist payment gateway is active, the checkout page still shows an order summary, but the owner can’t actually complete payment – make sure at least one gateway is configured before promoting this feature to your directory owners.
Owner Leads Field #
The Owner Leads field in the directory builder or the shortcode shows the same information listing owners see in their dashboard privately. This option is useful if you want to display a fetched leads list directly on the listing page alongside sending owners to the dashboard.
Admin view of all leads #
WP Admin → Directorist → Pay Per Lead
Unlike the owner-facing views, the admin screen always shows full lead details – field locking only applies to listing-owner views before payment.
The table lists Lead ID, Status, Price, Listing, Order ID, Lead Date, and an Actions menu (⋮) per row, with Search and an All statuses filter dropdown above it.
From the Actions menu:
- View details opens a modal with Status, Listing, Price, and Order ID at the top, followed by every submitted field and its value (Name, Email, Phone, Message, Deadline, etc.) – visible in full regardless of lock state.
- Delete removes the lead permanently.
Once the linked order is paid, the same modal reflects it: Status switches to Unlocked, and Order ID shows the real order number (e.g. #12) instead of a dash.
