Using Best Classifieds

Posting Your First Listing

May 4, 2026 docsadmin 4 min read

Posting Your First Listing

There are two ways to post a listing on Best Classifieds:

  1. WordPress admin (free theme, available to anyone with editor capability)
  2. Frontend submission form [Pro] — [bc_submit_listing] shortcode, available to logged-in members

This page covers the admin path; see Frontend Submission for the Pro flow.

The admin path (works on free theme)

1. Navigate

Posts → Add New. (If you’ve enabled the Pro listing CPT, it’s Listings → Add New instead.)

2. Title and description

Field What to write
Title The listing’s display name. Be specific: “2018 Honda Civic Sport — One Owner” beats “Used car for sale”.
Content The listing’s full description. Use real paragraphs, not bullet points. The first 16 words appear as the excerpt in search results.

The Block Editor (Gutenberg) works fine. Most sellers use only Paragraph blocks; some add an Image block in the middle if they want photos inline.

Upload via the Featured Image panel in the right sidebar. This is the first photo that appears in:

  • The card on category archives and homepage
  • The big top photo on the single listing page
  • The thumbnail in search results

Recommended size: 1200 × 800px (3:2 aspect ratio). The theme generates smaller variants automatically. JPG or WebP preferred over PNG for photos.

4. Category

Right sidebar → Categories panel:

  • Tick the parent Listings category.
  • Tick exactly one sub-category (Vehicles, Property, etc.).

The dual-membership is what tells the theme “this is a listing, render the listing template”, not a regular blog post.

5. Listing meta (price, location, contact)

The free theme exposes these via standard WordPress custom fields:

Meta key Example value Notes
_bc_price $14,800 or 1800/mo or Contact for price Pre-formatted strings render verbatim. Pure numbers get currency-symbol-formatted automatically.
_bc_location Brooklyn, NY Free text. Used by trust strip + breadcrumbs.
_bc_lat 40.6782 Optional. Enables OSM map on listing page.
_bc_lng -73.9442 Optional. Pair with _bc_lat.
_bc_condition Used - Excellent Free text. Shown in the sidebar info card.
_bc_contact_email seller@example.com Used by “Show Contact Email” button.
_bc_contact_phone +1-718-555-0123 Used by “Show Phone Number” button.
_bc_featured 1 If set, listing gets a “Featured” badge.
_bc_verified 1 If set, listing gets a “Verified” badge.

If you don’t see the Custom Fields panel:

  1. Click the three-dot menu in the top right of the editor.
  2. Choose Preferences → Panels → Custom Fields → Enable.
  3. Reload the editor.

[Pro] The Pro plugin replaces this generic UI with a clean, per-category meta box (price + location + condition + contact at the top, then category-specific fields like make/model/year for cars or bedrooms/sqft for property).

6. Publish

Click Publish in the top right. The listing is live at /category/{sub-cat}/your-listing-slug/ (or /listing/your-listing-slug/ for the Pro CPT).

What the listing page shows

Featured image (large) Gallery thumbnails (Pro) Listing Title $14,800 or best offer Condition Used – Excellent Location Brooklyn, NY Posted 3 days ago Show Contact Email Show Phone Number ftadmin · Member since 2026 — DESCRIPTION — Multi-paragraph listing content

The single listing page is a two-column layout: gallery on the left, sticky info card on the right. On mobile the info card moves above the description.

Editing existing listings

  • From the admin: Posts → All Posts → click the title.
  • From the frontend (Pro): Click “Edit” on the listing while logged in as the owner. Goes to the Pro frontend editor.

Edits don’t reset the post date; the “Posted X ago” timestamp keeps showing the original publish time.

Bulk operations

For wholesalers, dealers, or anyone with 50+ listings:

  • WP-CLI is the fastest path. Generate listings from a CSV with a one-liner.
  • Advanced Custom Fields → Pro + a CSV importer plugin works for non-coders.
  • WP All Import has a Best Classifieds-friendly format (custom fields map directly to _bc_* meta keys).

For migration help with thousands of listings, contact our paid migration service.

Hidden / draft listings

A listing in Draft status is invisible to the public but listed in the admin and the seller’s dashboard [Pro]. Use this for half-finished posts.

A listing in Pending Review status (the default for member submissions when Classifieds Pro → Settings → Submission → Require approval is on) waits for an admin to approve. Approvers see a list at Classifieds Pro → Pending Listings.

A listing set to Private is visible only to its owner and admins — useful for “save for later” without exposing it.

Where to look next

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