Troubleshooting guide
Directories & Marketplaces: Diagnostic Guide
Directories & Marketplaces: Diagnostic Guide organizes the decisions that matter for business directories, vendor marketplaces, membership listings, resource platforms, and service-provider networks: the current workflow, ownership, implementation choices, rollout risk, and acceptance evidence.
Working artifact
Directories & Marketplaces acceptance checklist
Turn broad completion claims into checks that a project owner can repeat after handoff.
| Acceptance check | Evidence | Responsible owner |
|---|---|---|
| Prove profiles, categories, and structured listings | Repeat the affected journey and test listings are inconsistent or hard to search | Owner of search and taxonomy architecture |
| Prove search, filters, and location discovery | Repeat the affected journey and test submissions create manual cleanup | Owner of geospatial and faceted filtering |
| Prove submissions, claims, and moderation | Repeat the affected journey and test visitors cannot judge provider fit | Owner of profile and account workflows |
Record the symptom before changing it
Listings are inconsistent or hard to search. Confirm who encounters it, where it occurs, and what changed before it appeared. Then distinguish the visible symptom from dependencies such as search and taxonomy architecture.
- Save exact error text
- Record the last known working date
- List recent code, content, vendor, DNS, or account changes
Separate reachability, data, and behavior
For Online Directory & Marketplace Development, confirm account ownership, current exports or backups, recovery options, and recent changes before touching production. Preserve exact errors and timestamps that may disappear after a restart or update.
- Reachability check for profile and account workflows
- Data or content check related to profiles, categories, and structured listings
- Behavior check for search, filters, and location discovery
Use stop conditions
Frame the first scope around profiles, categories, and structured listings and one observable acceptance journey. Treat search, filters, and location discovery as a later phase unless the evidence shows it is a true dependency.
- No confirmed backup
- Unknown production ownership
- Security or payment data may be involved
Verify the repair in the real journey
Repair fits when the core remains sound. Extension fits when the boundary around search and taxonomy architecture is understood. Replacement fits when ownership, architecture, or operating risk prevents a responsible change.
- Profiles, categories, and structured listings
- Submissions, claims, and moderation
- Moderation and review systems