City Directory: Lab

Delta City Business Directory

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4,099

Licensed Businesses

Communities

Categories

Pending Submissions

Pending Edits

Yellow fields show what changed. Edit any field before approving.

Website Finder

Search Google for each business website. Review and save — nothing goes live until you approve.

Browse & Edit All Listings

JSONBin Sync

Push submissions and enrichments to JSONBin so every browser sees the same data. Bin ID auto-created on first push. jsonbin.io

Credentials

Actions

Import Backup

Upload a previously exported JSON backup. Submissions and enrichments are merged — not overwritten.

⬆ Choose JSON File No file chosen

SEO Workboard

Write SEO-optimized copy for each business listing. Fields feed into profile articles on deltacity.news. Nothing auto-generated — every word is yours.

Platform Operations Manual

v1.0 — Delta City Directory

Living reference document for running the Delta City Business Directory on deltacity.news. Update this as the platform evolves.

Contents

1. Platform Overview 2. Daily Workflow 3. Managing Submissions 4. SEO Workboard 5. Featured Listings 6. Data & Backups 7. Publishing to Ghost 8. AI Prompt Library 9. Roadmap 10. Credentials & Keys 11. Strategic Impact 12. Starting a New City

1. Platform Overview

The Delta City Business Directory is a single-file HTML application embedded in a Ghost 6.x CMS card at deltacity.news/city-directory/. It contains 4,099 licensed businesses sourced from Delta municipal business licence data, plus any businesses submitted through the public submission form.

Platform

Ghost 6.39 CMS — HTML card injection

File

delta-directory-v3.html — single self-contained file

Data storage

Browser localStorage (key: delta_dir_v3) + JSONBin sync

Maps

Leaflet + OpenStreetMap + Nominatim geocoding

Admin password

See Credentials section (Section 10)

Brand system

WBN Cast OS v0.4 — WBN Style Guide v3.2

Built by

WBN News Corp — deltacity.news

Important: All enrichment data (websites, SEO copy, profile links, edits) lives in localStorage. Always export a backup before clearing browser cache or switching browsers.

2. Daily Workflow

Recommended daily routine when the directory is active:

Check Pending — Log into Publisher → Pending tab. Review any new submissions. Approve, edit, or reject. Check edits queue as well.

Website Finder — Run the finder for 1–2 regions per day. Find and save websites for businesses that don’t have one yet. This improves directory value immediately.

SEO Workboard — Write SEO copy for 5–10 businesses. Use the prompt in Section 8. Filter by region to work systematically through communities.

Backup — Sync & Data tab → Export JSON. Keep a dated backup file. Also push to JSONBin if working across multiple browsers.

3. Managing Submissions

Businesses submitted via the public List Your Business form land in the Pending queue. They are never visible to the public until approved.

Review — Read all fields. Check the website if provided. Verify the business is actually in Delta.

Edit if needed — Click ✒ Edit to fix spelling, assign the correct region, or clean up the description before approving.

Approve or Reject — Approved listings go live immediately in the public directory. Rejected listings stay in storage but are hidden.

Draft — Use Draft on any listing you want to temporarily hide without deleting — e.g. a business that’s temporarily closed.

Quality standard: Only approve businesses with a valid Delta address. If the address looks outside Delta, verify before approving. Reject spam or duplicate submissions.

4. SEO Workboard

The SEO Workboard is where you write search-optimized copy for each business. This feeds into profile articles on deltacity.news and future structured data.

SEO Title

60 chars max. Format: Business Name | Service in Community, Delta BC

Meta Description

160 chars max. Natural sentence. Include keyword + location + value prop.

Focus Keyword

2–5 words. What someone in Delta types into Google. e.g. “plumber North Delta BC”

URL Slug

Lowercase hyphens only. Used as the Ghost article URL. e.g. stash-vault-self-storage-ladner

Image Alt Text

For future business photo. Describe the image + include business name + location.

Workflow tip: Filter by region and work through one community at a time. Ladner and Tsawwassen first — highest business density. Use the AI prompt in Section 8 to generate a first draft, then review and edit before saving.

5. Featured Listings

Featured listings display with a gold border and ⭐ badge, sorted to the top of directory results. Currently a publisher-controlled editorial feature.

Go to All Listings tab or use Admin Search

Click ☆ Feature on the listing card

Click again (★ Unfeature) to remove

Known limitation: Featured status currently saves to your browser only (localStorage). It does not sync to JSONBin yet. A future update will fix this. For now, feature listings on the same browser you use for all admin work.

6. Data & Backups

All enrichment data — websites, SEO copy, edits, submissions — lives in browser localStorage. It is not on a server. Protect it.

Export JSON — Sync & Data tab → Export JSON. Do this daily when actively working. Files are named with today’s date automatically.

JSONBin Sync — Push to JSONBin to share data across browsers or devices. Pull on another machine to receive it. Requires a free JSONBin account and Master Key.

Import JSON — Upload a backup file to restore. Data is merged, not overwritten — safe to run on a machine that already has some data.

Check Storage — Use the Check Storage button to see how full localStorage is. The geocache is the largest item. Clear it if space gets tight — it rebuilds automatically.

Storage limit: Browsers allow ~5MB localStorage. The geocache (map coordinates) is capped at 300 entries. If a save fails, the system automatically clears the geocache and retries.

7. Publishing to Ghost

The directory is deployed as an HTML card inside a Ghost page at deltacity.news/city-directory/.

Download the latest delta-directory-v3.html file from Claude

Test locally — open in Chrome or Firefox, verify login works, submit a test business, check it appears in Pending

Open Ghost editor — go to the City Directory page → click the HTML card block

Select all and replace — paste the full contents of the new HTML file into the card

Update the page — check the live URL immediately after publishing

Export + push JSONBin after confirming the new version works — never lose data during an upgrade

Ghost CSP rules: Ghost 6.x strips all inline event handlers (onclick, oninput, onchange). The directory is built to comply — all events use addEventListener. Never add inline handlers when editing the file.

8. AI Prompt Library

SEO Copy — Single Business

You are an SEO copywriter for Delta City News, a local news and business intelligence platform serving Delta, BC (communities: Ladner, Tsawwassen, North Delta, Annacis Island). Write SEO copy for the following business listing. Output ONLY the five fields below, nothing else. BUSINESS DATA: - Name: [BUSINESS NAME] - Type: [BUSINESS TYPE] - Category: [CATEGORY] - Address: [ADDRESS] - Region: [REGION] - Website: [WEBSITE or "none"] - Description: [DESCRIPTION or "none"] - Employees: [NUMBER or "unknown"] OUTPUT FORMAT: SEO Title: [max 60 characters — Business Name | Service in Community, Delta BC] Meta Description: [max 160 characters — natural sentence, keyword + location + value prop] Focus Keyword: [2–5 words, genuine local search intent] URL Slug: [lowercase-hyphens-only, business-service-location] Image Alt Text: [descriptive, include business name and location] RULES: - Never fabricate facts not in the data above - If website or description is "none", base copy only on name, type, category, address and region - Focus keyword must reflect genuine local search intent - Meta description must read naturally, not like a keyword list - Stay strictly within character limits

Business Profile Article — First Draft

You are a local journalist for Delta City News (deltacity.news), covering business and community news in Delta, BC. Write a short business profile article for the following business. The article will be published on deltacity.news. BUSINESS DATA: - Name: [BUSINESS NAME] - Type: [BUSINESS TYPE] - Category: [CATEGORY] - Address: [ADDRESS] - Region: [REGION] - Website: [WEBSITE or "none"] - Description: [DESCRIPTION or "none"] - Employees: [NUMBER or "unknown"] - Additional notes: [anything you know about this business] ARTICLE REQUIREMENTS: - Length: 150–250 words - Tone: Warm, informative, community-focused. Not a press release. - Structure: Opening hook → what the business does → who it serves → location context → closing community angle - Include the neighbourhood name (Ladner / Tsawwassen / North Delta etc) naturally in the copy - Do not fabricate quotes, founding dates, owner names, or specific claims not in the data - End with a sentence pointing readers to the business website or directory listing

SEO Copy — Batch (10 businesses)

You are an SEO copywriter for Delta City News, serving Delta, BC. Write SEO copy for each of the following 10 businesses. Return a JSON array only — no other text. Each object must have exactly these keys: id, seoTitle, seoDesc, seoKeyword, seoSlug, seoAlt. Character limits: seoTitle 60 chars, seoDesc 160 chars. Rules: No fabricated facts. Natural language. Genuine local search intent for focus keywords. BUSINESSES: [paste 10 rows in format: id | name | type | address | region] Return format: [ {"id":"csv_1","seoTitle":"...","seoDesc":"...","seoKeyword":"...","seoSlug":"...","seoAlt":"..."}, ... ]

9. Roadmap

✓ Done

4,099 business directory, search, filters, pagination

✓ Done

Submit form → Pending queue → Approve / Reject

✓ Done

Edit slide-over for all listings

✓ Done

Featured listings with gold badge

✓ Done

Directions popup with Leaflet mini-map

✓ Done

Map tab with geocoding and category pins

✓ Done

Website Finder with Google search links

✓ Done

JSONBin sync + Export / Import JSON

✓ Done

Admin global search

✓ Done

SEO Workboard with 5-field scoring

✓ Done

Profile article URL field per listing

▶ Next

Featured sync across browsers via JSONBin

▶ Next

Business photo URL field + display on card

▶ Next

SEO CSV export for Ghost import

○ Planned

Business owner claim flow

○ Planned

Supabase backend migration (replace localStorage)

○ Planned

Delta Chamber of Commerce data merge

○ Planned

Duplicate business detector

○ Planned

Email notification on new submission

○ Planned

Near me — geolocation filter

10. Credentials & Keys

Security note: This section is visible only after login. Do not share your master key or leave this tab open on a public screen.

Directory URL

deltacity.news/city-directory/

Admin Password

delta-directory-2026

localStorage Key

delta_dir_v3

JSONBin URL

https://jsonbin.io — free account required

Ghost CMS

deltacity.news — Ghost 6.39

Contact

RSkinner@wbnn.news

To change the admin password: Edit the file, find const MASTER_KEY = 'delta-directory-2026' near the top of the script and replace the value. Re-upload to Ghost.

11. Strategic Impact on Delta City News Traffic

The Delta City Business Directory represents a significant and sustained traffic driver for Delta City News. Unlike a single article that peaks and fades, a directory is a destination resource — people return to it repeatedly when they need to find a local business, check an address, or discover what’s available in their community. With 4,099 licensed Delta businesses indexed and searchable, the directory gives deltacity.news a permanent anchor in local search results, capturing organic Google traffic for thousands of long-tail queries like “plumber North Delta BC” or “restaurants Ladner Delta.” Every business profile article linked from the directory creates an additional indexed page on the platform, multiplying SEO surface area with each one published. The Featured Listings tier and business submission flow also create a direct relationship with local business owners — turning them into engaged stakeholders who share their listing, link back to deltacity.news, and become natural advertising and sponsorship prospects. As the directory grows in completeness and profile depth, it compounds: more content means more search visibility, more visibility means more submissions, and more submissions mean more reasons for Delta residents to visit and trust deltacity.news as the authoritative local intelligence platform for their community.

Traffic type

Organic search, direct, referral from business websites linking back

SEO surface area

4,099 business names + addresses + types indexed — grows with every profile article

Return visits

Directory users return repeatedly — not a one-visit article read

Business relationships

Featured listings and submissions create direct advertiser pipeline

Compounding effect

More profiles → more search visibility → more submissions → more content

Authority signal

Comprehensive local data establishes deltacity.news as the definitive Delta resource

12. Starting a New City Directory

The Delta City Directory is designed to be replicated for any municipality. Everything — CSS, admin portal, SEO workboard, analytics, marketing tab, ops manual template — carries over. Only the CSV data, region list, and branding details change. Here is the exact process to spin up a new city.

Important: Always start a new Claude conversation for each city. Do not build in the same thread as Delta — keep contexts clean and separate.

Step 1 — Get the Business Licence Data

Go to the city’s Open Data portal. For Vancouver: vancouver.ca/open-data — search “business licences” and download the CSV. Vancouver has 70,000+ active licences.

Check the columns match what we need: business name, licence type, address, status. Note any differences from Delta’s format — Claude will need to remap them.

Filter to active licences only before uploading if the dataset is very large.

Step 2 — Start a Fresh Claude Conversation

Opening Prompt — New City Directory

I want to build a Vancouver City Business Directory similar to the Delta City Directory we built at deltacity.news. Platform: Ghost 6.x CMS, single HTML file card injection Brand: WBN Cast OS v0.4 / WBN Style Guide v3.2 Style: same as Delta — robin blue, Oswald/Source Sans 3 fonts, frosted panels, light gradient shell I have a Vancouver business licence CSV with [X] records. Target URL: [your URL e.g. vancouver.news/directory/] Admin password: [your choice] Store key: vancouver_dir_v1 Neighbourhoods/regions for filter: [list them e.g. Downtown, East Van, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, West End, etc.] Use the attached Delta directory v3 file as the reference build. Start by reading the WBN Style Guide, then build the HTML shell. Do NOT embed CSV data yet — confirm the shell first. Rules: - One feature at a time - Do not change previous working features - Ghost CSP compliant — zero inline handlers - All DOM access null-guarded - Test locally before uploading to Ghost

Step 3 — Files to Upload to the New Chat

WBN Style Guide

WBN-Style-Guide-v3_2.html — brand system reference

WBN Cast OS

WBN-Cast-OS-Core-v0_4.html — component reference

Delta v3 file

delta-directory-v3.html — the reference build to clone from

City CSV

The new city’s business licence CSV

Step 4 — Key Decisions Before Building

Region list

Decide which neighbourhoods become filter options. 8–12 is ideal — too many makes the UI cluttered.