[Steven Zahm]

@ Valerie

re: Is there an extension or plugin to buy which would allow user contributed submissions?

User submissions to the directory and not blog posts, correct? If yes, then you need at least the Form extension. Now, if you want to the allow users to maintain their own entries, then you will also need the Link extension. If you wish to do the later, you need to setup a workflow process to have the user register before submitting their entry (Ideally). You can use the builtin WordPress registration process or a third party plugin to process and manage user registration.

So, the short answer is, yes. The exact setup really depends on what your exact end goals are.

I hope I’ve answered your question thoroughly!