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Multiple Pricing Plans: Setup & How It Works

Requirements #

Pricing Plans 4.1 requires Directorist core 8.9.4 or later. If your core version is older, the extension will show an admin error notice and won’t load — update Directorist first.

Part 1 — For Directory Owners (Admin Setup) #

Step 1: Let the background migration finish #

After updating, Pricing Plans automatically runs a one-time background migration of listing-plan data. You’ll see a progress notice in wp-admin while it’s running. The multiple-plans feature stays unavailable until this finishes, so don’t skip ahead to Step 2 while it’s still in progress.

Step 2: Turn on “Allow Multiple Plans per Directory Type” #

  1. Go to Directorist → Settings → Pricing Plans.
  2. In the Pricing Plans Settings section, find the toggle Allow Multiple Plans per Directory Type.
  3. Turn it on. The description under it reads: “Allow users to purchase and use more than one active plan in the same directory type.”
  4. Save.

Path: WP Admin → Directorist → Settings → Pricing Plans → Pricing Plans Settings → Allow Multiple Plans per Directory Type

[SCREENSHOT: The Pricing Plans settings tab, showing the “Allow Multiple Plans per Directory Type” toggle switched on.]

This setting is off by default and applies globally once turned on — it isn’t a per-directory-type switch in the settings UI.

Part 2 — For Listing Owners #

What changes once multiple plans are allowed #

Before this setting is on, a user can only hold one active plan per directory type — trying to activate a second one in the same directory type gets blocked. Once it’s on, the same user can hold several active packages in the same directory type at once, each with its own billing and usage quota.

One thing worth being clear on: this is not a single cart checkout where two plans are bought together. Each plan is still purchased through its own separate checkout — what’s changed is that buying a second plan no longer cancels or blocks the first.

[SCREENSHOT: The listing owner’s Dashboard → Packages tab, showing two active packages for the same directory type side by side.]

Switching plans from the Dashboard #

Listing owners can also move from one plan to another, right from their Dashboard:

  1. Go to the Dashboard’s Packages tab.
  2. Click the ⋮ actions menu on an active package.
  3. Click Switch Plan. A modal opens listing the other plans available for that directory.
  4. Pick a plan and confirm.

[SCREENSHOT: Packages tab with the “⋮” actions menu open on an active package, “Switch Plan” visible.]

[SCREENSHOT: The plan-selection modal showing available plans to switch to.]

Confirming doesn’t swap the plan instantly in place — it redirects to checkout with the price already prorated for the switch, and the owner completes the switch there.

[SCREENSHOT: The checkout page after confirming a plan switch, showing the prorated price.]

Part 3 — For Directory Owners: Checking & Updating a Listing’s Plan #

Checking plan status from All Listings #

Every listing in All Listings shows a Plan column:

  • Green, showing the plan name — the listing has a working, active plan.
  • Red, showing “No plan assigned” — no plan could be resolved for this listing at all.
  • Red plan name — a plan is assigned, but something’s wrong with it (for example, the listing itself isn’t published, or there’s no active package behind it — this includes an expired listing, shown as the plan’s own name in red rather than a separate “expired” label).

This column is a status view only — there’s no inline edit or bulk action here. To actually change anything, click into the listing.

Path: WP Admin → Directorist → All Listings → Plan column

[SCREENSHOT: All Listings screen with the Plan column visible — one listing green with a plan name, one red “No plan assigned.”]

Updating a listing’s plan #

  1. Open the listing you want to update.
  2. Find the Plan metabox in the sidebar. It shows the listing’s current plan and type (Package or Pay Per Listing).
  3. Use the dropdown to pick a plan. It’s grouped into two sections:
    • User Plans — packages this listing owner already holds.
    • Available Plans — any other plan they could be moved to (selecting one of these creates a new order/package rather than reusing an existing one).
  4. Click Assign plan (if none is currently set) or Change plan (if one already is) to apply it.

Path: WP Admin → [Listing] → Edit → Plan metabox (sidebar)

[SCREENSHOT: The Plan metabox, dropdown open showing the “User Plans” and “Available Plans” groups.]

[SCREENSHOT: The metabox after the plan is applied, showing it now attached to the listing.]

Two more actions live in the same metabox:

  • Renew Listing — appears when the listing has expired but still has an active package behind it.
  • Remove from plan — unlinks the listing from its package. A confirmation warns “Removing this listing from its plan will expire the listing. Continue?” before it goes through.

Part 4 — Safeguard: Deleting a Plan That’s Still in Use #

If you try to delete a Pricing Plan that’s ever had a package attached to it — active, cancelled, or even expired — Directorist blocks the deletion outright.

  1. Go to Directorist → Pricing Plans.
  2. Click Delete on a plan that has assigned packages.
  3. You’ll get a generic “Are you sure?” confirmation first — this part doesn’t tell you who’s using the plan.
  4. Confirm anyway, and this is where it actually stops you: an error explains the plan can’t be deleted because it’s assigned to one or more user packages.

Path: WP Admin → Directorist → Pricing Plans → Delete

[SCREENSHOT: The Pricing Plans list with the Delete action visible on a plan.]

[SCREENSHOT: The “Are you sure?” confirmation prompt.]

Practical takeaway: if you need to retire a plan, don’t expect to delete it while any package has ever been linked to it. Hide or deactivate it instead — new users won’t be able to purchase it, but existing users can keep using theirs without disruption. Once every package on that plan has expired, it becomes safe to delete.

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