iHouse2000- Web Site Help- CIS Data Systems

Transcription

iHouse2000 Help Center Documentation updated August 2002
Our Help Manual is modeled after our Help Center web site. You can browse the topics just as
you would on our site.
To print any page, click on the print icon from your browser or Acrobat reader.
For quick access to a topic use the Acrobat Bookmarks.
Help Topics, Features and Instructions are subject to change.
For the latest information please visit our Help Center at: http://help.cisdata.net
or email us at [email protected].
Click on a topic listed below for help pages, tutorials or information.
1. Getting Started- I've Got A Web Page... Now What?
2.
Edit Features- Instructions for editing every button on your site.
3.
Admin Menu- Web Site Options and Site Management Includes- Colors, Buttons,
Backgrounds, Music Preferences, Account info., Billing info., Traffic Report, Email Setup
and more.
4.
Advanced Options- Includes Prospect Generator, Internet Flyers, Contact Manager,
Audio Message, Web Pager, HomeLink, Quick Sort and Mirror Websites.
5.
Email- About our services, setup, maintenance and Pop3/WebMail services.
6.
Promoting Your Site/Search Engines- FAQ's, helpful hints and tools for optimizing
and promoting your site.
I've Got A Web Site... Now What?
Topic-010
Whether you have signed up for a test drive or have an active site, the following will be helpful in
preparing your site to "Go Live". Print this page and check off your progress. Each task has a link
directly to the detailed instructions.
Get Acquainted With Our Help Center
Most of your questions can be answered at the Help Center. An easy to browse site that will
give you detailed instructions for editing every page on your site.
1- Update your home page
Upload your photo.
Check your contact information / phone numbers etc.
Check / modify your "Headline" section.
Company Logo
Select a company logo from our list or upload your own custom logo.
Corporate Web Address
Add a link to your corporate web address or Delete the "www.sampleonly.com" for
no link.
Edit the Biography for the home page
Remove the first line of the biography ".. Edit This Section".
Review the content and edit, delete, modify to meet your needs
2- Add / Edit Listings Section(s)
Delete sample listings.
Add your listings.
Edit "Local Area Homes" & "National Listings" buttons if needed.
Turn off any unused listings buttons.
3- Review Your Buttons
Review the contents and links for each of your buttons. You can hide buttons, add links,
rename buttons and more.
Add / Remove links from "City Overview", "Community Info./Links" buttons.
Add Phone numbers for "Local Phone Numbers"
Update "Testimonials" with your own customer comments and photos
Review topics, links and content for other buttons on your site.
Rename your buttons and put them in your preferred order.
Turn off unused buttons.
4- Set Your Preferences and Admin. Features
Log into the Admin Menu to review the following settings.
Preferences- Set your preferences for listing sort order, slide show, Pop up forms
and more.
Account Info- Review Your account information to ensure it is correct.
5- Fine Tune Your Meta Tags / Keywords
Keyword Manager- Review your site description, title and keywords.
6- Launch Your Site
Edit The Home Page
Topic-103
You can edit edit the home page content, upload your photo, add your logo, modify the footer and
more in this section.
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Upload Your Photo
Edit Contact Name(s), Numbers and Company Information
Modify Headline Text
Upload/Select or Remove Company Logo
Link Your Corporate Website
Edit Biography/Main Content
Edit The Slide Show
Edit Footer
Change The Banner
Related Topics
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1. Upload Your Photo
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Click on the house at the bottom of your home page and log into the Admin Menu
Choose "Edit Website Contents".
Click on the Edit button from the home page.
Click on the "Browse" button next to the Photo section.
Select the photo from your hard drive.
Click Open to complete the selection.
After making all the changes to the home page, scroll to the bottom of the page and "Save
Changes"
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2. Edit Contact Name(s), Numbers and Company Information
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Edit the text in the area's Name, Phone Number, Company, Address and Phone Numbers.
You can use the "special format codes" in any of these area's to enhance your text.
Changes"
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3. Modify Headline Text
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Edit the text in the "Headlines" section. This area will show at the top of the page, just below
the banner graphic.
Take a moment to review the "search engine tips", "special format codes" and "example
headlines" available from the home page edit screen.
Changes"
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4. Upload / Select or Remove Company Logo
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Under the "Company Logo"section, select a stock logo from the pull down menu or
click the Browse button to upload your own custom logo.
To Remove a logo select "NO LOGO" from the pull down menu.
To Replace a logo either select a stock logo from the pull down menu or
click the Browse button to upload your own custom logo.
Your old logo will be replaced with your new selection.
Changes"
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5. Link Your Corporate Website
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Under the "Corporate Website Address" enter the URL (http://www...)
This will create a link from your company logo and the Corporate Website button.
Changes"
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6. Edit Biography / Main Content
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Edit the text in the "Biography" section.
Changes"
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7. Edit The Slide Show
There are three methods use the slide show feature. There are no options to remove the slide show
frame from the home page.
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1- Select up to 5 listings to be displayed on the slide show.
Selecting Listings will allow for text on the slide show.
❍ Click on the house at the bottom of any page and log into your Admin Menu.
❍ Choose "Edit Website Contents".
❍ Click "Search For Homes" or the listing button which you would like to edit.
❍ Click the picture of the listing you want to add or remove from the home page slide
show.
❍ Click the main picture (shows "click photo to edit slide show" under it).
❍ Scroll down to the "Homepage Slide Show" section.
❍ Choose Slide Show Position (1-5) or click on the "Not Shown" option to remove the
listing from the slide show.
❍ Enter Slide Show Text in the three entry fields.
❍ Save Changes.
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2- Upload up to 5 images directly to the slide show.
❍ Click on the house at the bottom of your home page and log into the Admin Menu.
❍ Choose "Edit Website Contents"
❍ Click on the slide show photo.
❍ Click on the "click here to upload 5 photos from your PC" link.
❍ Click on the first Browse button to select the photo you want to upload.
❍ Select the photo from your computer
❍ Repeat this process until you have selected all of the photo's for your slide show.
❍ Click on the Save Changes button to start the upload.
This may take several minutes to complete and show on your site.
❍ Exit from the edit mode to view the slide show.
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3- Upload a single image directly to the slide show which will display the image in the slide
show frame, but will disable the slide show from rotating pictures.
This process is the same as 2 above except only one image will be uploaded.
❍ Click on the house at the bottom of your home page and log into the Admin Menu.
❍ Choose "Edit Website Contents"
❍ Click on the slide show photo.
❍ Click on the "click here to upload 5 photos from your PC" link.
❍ Click on the first Browse button to select the photo you want to upload.
❍ Select the photo from your computer
❍ Click on the Save Changes button to start the upload.
❍ Exit from the edit mode to view the slide show.
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8. Edit Footer Section
Note: The footer section will appear on all pages on your site.
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Edit the text in the "Footer" section.
Changes"
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9. Changing The Banner
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See Customizing Your Banner
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10. Related Topics
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Special Format Codes
Uploading Photos- Tips & Troubleshooting
Customizing Your Banner
Customizing Your Banners
Topic-125
You can customize most of the banners on your site. Banner options include choosing from our stock
banners, creating a custom 1,3 or 4 photo banner and uploading your own photos.
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How To Create A Custom Banner
Use Our Banner Library / Upload Your Own Photo
Customized 1, 3 or 4 Photo Banner
Related Topics
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1. How To Create A Custom Banner
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Click on the house at the bottom of your homepage and log into the Admin Menu
Click on "Edit Website Contents".
From any page on your site, Click on the banner image.
Select Banner Source and click Continue.
Sample Banners
1- Banner Library/Upload Your OwnChoose from our library of banners or
upload your own photo.
2- 1-photo banner
3- 3-photo banner
4- 4-photo banner
Note: all banner styles will allow you
to upload your own custom banner
photo(s).
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2. Use Our Banner Library / Upload Your Own
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Select Banner Library / Upload Your Own.
Click Continue for the Select a banner menu.
Use Our Banner Library
❍ Select from one of our banners using the menu list.
❍ After your banner is selected click on the Select Button for a full size preview.
❍ Click on Accept Banner or No Changes Made.
❍ Your new banner will be updated on your site.
This may take a few moments to complete.
Upload Your Own Photo
❍ From the Select a banner menu
❍ Click on the Browse button to select an image to upload from your computer.
❍ After selecting an image from your computer click on the Upload File button.
❍ Click on Accept Banner or No Changes Made.
❍ Your new banner will be uploaded to your site.
This may take a few minutes to upload and be displayed on your site.
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3. Customized 1, 3 or 4 Photo Banner
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Select Create your own 1-photo, 3-photo or 4-photo banner.
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Click Continue to go to the banner wizard.
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Select from one of our photo's using the menu list.
Or
Click on the Browse button to select and upload your own photo.
(See Upload Your Own Photo in step 2 above)
After your photo is selected click on the Select Button for a full size preview.
Repeat the process until your full banner is complete.
Click on the Accept Banner button to complete the process
Your new banner will be updated on your site.
This may take a few moments to complete.
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4. Related Topics
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Uploading Photos
Uploading Photos
Topic-109
This applies to all cases where photos are uploaded to the site.
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How To Upload An Image
Troubleshooting Upload Problems
Helpful Hints- Listing Photos
How To Copy An Image From The Internet
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1- How To Upload An Image
From any page where an image can be uploaded
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Click on the "Browse.." button.
Select "File of type:" as "All Files (*.*)".
Select the file to be uploaded.
Click on "Open" to complete the selection.
Make any other changes to the page you are editing.
Click on the "Save Changes" button to begin the uploading of your image.
Follow the on screen instructions (if applicable) to view your changes.
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2- Troubleshooting Upload Problems
File Types
Images need to be in a standard graphics format. Please make sure your graphics are saved as
.JPG, .GIF, or .BMP.
Many file formats specific to editing programs will not upload (i.e. Photoshop .PSD, PowerPoint
.PPT, etc.).
Image Size
Images are limited in size to 1 megabyte. If your image is larger than this, please edit your photo to
a smaller size. If you are using a scanner, lower the DPI (dots per inch) setting to between 100 and
150dpi. Also saving in JPEG (.jpg) format can help to reduce the size considerably.
Other Factors
Slow modem speeds will be a factor in how long it takes an image to upload. If you are attempting
to upload several images at the same time, you may experience a long upload time. In some cases
a "time out" may occur which can abort your upload. The work around for this problem is to upload
fewer images at a time. Upload 2-3 images, then return to the edit mode and upload 2-3 more.
Uploading from a floppy disk or CD
Floppy disks and some CD units may be slow in transferring the image from the floppy or CD.
This will slow down your upload time and can cause a "time out" error. The work around for this is
to copy the image to your hard drive and then upload the image from your hard drive rather than
from the floppy or CD.
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3- Helpful Hints- Listing Photos
Image Size
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The ideal image size is approx. 500 pixels wide.
Generally speaking this will make the height about 350 pixels tall for a standard "landscape"
format.
In inches, this is approx. 5 inches x 3.5 inches at 100 pixels/inch resolution.
Files Size- The maximum file size is 1 megabyte, which will not be a concern if you size
photo as noted above.
Image Orientation
Our service will accommodate standard horizontal or "landscape" images. All thumbnail images
needed for the listing section will automatically be created for your site.
You may upload vertical or "portrait" images to the listing section but the thumbnails may be
"stretched" and look distorted.
Rotating Images
If you have an image that is sideways, you can easily rotate the image using Microsoft Paint.
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Open the Paint program - From the Task Bar click Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint.
Open your image- Select File > Open - Select your image.
Select Image > Flip and Rotate
Select Rotate by angle- Choose the angle (usually 90 works)
Click OK
If the image still requires rotating, repeat the process until it is correct.
When finished Click File > Save (save the image as a JPEG .jpg if possible)
You can now upload your new image to your site.
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4- How To Copy An Image From The Internet
The following instructions apply to most browsers using a PC.
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Browse to the web page displaying the photo you want to copy.
Place your cursor over the image (photo) and click the right mouse button. (right click)
From the menu, select Save Picture As..(or similar Save Image as.. ).
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Select the location on your computer to save your image.
Click the Save button.
The image is now saved and can be used to upload to your site.
Topic-124
The following codes can be added to enhance your text in most text areas of your site.
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Fonts and Colors
Links
Bullet Lists
Text Alignment
Special Characters
Advanced Features- Using HTML Code
Adding Images/Photo's To Your Pages (@image##)
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1- Fonts and Colors
Text between <big> and </big> will be Big
Text between and will be bolded
Text between and will be underlined
Text between and will be italicized
Text between <C> and </C> will be small
Text between <red> and </red> will be Red
Text between <green> and </green> will be Green
Text between <blue> and </blue> will be Blue
Text between <magenta> and </magenta> will be Magenta
Text between <black> and </black> will be Black
Text between <times> and </times> will be Times
Text between <courier> and </courier> will be Courier
Text between <helvetica> and </helvetica> will be Helvetica
Text between and will be superscript
Text between <blink> and </blink> will blink
Text between <marquee> and </marquee> will
scroll the text accross the screen an a marquee
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2- Links
Text between brackets will be linked to a button
ex: [Search For Homes]
Text starting with http:// will link to another website
ex: http://www.sampleonly.com
Links can also be prefixed by a special code:
^http://www.sampleonly.com - open in pop-up window
+http://www.sampleonly.com - open in new window
-http://www.sampleonly.com - replace current window
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3- Bullet Lists
Text between <li>and </li> become a bullet items.
Bullet items between <ul>and </UL>will be indented.
Or, bullet items between <ol> and </ol>will be numbered.
Example:
<UL>
<li>Bread</li>
<li>Bananas</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</UL>
Will look like
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Bread
Bananas
Milk
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4- Text Alignment
Text between <left>and </left> will be aligned to the left.
Text between <right>and </right> will be aligned to the right.
Text between <center>and </center> will be aligned in the middle.
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5- Special Characters
Use <r> for the ® symbol
Use <copy> for the © symbol
Use <sp> for a blank space
Use <hr> for a horizontal line
Use to start a new line
Use to start a new paragraph
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6- Advanced Features
HTML mode: Placing a # sign in the first character of the text block will enable HTML codes (not
supported).
Raw mode: Placing two # signs (##) in the first characters of the text block will enable raw mode
(not supported). Use this to insert HTML or Javascript® code provided by third party services.
Notes Regarding HTML and Raw mode●
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We do not troubleshoot or otherwise offer technical support for HTML Coding issues.
We do support Special Format Codes as noted above.
Do not use the following HTML tags. They will not work with our service.
❍ Forms <form>
❍ Cascading Style Sheets (css)
❍ <meta> tags (see Keyword Manager)
❍ Title <title> tag (see Keyword Manager)
❍ Description meta tag (see Keyword Manager)
❍ cgi or perl scripting
❍ Any tag that requires Microsoft Front Page® extensions.
❍ Scripts requiring Java applets.
Back To Top
7- Adding Images/Photo's To Your Pages
You can add images within most text areas of your site using the "@image#" symbol.
You can add a link to another site, link to any button (page) on your site or have no link.
This is a two step process.
Step 1
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Log into the edit mode for page you want to add the image in.
In the text area type @image# in the location you want to add the image.
(# is a number 1-99 that you want assign this image i.e. @image1)
Click on the Save Changes button.
Step 2
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You will find a small
button in the location you put the @image code.
Note: If the image button does not show up, click on your refresh or reload button for your
browser.
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Click on the
button.
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1- Click on the Browse button to select the image file from your computer.
(See uploading photo's below for more information if needed)
2- Select the Text Wrap/Alignment option.
To change your text alignment, click on the image at any time to change your settings.
Normal
One line of text.
Suggestion- Try different
alignment settings to see which
setting meets your needs.
Generally speaking Right and
Left work will work well to wrap
text around the image.
Right
Image position right
with text to the left.
Multiple Lines to left
of image.
Left
Center
Absolute Center
One line of text.
Image position left
with text to the
right.
Multiple lines to
right of image.
One line of text.
Top
Bottom
One line of text.
One line of text.
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3- Optional- Link to a button (page) on your site or to another site.
Select (check on) Disabled for no link.
Select a page from your site using the pull down menu or
Enter the URL to another site in the "Other Location enter URL (http://..) section.
Save Your Changes
To edit your image, link or alignment properties click on the image while in the edit mode.
To add additional images to your site repeat the same process BUT use a different number i.e.
@image2 (2 indicates image 2, 3 indicates image 3 etc.)
Important Notes:
Once an image has been set up the same code can be used to call up the image at any time on
your site.
Example: @image1 will always display the image assigned as image 1. Using @image1 on another
page of your site will display the image assigned as image1.
Warning- If you change an image or change the alignment or link properties for an image, all places
on the web site that call for that image will be changed as well.
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Keyword Manager
Topic-141
Customize your website title and tune keywords/meta-tags used by search engines.
Related Topic- Visit our Search Engine section for helpful tips and information on promoting your
site.
To access the keyword manager
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Click on the house icon at the bottom of the home page.
Enter your password to access the Admin Menu.
Select "Keyword Manger" from the menu.
Website Title- top line of browser window - include important keywords
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Enter the title that you would like to show at the top of the browser.
See "Optimizing Your Site- Step 2" for Important notes on the <TITLE> meta-tag.
Website Description- describe your services in 200 words or less
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Enter the description-The Meta Description tag should contain a short description of the webpage
See "Optimizing Your Site- Step 2" for Important notes on the <TITLE> meta-tag.
Keywords Meta-Tag- enter most important terms first. Separate terms with a comma (,).
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Enter the keywords and phrases seperated by a comma.
Keep your keywords length between 200 and 500 characters.
See "Optimizing Your Site- Step 3" for Important notes developing and adding keywords.
Promoting Your Site / Search Engines
Topic-200
The following topics will help you promote your site on the search engines and other media.
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General Tips- Improve the traffic to your site.
Optimizing Your Site For The Search Engines- Detailed tips for optimizing your site for
search engines- a 4 step process
Registering Your Site With The Search Engines- Search engine registration resources.
Keyword Manager- Where to update your Meta tags for the search engines.
Articles- Reprints of articles of interest to help understand and solve the Search Engine
Mystery.
Tips To Improve Traffic To Your Site
Topic-201
There are several ways to improve traffic to your website.
Promote Your Site Locally
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Make sure your website is on your advertisements, business cards, listing flyers etc..
Take advantage of your website features when advertising your site locally. Include tag lines
on your advertisements like "Order Your Free Brochures Online" or "Sign Up To Win
$1,000.00" if you are using these features on your site.
Develop partnerships with local companies and preferred partners. Offer to put a link or
page on your site in exchange for a link to your site on theirs. This may go a long way if they
already have a site that gets a lot of traffic.
Promote Your Site Online
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Make sure your listings have all of the recommended fields for Yahoo!! Real Estate - see the
"more info" link on your listing edit screen. Having all of the correct fields will give you a
"featured listing" which appears in the top positions on Yahoo.
Optimize your site for the search engines- See our section Optimizing Your Site- Making it
"Search Engine Ready" for more details and review the information below for information
how to get your site listed.
Search Engine Submissions
There are several methods to market your site online.
Visit our Search Engine Registration section for information and resources.
Optimizing Your Site- Making it
"Search Engine Friendly"
Topic 202-1
Overview
How your site is found and indexed on the search engines is an "invisible" process to the end user.
If you are familiar with Meta Tags- description or keywords and the <Title> tag, this is the section
that deals with these tags. You do not need to be familiar with these terms to set these tags
correctly for your site. Our service includes the Keyword Manger to allow you to update and
maintain these "invisible" elements of your site.
If during the process of making your site search engine ready, you come across this terminology...
don't fret. Follow the principles laid out here and use your Keyword Manager to update your site and
you will be automatically updating the information need.
The process is broken down into four steps which will, in effect, make your site Search Engine
Friendly.
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Step 1- Determine Your Key Phrases
Step 2- Crafting Your Title And Description
Step 3- Developing And Adding Keywords
Step 4- The First Paragraph
Determine your Key Phrases People get obsessive about their keywords. This is wrong. It is
difficult, if not impossible to get high rankings based on keywords. Instead, you need to think about
keyphrases.
The easiest way to do this is ask yourself "what would someone trying to find me type in when they
search?" Make a list of these. Try them out on the search engines -- pretend to be someone looking
for your product or service.
If your business is geographically restricted, then your keyphrases should reflect this. For example,
if you are a a real-estate broker in Wilmington, North Carolina, then the key phrase "buying real
estate" is a waste of time; instead, the more specific phrase "buying real estate in wilmington North
carolina" is what you want to be thinking about.
Think about variations on the key phrases and write them down. Continuing with our example:
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real estate in Wilmington North Carolina
real estate brokers in Wilmington North Carolina
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buying real estate in Wilmington North Carolina
selling real estate in Wilmington North Carolina
renting real estate in Wilmington North Carolina
home buying in Wilmington North Carolina
house buying in Wilmington North Carolina
selling a house in Wilmington North Carolina
renting a house in Wilmington North Carolina
renting an apartment in Wilmington North Carolina
apartment renting in Wilmington North Carolina real estate brokers in Wilmington NC
real estate brokers in Wilmington NC
buying real estate in Wilmington NC
selling real estate in Wilmington NC
renting real estate in Wilmington NC
home buying in Wilmington NC
house buying in Wilmington NC
selling a house in Wilmington NC
renting a house in Wilmington NC
renting an apartment in Wilmington NC
apartment renting in Wilmington NC
real estate brokers in new hanover county
buying real estate in new hanover county
selling real estate in new hanover county
renting real estate in new hanover county
home buying in new hanover county
house buying in new hanover county
selling a house in new hanover county
renting a house in new hanover county
renting an apartment in new hanover county
apartment renting in new hanover county
The above is only a partial list, but you get the idea. You can also get a good idea of what
keyphrases and page design techniques work well by looking at other pages that do well in the
searches you've tried. I'll discuss how to do that in more detail in my Improving Your Rankings
article. Note that this sample list is just a list of possible keyphrases -- we're not going to use all of
them because we won't have room.
Two great resources for finding out what keyphrases are the most effective are the Goto.com
Search Suggestions Page and WordTracker. On Goto's Search Suggestion Page, you just type in a
very general keyphrase (like "real estate") and it tells you all of the more specific keyphrases that
relate to that keyphrase and how many hits they got.
http://inventory.goto.com/inventory/Search_Suggestion.jhtml
http://www.wordtracker.com/
Using our example of selling real estate in Wilmington, NC and entering "real estate" into the
Goto.com tool, I found that in October 1999, the broad keyphrase "real estate" was searched for
67016 times (on goto.com). However, you'd never want to target that keyphrase, because you don't
care if someone in Kalamazoo wants real estate; you're only interested in people who want houses
in Wilmington. Looking down the list of results, I found that "North Carolina real estate" got 489
searches. That's a possibility. Doing a search suggestion on "Wilmington" revealed several hundred
hits on "Wilmington North Carolina," "Wilmington NC" and related topics. Zooming in even further,
getting a suggestion on "Wilmington real" found 36 hits on specific queries related to real estate in
Wilmington, NC. These queries obviously don't get a huge amount of traffic, but because they're so
focused on what you're trying to do, they're often the best ones to target.
WordTracker goes a bit further. It helps you develop lists of relevant keyphrases, ranked by their
popularity. It then queries the major search engines to determine which keyphrases are the least
competitive. It's usually not much use targeting a popular keyphrase (lots of searches) if there are
millions of other pages that contain that keyphrase. On the other hand, a relevant keyphrase that
only gets a few searches a day but which has only a few pages competing for it is a good
candidate, because it will be much easier to get a high ranking. WordTracker has a free trial that will
give you a lot of information, and additional services available by subscription - including some
great tools for working with Goto.com.
My advice is to use the Goto.com tool to get a rough idea what your keyphrases should be (and find
ones you might not have thought about), and then use WordTracker to determine which ones you
really should be targeting - and (this is key!) to rank them in order of importance.
OK. At this point, you know what your best keyphrases are. You've got your list. You've checked it
twice. Now it's time to use it!
Jump to Step 2 >>
Topic 202-2
Step 2- Crafting Your Title and Description
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The fabled "Meta tags" are important to getting good rankings, and on many search engines, the
page Title and the Description (<title> and description> tags) are what gets displayed. To change
these tags use the Keyword Manager feature on your site.
Creating Your Title
Most people make the mistake of using a page title that's good for people but lousy for the search
engines. Big mistake. A title like "Bill Phillips - Great Website" is a disaster! The golden rule is this:
All your most important keyphrases should be in the Title section. So what you do is look at your
keyphrases, make a list of all the important words, and create a title that uses them. Also, keep in
mind that browsers only display the first few words of a title (whatever fits into the title bar of the
window). So, while the first sentence of your title should be "human readable," the rest can be just a
list of keyphrases.
There is some debate as to whether a very long title is a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to
search engines. Some people are concerned that a very long title might result in the search engines
deciding the page is a "spam page." I'm waffling on this issue right now. Based on the available
(scanty!) evidence, my advice is to keep the title between 15 and 20 words. But you might want to
try longer title on some of your pages, just to see what happens! So Bill Phillips might have a title
that looks like this:
"Real Estate in Wilmington, North Carolina - Buying Selling Renting Houses Homes Apartments
Commercial Property Offices Office Space"
The reason for this is that the three most important places to have keyphrases and phrases are
your title, your Description, and your first paragraph. You want them to all contain the same
important words; this increases your keyphrase density and improves your rankings.
Once your Title is ready, go to the Keyword Manager from the Admin Menu of your site and enter
the Title in the Website Title section.
Creating Your Description
The Description should contain a short description of the web-page. You've already written one for
the Title! So just edit that to make it totally human readable (and perhaps a little shorter), and you're
done.
So, in our Description example, we might use:
"Real Estate in Wilmington, North Carolina - Buying, Selling & Renting of Houses, Homes,
Apartments, Commercial Property and Office Space"
My advice on the length of this description is keep it between 100 and 200 characters.
Once your Description is ready, go to the Keyword Manager from the Admin Menu of your site and
enter the Description in the Website Description Meta-tag section.
Jump to Step 3 >>
Topic 202-3
Step 3- Developing Keywords
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The other Meta tag is the Meta Keywords tag. For your site this is the Keyword section in the
Keyword Manager. What you do is take your keyphrases, and enter them in the order you think is
most appropriate, separated by commas. Don't repeat a keyphrase, and don't repeat any individual
word more than 5 times or so. This may mean that you can't use some of your better keyphrases.
The reason why you don't want to repeat any particular word more than 5 times is that some search
engines may penalize you for doing this. It isn't likely that this will happen if you exceed 5, but play it
safe. The exception is common "noise" words like "the", "in", "a", "and" and so on. Most search
engines ignore them. I'd leave them in just in case, but don't worry if you have more than 5 of any of
them.
If you want to get really fancy, play the cunning comma trick. The reason you have commas in
keyword meta tags is that some search engines use them; they consider the actual phrases as
important in your ranking. Most search engines don't however; they just look at the words, and a
comma is the same as a space to them. But even so, the fact that words are next to each other
means something to them. So if you can put two keyphrases together with a comma between them,
and the last words of the first keyphrase coupled with the first words of the next keyphrase make up
one of your keyphrases, then you've gotten 3 keyphrases for the price of two! Normally, however,
this is difficult, so don't waste too much time over it.
Keep your keywords length between 200 and 500 characters. Unfortunately, this means you may
not be able to include all of your key phrases in your meta keywords tag. To deal with this, the trick
is to remember that you can put different keyphrases on different pages on your site. So what you
do is make your home page have general keyphrases, and then create different sets of meta
keywords tags for your other pages that exclusively target more specific topics (such as "selling a
home"; and the same goes for the titles and descriptions on those pages as well!). After doing that
pruning, our sample keywords tag might look like this:
"real estate in wilmington North carolina,buying real estate in Wilmington North Carolina,selling real
estate in Wilmington North Carolina,renting real estate in Wilmington North Carolina,real estate
broker in Wilmington North Carolina,buying a house in new hanover county,buying a home in new
hanover county,selling a house in new hanover county,renting a house in new hanover
county,renting an apartment in new hanover county,house broker,apartment broker,home
sales,apartment rental"
Once your keywords are ready, go to the Keyword Manager from the Admin Menu of your site and
enter the keywords in the Keywords Meta-Tag section.
Jump to Step 4 >>
Topic 202-4
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The first paragraph of your page* should recapitulate and expand upon everything in your title and
meta tags. You need to have all those keyphrases in it. However, since this is going to be read by
people, it needs to be written with them in mind. This is where you introduce yourself to your
visitors, so you want to make a good impression.
*From the edit mode of your home page the first paragraph is the "Headline" section.
Example:
Are you interested in buying, selling or renting real estate in Wilmington, North
Carolina? If so, you've come to the right place. My name is Bill Phillips, and for the
last 10 years, I've specialized in helping my clients find the perfect home, apartment
or commercial space in beautiful New Hanover County. Please allow me to be your
guide."
Got Links?
Once you have your pages up and running, and chock full of useful content, it's a very good idea to
try and get other people to link to them. It's not enough to just get them in the search engines.
There are three very good reasons for doing this: First, many search engines are now using link
popularity (how many other pages link to your page) as a ranking criteria -- they figure that if other
sites link to your page, it might be useful. Second, it's recently been revealed that Inktomi applies a
ranking penalty to any URL submitted through their free "Add URL" system, but removes it if their
spider also finds the page by following a link from another site (they do this in an attempt to find and
penalize "doorway" pages). And third, you'll get traffic from the websites that link to you.
Getting links isn't that hard. When you find a website that has content similar to yours, email the
webmaster and ask for a link, pointing out why it would be appropriate. If he has content on his site
useful to your visitors, link to him without even offering to trade links. Link to him, then email him
and ask for a link back.
Search Engines- Registration services
Topic-204
Following you will find several options for registering your site with the search engines. We have
ranked them according to their effectiveness.
1. Good- Search Engine Control / Free Submission Services
2. Better- Premium Search Engine Registration Services
3. Best- Guaranteed ranking and placement
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1. Good- Free Submission Services & Search Engine Control
Free Site Registration Services
You can submit your site at no charge to the following services.
We recommend that you take advantage of these free services.
Click on a logo for more information.
via
Includes
(Open Directory)
Highly Recommended
ah-ha.com
Search Engine Control Option
We offer the Search Engine Control option to submit your site on a monthly basis to search
engines that accept automated submissions. Submissions include Alta Vista and Google among
others depending on which search engines accept automated submissions and which are most
effective.
The price for this service is $4.98 per month.
To add the Search Engine Control option to your site click on the Add Options link from the
Admin Menu of your site.
We do not guarantee how quickly or if a search engine will list your site or where you will be
ranked on searches.
Although this service will relieve you of the task of manually submitting your site on a regular
bases, we highly recommend using other methods of promoting your site. See section 2 below
for Better methods to market your site on the internet.
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2- Better- Premium Search Engine Registration Services
Why consider paying for search engine submissions?
Because of drastic changes over the last year in the way search engines do business, low cost
automated services and free submissions are proving to be less effective, less responsive and
hard to find.
For example; A year ago Yahoo, Lycos, HotBot, AskJeeves, MSN, NorthernLight, WebCrawler,
Go.com, Direct Hit and other major search engines allowed for free or automated submissionsNow they charge for this service.
The following services offer quick and effective search engine submissions at price ranges from
$30.00 - $299.00.
These services have secured "back door" priority access with many of the major search
engines. Click on a link below to review the services offered. Register your site directly with
them and you will receive additional information and control over your site submissions.
We Can Help
Submitting your site using search engine submittal services can be confusing and time
consuming. As an accommodation, we will be happy to register your site with any of the
services below for you. This service is provided at the list price for the service you request. We
will not mark up the price. After you have reviewed the services and decided which service you
would like us to sign you up for, please contact [email protected] with your request and
we will register your site for you and bill your account. Please include the service type and price
with your request.
Service
Description
Inktomi Search/Submitvia ineedhits.com
$39.00/year
Teoma/AskJeevesvia ineedhits.com
$30.00/15 months
Inktomi Registration Includes:
MSN, AOL, iwon, HotBot, Overture
and more.
Express submissionAsk.com/Teoma.com index
Lycos
$30.00/year
Express submission and services for
Lycos web search index.
Alta Vista
$39.00/6 months
Express submission service.
Yahoo
$299.00/Year
Express submission service to the
Yahoo directory of your choice.
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3. Best- Pay For Performance*
These search services allow you to "bid" on your keywords and then charge you for every time
someone searched that term and "clicks-through" to your website. They are a good way to get
targeted traffic to your site.
Service
Description
Overture
(formerly GoTo.com)
Bid on your keywords and pay per
click. This service can get you number
one, two or three on: Yahoo, AOL,
Lycos and AltaVista.
Bid on placement for About.com guide
sites.
Target audience placement service.
Sprinks/About
Google
Bid on keywords for "sponsored"
placement on top of Google
search returns.
Two types of services available.
LookSmart
Bid on keywords for "sponsored"
placement on MSN, AltaVista,
iWon, CNN, Juno and more.
FindWhat
Bid on Keywords and placement
on FindWhat.com
* Please Note: services are provided exclusively by third parties. CIS Data Systems makes no
warranty for performance of such services.
Articles
Topic-210
Reprints of articles of interest to help understand and solve the Search Engine Mystery.
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We Get What They Pay For
By Leslie Walker, Washingtonpost, Thursday, February 28, 2002
We Get What They Pay For
Topic-211
Reprinted from Washingtonpost
By Leslie Walker
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Behold the soul of a search engine. It appears to be available to the highest bidder.
Ever since Internet advertising slowed, halting revenue growth at the Internet's top networks,
pressure has been building on Web companies to sell advertisers prominent placement in the
results their search engines generate.
Once it was unthinkable that companies could buy their way to the top of the listings produced
when you type in a phrase like "digital cameras." But advertisers' bargaining power has increased in
proportion to the decline in the economy, helping them claim a choice piece of digital real estate.
Today most Internet networks present paid listings at the top of their search result pages in a format
closely resembling the regular listings below. Many even let the amount of an advertiser's bid
dictate how high a listing appears.
Type in "George Bush" at big Internet gateways, for instance, and the top matches are likely to be
links to eBay and Amazon.com. That's because eBay and Amazon lately have been top bidders for
the George Bush "keyword," offering 11 cents and 10 cents, respectively, for each click-through a
search engine delivers. In return, eBay gets to present a ridiculous link that says, "You can find
George W. Bush right here!" Clicking on it leads to a list of cheesy items for sale on eBay, the first
being a fake $2001 bill imprinted with George W.'s face.
You might wonder why the first matches to your search terms are often the same, regardless of
whether you search at Microsoft Network, Yahoo, America Online or Terra Lycos. That's because
the top four networks do not operate their own search engines; they employ other firms to deliver
both their unpaid search results and sponsored links. In recent months, all four have been using
paid search listings from the same company, Overture Services Inc.
Overture currently is the most successful Internet ad network. It reported $288 million in revenue
last year and turned a profit, a rarity for Internet ventures. As an incentive to show its paid listings
first, Overture forked over more than half of its ad revenue to sites displaying its results.
In fairness, most portals attempt to separate their paid listings from their unbiased search results
with labels. Terra Lycos calls paid links "sponsored sites," AOL "sponsored links." Netscape labels
them more ambiguously "partner search results." But Dogpile.com and others don't even hint that
their paid results are less than objective, presenting them under the misleading label "search
engines."
Still others mix Overture's links with ones from their own advertisers and use a mishmash of labels.
This ambiguity led consumer watchdogs to complain to the Federal Trade Commission last year
that paid search listings are misleading Web surfers and could be construed as deceptive
advertising. The case has yet to produce a public response from the FTC.
It remains to be seen whether pay-for-placement represents a temporary response to the drop in
Internet ad sales or a more fundamental shift in the nature of online searches. The Internet, after all,
serves many masters. Its role as the world's largest library is generating increasing tension with its
function as a directory for global commerce.
Ted Meisel, Overture's chief executive, sees the tension as part of the Internet's natural evolution.
The process for searching the Web is evolving in the same way telephone directories did, he said,
with enhanced listings helping people find commercial goods and services.
"Yellow pages pay for the printing and distribution of white pages," he said, adding that paid listings
do the same online and can be as useful as yellow-pages ads, at least when people are looking up
commercial subjects.
But executives at the Internet's top-rated search engine, Google, disagree with the way Overture is
going about it.
"Overture is a giant database of ads, not a search engine," said Tim Armstrong, Google's ad sales
director.
In what is shaping up to be a feisty battle, Google is taking aim at Overture by trying to sell its own
paid listings, along with regular unaltered search results. It also is trying to ensure that any paid
listings not appear unless they have a reasonable connection to the search request.
Google hopes its ability to offer both kinds of results will help it unseat Overture as the preferred
keyword-ad network for major Web gateways. Since Overture has no Web-wide search engine, its
clients turn to other providers such as Fast Search & Transfer and Inktomi Corp. for basic search
results.
With 53,000 advertisers, analysts give the edge right now to Overture, but Google says it has
signed on "tens of thousands of advertisers" and is catching up fast. This month, for instance,
Internet access provider EarthLink ditched Overture and signed with Google to show two kinds of
listings to EarthLink subscribers -- paid and unpaid ones.
"The bottom line is users don't come to us for advertising, they come to us for information,"
Armstrong said. "There is a clear distinction between the two."
Google alone among the top search services has vowed not to collect fees from companies to
guarantee them inclusion in searches. By contrast, AltaVista, Inktomi and Lycos all charge fees in
return for inclusion and sometimes favorable treatment in their Web indexes.
Google also said money alone would not dictate placement, even in its paid links. The rate at which
users click on a paid link also will be part of its formula, the idea being that the more relevant the
ad, the more clicks it should generate, and therefore the higher it should appear in the results.
So weep not for the soul of the search engine, at least not yet. While the trend toward paid
placement is worrisome, it may be a necessary evil as the Internet seeks a balance between the
needs of pure research and commercial services. There is still a chance that those search engines
presenting the most relevant returns and labeling them honestly will prevail.
In which case, the highest bidders may wind up being you and me.
Leslie Walker's e-mail address is [email protected].
Add / Modify / Delete Listings
Applies to buttons: Search for Homes,
Commercial Listings, Lots and Land, New
Construction, Lease and Rentals and Extra
Listings buttons
Topic-106
1. Add a new listing
2. Enter new listing details
Listing Descriptions
❍ Listing Type
❍ List Price
❍ List Date
❍ Address/Location
❍ MLS number
❍ Status
❍ Feature Details
❍ Adding Virtual Tours
❍ Yahoo Real Estate
❍ Uploading Photo's
❍ Slide Show Settings
Copy a listing from MLS
Modify an existing listing / delete a listing
❍ Change/Delete Photos on a listing
Change Status Of Listings (move to closed, hidden etc.)
Modify Local Area Homes and National Listings buttons
Show or hide the Closed Listings button
Yahoo upload status
Change listing order- ascending/descending price order
Home page slide show options
Help With Listing Photos- Rotating and Size
Related topics and links
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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1- Add Listing
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Click on the house at the bottom of any page and log into your Admin Menu.
Click "Search For Homes" or the listing button which you would like to edit.
Click "Add Listing" .
Select option"Create a new Residential listing" OR "Copy a Residential listing from MLS"
Click continue to copy or enter your listing.
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2- Create a new Residential listing - (Manually enter listing)
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Select "Create a new residential listing"
Click Continue
Fill in the online form with details about the listing as noted below.
1- Heading and Short Description of property- Enter description. You can use the
Special Format Codes if you wish.
2- Listing Type- Select the button name that you would like to have this listing displayed
on.
3- List Price- Enter Price or text note.
List Date- Enter listing date or leave blank to hide the date.
Location (Address)- An Address is required. If there is no address available, you can use
any address (example:1 n-a) and select "No" for Display Address On Website/Yahoo.
To hide the address on your website and on Yahoo select "No" for Display Address On
Website/Yahoo. This will also keep the map from showing the exact location of the listing.
4- MLS#- Optional- Enter the MLS number for this listing.
Type- Brief description of type of listing. Examples: Single Family Home,
Condo/Townhouse, Multifamily Dwelling etc.
Status- Use the pull down window to select a status
❍ Active- displays listing as Active
❍ Sale Pending- displays on site with Sale Pending notation
❍ Sold- Moves the listing to the Closed listing section
❍ Temporarily Withdrawn- displays listing with Temporarily Withdrawn notation
❍ Hidden- Hides the listing from viewers, but makes it available in the edit mode.
Coming Soon- displays on site with Coming Soon notation
❍ Under Contract- displays on site with Under Contract notation
5- Feature Details- Details about your listing.
Details entered in this area will be displayed in the Feature Details section of the listing.
6- Additional Features- Free text area to enter additional features or notes. Special Format
Codes can be used in this section.
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7- Virtual Tour URL- Leave Blank if you do not have a virtual tour link.
Enter the link (URL) provided by your virtual tour host in the blank field.
Any service that hosts a tour and provides a link should work. Our service will automatically
add an icon to indicate a virtual tour is included with the listing.
Upload EGG Virtual Tour File- Click the Browse button to upload the eggsolution virtual
tour file.
Note- Do Not upload any other file type.
8- Yahoo Real Estate Selection- Select a Yahoo category from the list or select "Do Not
Post Listing To Yahoo".
Your listing will automatically be uploaded to Yahoo within 24-48 hours.
Click on the "Save Changes" button to save your changes and access the Photo and Slide
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Show section.
Upload Photos- Use the "Browse" button to access your hard drive and choose the photos
to upload.
Main Photo- Displays on home page slide show, Flyer Format. Generally the front of the
building.
Additional Photos- For each additional photo enter the description in the left field and click
the "Browse" button on the right. Then, select the photo file from your local computer.
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Home Page Slide Show- If you would like to include this listing in the home page slide
show, select the position (1st Slide, 2nd Slide, 3rd Slide...).
Enter Slide Show Text- This text will "fly" across the slide show photo on the home page.
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Click the "Save Changes" button.
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3- Copy a Residential Listing from MLS - (from Realtor.com)
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Select "Copy a Residential listing from MLS"
Click Continue
You will need to specify the MLS#, City and State.
Click Get Listing.
If your listing is not found- "Unable to locate MLS#....".
Click on the "Click here to search Realtor.com".
Use your browser to search Realtor.com for your listing. Once your listing is found, click on
the "Copy Listing" button at the top of the screen.
Review the information and edit as needed.
Click "Save Changes".
Click the yellow "Edit" button to edit details for your listing.
Click on the photo to upload additional photos and access the slide show options.
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4- Modify an existing listing / delete a listing
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Click on the house at the bottom of any page and log into your Admin Menu
Click the "Delete" button next to the listing to delete the listing.
OR
Click the "Edit" button next to the listing you want to edit or change.
Edit the listing information as needed and click the save changes.
See topic 2 above for specific details on fields to modify.
Edit / Remove photos on a listing
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Click the "Click here to upload photos or activate slide show."
To change the Main Photo, click the main photo Browse button and upload your new
photo.
To REMOVE a photo, delete the photo description in the left column.
To Add a photo enter the description in the left field and click the "Browse" button on the
right. Then, select the photo file from your local computer.
To Change an existing photo, click the Browse button to the right of the photo description
and upload the new photo.
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5- Change Status Of Listings (move to closed, hidden, sale pending etc.)
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Under the "Status" section use the pull down window to select a status
❍ Active- displays listing as Active
❍ Sale Pending- displays on site with Sale Pending notation
❍ Sold- Moves the listing to the Closed listing section
❍ Temporarily Withdrawn- displays listing with Temporarily Withdrawn notation
❍ Hidden- Hides the listing from viewers, but makes it available in the edit mode.
❍ Coming Soon- displays on site with Coming Soon notation
❍ Under Contract- displays on site with Under Contract notation
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6- Modify Local Area Homes and National Listings buttons
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Click on the yellow Edit button above the "Local Area Homes" or "National Listings" buttons.
You can Choose a default link: Yahoo, Realtor.com, Select a page from your site or enter a
URL (link) to a different site.
To disable and hide the button check "Disabled - hide button and link".
To Rename the button enter the new name in the "Rename" section at the bottom of the
page.
Save Changes.
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7- Show or Hide the "Closed Listings" button.
All listings that have been given the "Sold" status will automatically be moved to the Closed Listings
section.
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To hide or show the "Closed Listing" button.
Click on the Preferences link under Website Options.
Check "No" for "Would you like to show your closed listings?" to hide the button.
Check "Yes" for "Would you like to show your closed listings?" to show the button.
Save Changes.
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8- Yahoo upload status
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Click "Search For Homes" or the listing button which you would like to view.
Look for the
red flag that indicates your listing was not uploaded to Yahoo.
Click the Edit button next to any listing with a red flag to view the Yahoo status.
In most cases the address was not valid.
Update any information required and Save Changes.
You listing will be resubmitted to Yahoo within the next 24-48 hours.
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9-Change Listing Order Ascending/Descending price order.
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Click on the Preferences link under Website Options.
Check or Uncheck "Sort listings in descending order?".
Save Changes.
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10-Home page slide show options.
The instructions below apply to adding your listings to the home page slide show.
Click Here for more information regarding slide show options or removing the slide show..
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Click the picture of the listing you want to add or remove from the home page slide show.
Click the main picture (shows "click photo to edit slide show" under it).
Scroll down to the "Homepage Slide Show" section.
Choose Slide Show Position (1-5) or click on the "Not Shown" option to remove the listing
from the slide show.
Enter Slide Show Text in the three entry fields.
Save Changes.
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11-Helpful Hints- Listing Photos
Image Size
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The ideal image size is approx. 500 pixels wide.
Generally speaking this will make the height about 350 pixels tall for a standard "landscape"
format.
In inches, this is approx. 5 inches x 3.5 inches at 100 pixels/inch resolution.
Files Size- The maximum file size is 1 megabyte, which will not be a concern if you size
photo as noted above.
Image Orientation
Our service will accommodate standard horizontal or "landscape" images. All thumbnail images
needed for the listing section will automatically be created for your site.
You may upload vertical or "portrait" images to the listing section but the thumbnails may be
"stretched" and look distorted.
Rotating Images
If you have an image that is sideways, you can easily rotate the image using Microsoft Paint.
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Open the Paint program - From the Task Bar click Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint.
Open your image- Select File > Open - Select your image.
Select Image > Flip and Rotate
Select Rotate by angle- Choose the angle (usually 90 works)
Click OK
If the image still requires rotating, repeat the process until it is correct.
When finished Click File > Save (save the image as a JPEG .jpg if possible)
You can now upload your new image to your site.
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12-Related Topics and Links.
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Home Page Slide Show Options
Topic-126
There are three options for the home page slide show feature.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Select Listings For The Slide Show
Upload Up To 5 Photo's To The Slide Show
Remove The Home Page Slide Show
Related Topics
Back to top
1. Select Listings For The Slide Show
Select up to 5 listings to be displayed on the slide show. Selecting Listings will allow for text on the
slide show.
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Click the picture of the listing you want to add or remove from the home page slide show.
Click the main picture (shows "click photo to edit slide show" under it).
Scroll down to the "Homepage Slide Show" section.
Choose Slide Show Position (1-5) or click on the "Not Shown" option to remove the listing
from the slide show.
Enter Slide Show Text in the three entry fields.
Save Changes.
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2. Upload Up To 5 Photo's To The Slide Show
No text can be displayed using this method.
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Click on the house at the bottom of your home page and log into the Admin Menu.
Choose "Edit Website Contents"
Click on the slide show photo.
Click on the "click here to upload 5 photos from your PC" link.
Click on the first Browse button to select the photo you want to upload.
Select the photo from your computer
Repeat this process until you have selected all of the photo's for your slide show.
Click on the Save Changes button to start the upload.
Exit from the edit mode to view the slide show.
Back to top
3. Remove Slide Show
You can remove the slide show from the home page in the Preferences section of the Admin Menu.
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Click on the house at the bottom of your home page and log into the Admin Menu.
Choose "Preferences"
Select "No" for "Display slideshow on homepage?"
Save Changes
Back to top
4. Related Topics
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Add / Remove and change navigation buttons
and designations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Topic-142
Add or remove buttons and designation logos
Change the name and order of your navigation buttons (Reorder & Rename..)
Changing navigation button groups
Change the Styles & Colors of your navigation buttons
Link a navigation button to another site (Link To..)
Add a roll-over message (Pop Up Tip) to your navigation buttons
Setting Up Required Registration For Your Buttons
Back to top
1- Add or remove buttons and designation logos
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Choose "Buttons and Designations " from the Admin Menu.
Select "Navigation Buttons" or "Designations & Logos".
Select the buttons, designations or logos you want to appear on your site by clicking next to the name to
add a check mark in the check box.
To remove/hide a navigation or designation logo click on the check box to uncheck it.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Save Changes".
Back to top
2- Change the order and name of the navigation buttons (Reorder & Rename..)
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Select "Navigation Buttons"
Click on the "Reorder & Rename..." link below the button list.
In the "Rename to" column, type in the new name for the button.
In the "Order (1-99)" column, enter in the number order for the button.
(Number 1 is first button, 2 is second button and so on)
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on "Save Changes"
Back to top
3. Change Navigation Button Groups- Layout#2 only
Overview- With Layout#2 you will have the option to organize your buttons in groups with headers to make
navigation easier for the viewer.
Groups- Create your own group name and organize your buttons within the groups
as shown.
Buttons- Buttons names will remain the same for either layout. If you are converting
your site from layout #1, your button names will be transferred to the new layout.
Changing Button Groups
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Click on the house at the bottom of your homepage and log into the Admin Menu.
Select Buttons & Designations from the Admin Menu.
Select Navigation Buttons.
Select the Reorder & Rename button at the bottom of the page.
Under the Assigned Group column, select from one of the existing groups for each button using the pull
down menu.
See Changing Groups below to modify group names and order.
Under the Order column enter in the number order for the button. This will define what order the button
will appear in the group.
Changing Group Names and the Group Order
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Click on the Edit Groups button at the bottom of the Navigation Button Order - Grouped Layout menu.
In the "Order #)" column, enter in the number order for the group.
In the "Group Name" column enter/change the name of the group.
All buttons that are set up under a given group name will automatically be updated with the new group
name.
Note- Two additional groups are provided to set up as needed.
Click the Save Changes button to update your site.
You will be returned to the Navigation Button edit screen. You can update buttons from this screen as
needed. (see Changing Button Groups above)
Save your changes.
Back to top
4- Change Styles & Colors of your navigation buttons
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Select "Navigation Buttons".
Click on the "Styles & Colors" link below the button list.
Click on the sample button to select the button color or select "Choose Style".
Click on the sample button to select the button style.
It may take several minutes for your buttons to be updated.
Click on the "Continue" button to return to the Admin Menu.
Back to top
5- Link a navigation button to another site (Link To..)
This will create a direct link to the site you choose. The site will be loaded directly into the right frame of your site.
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Click on the "Link To.." link below the button list.
Enter the location URL (ex: http://www...) in the right column next to the name of the button.
Save Changes.
Click on the "Continue" button to return to the Admin Menu.
Helpful Hint: use the "^" symbol in front of your link to pop up a new browser window for your linked page
(ex: ^http://www...)
Back to top
6- Add a roll-over message (Pop Up Tip) to your navigation buttons
This will allow you to enter a message or text that will be displayed when your visitor puts their cursor over a
navigation button.
Note: The roll-over message may not display on all browsers.
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Click on the "Pop Up Tips.." Link below the button list.
Enter the message you want to display when the cursor passes over the button.
Save Changes.
Click on the "Continue" button to return to the Admin Menu
Back to top
7- Setting Up Required Registration For Your Buttons
This feature will allow you to require your visitor to fill out a registration form to gain access to the content of your
page.
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Click on the "Forced Reg" link below the button list.
Next to the button name you want to force registration, use the pull down menu to select the form you
want
the visitor to fill out.
We have provided a stock Registration form for this feature. You can also select from any other form on
your
site as an alternative.
After selecting your form click the Save Changes button.
Edit Web Site- Help for editing your
site
Topic-100
Helpful Pages To Get You Started
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"I've Got A Web Page... Now What?"- A simple "To Do" list that will get you started.
Edit 101 Getting Started.- For a General Overview of edit options.
NEW- Setting Up or Changing Your Site Layout
Advanced Edit Features- More Edit features and related links.
IDX Help and Information - IDX Features, Overview and Help.
Customize Your Buttons- Re-name, Re-order, change the style and customize links for the
buttons on your site.
Topics displayed below are in order of the buttons on your site.
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Site Layouts Overview and instructions on selecting and modifying site layouts.
Free Brochures ("Prospect Generator" -Advanced Option. AKA Buyer/Seller Course).
Home Page
Listings Includes All listing buttons (Search for Homes, Commercial Listings, Lots and
Land, New Construction, Lease Rentals and Extra Listing).
Relocation
Buyer Seller/Info
Our Agents (Office Pro sites only).
Dream Home Finder
Market Analysis
Calculators
Mortgage Rates
Real Estate News
Schools
City Overview
Community Info/Links
Local Phone Numbers
Weather Report
Contact Form
Newsletter
Testimonials
Employment (Office Pro sites only).
Corporate Website
Guest Book
Extra Buttons- Extra buttons provided to add your own custom pages, content and links.
❍ Extra Button 1, Extra Button 3- Allows for custom pages and links.
❍ Extra Button 2- Allows for custom pages with photo's.
❍
❍
Extra Form- Allows for a custom built form.
Extra Listing- Allows for a custom listing page to post listings.
Advanced Editing and Related Topics
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Buttons and Designations- Edit the button name, order, hide them and more.
Add and remove Designation logo under your navigation buttons.
Customizing Forms- Customize Your Forms, Troubleshooting Forms.
Advanced Options- Includes Prospect Generator, Internet Flyers, Contact Manager, Audio
Message, Web Pager, HomeLink, Quick Sort, Mirror Websites and Video Tour.
Special Format Codes- Codes that can be used to enhance your text, create links, add
special characters, add images to your pages and more.
Customizing Banners- Choose from our library of banners or build your own custom
banner.
Home Page Slide Show- Select options for the home page slide show.
Uploading Photos - Troubleshooting- How to upload photo's and troubleshooting tips.
Edit 101- General Overview
Topic-101
The following is a General Overview of the edit features for your site. For instructions on editing
specific pages of your site visit the Main Edit Help section of our site.
For a step by step "Getting Started" guided visit "I've Got A Web Page... Now What?"
1.
2.
3.
4.
Quick Start- To change the contents of your web pages.
Where can I find specific instructions for changing pages on my site?
What other edit features are available for my site?
How do I use Advanced Options for my site?
1. Quick Start- To change the contents of your web pages
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Click the navigation button on the left side of your screen to access the edit mode for that
page.
Follow the on screen instructions to edit your content and upload photos, etc.
In any area that has an edit or add entry button, you can click on the button and you will be
brought to the edit section of that page.
In any area where you need to upload a photo, click on the "Browse" button to access your
local drive and select the photo to upload.
In all cases, make sure you click on the "Save Changes" button to complete and save the
changes.
2. Where can I find specific instructions for changing pages on my site?
Go to the Main Edit Help section of our site for step by step instructions on editing your pages.
3. What other edit features are available for my site?
Although each button/page on your site has many features unique to that section, we also have the
following edit options that can be used on most of the pages of your site.
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Custom Banners- Choose from our library of banners or build your own custom banner
Special Edit Codes- Text and link formatting codes to enhance your pages.
Buttons & Designations- Add, remove, or rename buttons and designations that appear on
the left hand side of your website.
Colors, Backgrounds, & Music- Personalize your website by choosing button styles, colors,
background graphics, and music.
Customized Forms- Customize the forms on your site to meet your needs.
Extra Buttons- Use these "Extra Buttons" to create your own customized pages, links,
content etc.
Extra Button 1, Extra Button 3- Allows for custom pages and links.
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Extra Button 2- Allows for custom pages with photo's.
Extra Form- Allows for a custom built form.
Extra Listing- Allows for a custom listing page to post listings.
HTML Mode- Use standard html and javascript with your site.
Add Images- Use "@image##" code to add images to your web pages.
4. How do I use Advanced Options for my site?
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The Advanced Options links are located at the bottom of the page.
Select the option from the menu for instructions or information on the option.
To view the options available or add Advanced Options, Click on
the Admin Menu.
Visit our Advanced Options help section for more details.
Add Options link from
Site Layout and Appearance
Topic-143
Change your site layout. button style, background and music options.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Site Layout Overview
Changing The Site Layout
Color Themes
Buttons Styles
Background Colors and Graphics
Music Selection / Turning Music On/Off
Troubleshooting Sound/Music Problems
Related Topics
Back to top
1. Site Layout Overview
The following will be helpful in choosing a site layout that meets your needs.
Layout #1
Layout #1 Highlights
This layout is graphically enriched with the following
features.
1.
Custom Photo and Banner option.
2. Graphic buttons- choose the style of your
3.
4.
5.
6.
Layout #2
buttons.
Logo (optional)- use our library of corporate
logos or upload your own custom logo.
Slide Show- (optional)- Display up to 5
selected listings in the slide show.
Content/Text- Customize the content/text on
the home page.
Designations/Logos (optional)- Display
certifications and designations logos.
This layout is a quick loading text driven format with
the following features.
1. Logo- use our library of corporate logos or
upload your own custom logo.
2. Text Navigation- Organize your links in titled
groups for easier navigation.
3. Listing photos (optional)- Display listing
thumbnails and links to your listings.
-Open House listings
-Virtual tour listings
-Featured Homes
-MLS Search*
*available for IDX subscribers only.
4. Content/Text- Customize the content/text on
the home page.
5. Designations/Logos (optional)
(Not Shown On Sample)
Display certifications and designations logos
at the footer of the home page.
Back to top
2. Changing The Layout
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Select Site Layout & Appearance from the Admin Menu.
Click on the Layouts button.
Select Website Layout from the menu.
Click on the Accept button to change your site to the new layout.
For Layout#2 you will have a four step wizard that will allow you to choose/modify
- Color Theme
- Listing Photo Options (see number 3 in the above sample)
- Button Grouping Options (see number 2 in the above sample)
Save changes as needed for your site to be updated.
Note- Please allow several minutes for your site to be rebuilt.
To view your changes select Back To Website from the Admin Menu.
Back to top
3. Changing Color Themes- All layouts
Both styles of sites will allow you to change the color themes. We offer a wide range of coordinated themes to
choose from. You can also customize backgrounds colors or upload your own custom background graphics.
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Click on the Colors button.
Select a color theme from the menu. Thumbnail samples will be displayed for the different color themes.
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Click the accept button to finish your selection.
Back to top
4. Button Styles- For site layout #1 only
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Choose Site Layout & Appearance.
Click on the 'Button' button
Click on the sample button to choose your button style.
Click on the continue button to finish.
Please note: Our graphics service will automatically generate a new button set for you. This may take
several minutes to process before it is viewable on your site.
Back to top
5. Background Colors and Graphics
Selecting from our stock background images
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Click on the Backgrounds button.
Select a background graphic from our library by placing your cursor on the available images menu.
Use you arrow up and arrow down keys to scroll through the available selection.
Click on the Select button to see a preview of the background.
Click on the Accept Background button at the top of the page to apply the new background to the site.
Please note: It may take several minutes for your background to be applied to your site.
Uploading your own background graphic
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Click on the Background Graphics button.
Click on the Browse button under the "upload graphic from your computer" section
A pop up window will allow you to select an image from your computer.
After making your selection click the Open button (on PC's)
If you would like our service to automatically re-size the image check the Automatically correct image size
box
Re-sizing is usually not necessary unless the image is very large.
Click the Upload File button.
You will need to wait for a time for the image to upload to our servers.
Click on the Continue button to finish.
Please note: It may take several minutes for your background to be applied to your site.
See Uploading Photos/Images for helpful hints and troubleshooting if your images will not upload
properly.
Back to top
6. Music Selection / Turning Music On/Off
A note on activating music for your site- Music files can be large in file size and may add additional time to the
loading of your home page.
Turning Music On / Selecting Music
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Click on the Music button.
Click on any of the blue music titles to hear a sample of the music.
It may take a few moments before the music plays depending on your internet connection speed.
Click on the Accept Music button save your selection.
Click on the Continue button to finish
Please note: It may take several minutes for your music selection to be applied to your site.
Turning Music Off
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Click on Remove Music button.
Click on the Continue button to finish
Please note: It may take several minutes your change is applied to your site.
Uploading Your Own Music Files
Music files must be in Midi format (.mid) Recommended file size is less than 100K
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Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Browse button under the "upload MIDI format music file
for your computer" section.
After making your selection click the Open button (on PC's)
Click the Upload File button.
You will need to wait for a time for the sound file to upload to our servers.
Click on the Continue button to finish.
Please note: It may take several minutes for your music to be applied to your site.
Back to top
7. Troubleshooting Sound/Music Problems
Note- Your music will not play while in the edit mode for your site.
Cannot Hear The Music On Your Site?- Try This First●
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Select the first song on the list by double clicking the blue highlighted song title.
Click on the Accept Music button and click continue to complete your selection.
From the Admin Menu, click on the Back To Website link.
The music should now be playing.
If the music is not playing review the help section below.
If you cannot hear the music after following the above steps you may need to check the sound settings for your
computer.
Checking sound settings- PC's- Windows Systems
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Click on Start >Programs >Entertainment >Volume Control
Make sure that the volume for "Wave" is note Muted or the volume is set at about half way.
The volume of the music on your site is controlled by your MIDI system.
Many PC's have a separate volume control for MIDI playback channel.
You should be able to adjust that volume using the sound mixer software that came with your computer.
To check the settingsClick on Start >Settings >Control Panel
Select Sound or Sounds and Media from the menu.
Select Audio
Try different audio settings for the MIDI Music Playback if available.
Every computer has different software and hardware for sound. Review the help section on your computer for
specific instructions about your software and hardware.
Back to top
8. Related Topics
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Uploading Photos/Images- Notes and Troubleshooting
Selecting / Changing site layouts
Site Layouts
Topic-127
Our service provides for two web site layout styles. Layout #1 is the default layout. Modifying your site to the
Layout #2 format will take your existing content and incorporate it into the new layout for you automatically. Each
layout provides options that are unique to that layout.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Layout Overview
Changing The Layout
Changing Color Themes
Modifying Navigation Button Groups
Add Listing Photos To Your Home Page
Back to top
1. Layout Overview
The following will be helpful in choosing a site layout that meets your needs.
Layout #1
This layout is graphically enriched with the following
features.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Layout #2
Custom Photo and Banner option.
Graphic buttons- choose the style of your
buttons.
Logo (optional)- use our library of corporate
logos or upload your own custom logo.
Slide Show- (optional)- Display up to 5
selected listings in the slide show.
Content/Text- Customize the content/text on
the home page.
Designations/Logos (optional)- Display
certifications and designations logos.
This layout is a quick loading text driven format with
the following features.
1. Logo- use our library of corporate logos or
upload your own custom logo.
2. Text Navigation- Organize your links in titled
groups for easier navigation.
3. Listing photos (optional)- Display listing
thumbnails and links to your listings.
-Open House listings
-Virtual tour listings
-Featured Homes
-MLS Search*
*available for IDX subscribers only.
4. Content/Text- Customize the content/text on
the home page.
5. Designations/Logos (optional)
(Not Shown On Sample)
Display certifications and designations logos
at the footer of the home page.
Back to top
2. Changing The Layout
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Click on the Layouts button.
Select Website Layout from the menu.
Click on the Accept button to change your site to the new layout.
Layout#2 offers the following options:
- Color Theme
- Add Listing Photos To Your Home Page (see number 3 in the above sample)
- Button Grouping Options (see number 2 in the above sample)
Save changes as needed for your site to be updated.
To view your changes select Back To Website from the Admin Menu.
Back to top
3. Changing Color Themes- All layouts
Both styles of sites will allow you to change the color themes. We offer a wide range of coordinated themes to
choose from. You can also customize backgrounds colors or upload your own custom background graphics.
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●
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Click on the Colors button.
Select a color theme from the menu. Thumbnail samples will be displayed for the different color themes.
Click the accept button to finish your selection.
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Related Help- See Changing Background Colors and Graphics
Back to top
4. Modifying Navigation Button Groups- Layout#2 only
Overview- With Layout#2 you will have the option to organize your buttons in groups with headers to make
navigation easier for the viewer.
Groups- Create your own group name and organize your buttons within the groups
as shown.
Buttons- Buttons names will remain the same for either layout. If you are converting
your site from layout #1, your button names will be transferred to the new layout.
Changing Button Groups
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Select Site Buttons & Designations from the Admin Menu.
Select the Reorder & Rename button at the bottom of the page.
Under the Assigned Group column, select from one of the existing groups for each button using the pull
down menu.
See Changing Groups below to modify group names and order.
Under the Order column enter in the number order for the button. This will define what order the button
will appear in the group.
Changing Group Names and the Group Order
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Click on the Edit Groups button at the bottom of the Navigation Button Order - Grouped Layout menu.
In the "#" column, enter in the number order for the group.
In the "Group Name" column enter/change the name of the group.
All buttons that are set up under a given group name will automatically be updated with the new group
name.
Note- Two additional groups are provided to set up as needed.
Click the Save Changes button to update your site.
You will be returned to the Navigation Button edit screen. You can update buttons from this screen as
needed. (see Changing Button Groups above)
Save your changes.
Back to top
5- Add Listing Photos To Your Home Page- Layout#2 only
Allows for adding thumbnail photos of your selected listings to the home page with a link directly to
your listing. Available options include- Open House Listings, Featured Listings, Virtual Tours
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Click on "Preferences" from the Admin Menu.
Under the following categories select Yes or No to add or remove photos from the home page.
- Feature open house listings on homepage?
- Feature virtual tour listings on homepage?
- Feature other listings on homepage? (This will display Featured Listings)
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Click the Save Changes button.
Please allow several minutes for your updates to show.
Edit Forms
Applies to buttons/forms Dream Home Finder,
Market Analysis, Contact Form, Guest Book and
Extra Form
Topic-112
Important Note- All the forms on our site will "remember" individual users who have filled out a form
on the site before. In your case, the forms remember you as a unique visitor who has filled out a
form and will automatically fill in the information specific to you.
The information on your form, from your computer, will not be displayed to your visitors.
This is a feature designed to make filling out forms easier for your users. If they fill out more than
one form on your site, they will not have to enter all the contact information repeatedly.
Open the form in edit mode
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3.
4.
5.
Click on the button for the form you would like to edit.
Click on the Edit button for the form.
Follow the instructions below to make changes to your form.
Edit the "Instructions / Text" area of the form
Edit the "On Screen Response"
Edit the "Auto Response Via Email"
Edit Form Fields (Questions)
Related Topics
Back to top
1. Edit the "Instructions/Text" area of the form
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After clicking on the edit button for the form...
In the "Instructions/Text" section, enter the text you want at the top of the form.
Use the "special format codes" to enhance your text formatting.
After making all the changes to your form, Save Changes.
Back to top
2. Edit the "On Screen Response"
This is the response page that is presented after the form is filled out and submitted.
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In the "On Screen Response" section, enter the text message you want to display after the
form has been submitted.
Back to top
3. Edit the "Auto Response Via Email"
This section will create a custom auto-response email that will be sent to the requester after the
form is filled out and submitted. Your standard auto-response email will be sent if this portion is not
filled out.
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In the "Auto Response Via Email" section, enter the text message you want to email after
the form is submitted.
Note: do not use special codes or html coding. This should be a simple text message.
Back to top
4. Edit Form Fields (Questions)
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Modify or add entries as per instructions below.
Form Detail:
1. Order- (1-99) Order in which the question will display on the form.
2. Question- Enter the question as you want it to show on the form.
3. Question Type- Use the pull down menu to select the question type.
■
Question Types include:
■ First & Last Name - Ask for first & last name.
■ Email Address - Ask for email address.
■ Phone Number - Ask for phone number.
■ Articles - Provide free articles via email.
■ Single Line - Ask for a single line of text.
■ Multiple Line - Ask for multiple lines of text.
■ Single Choice* - Choose one item from the list of choices.
Enter choices in column 5 (sample above) separated by a comma ",".
(example; single family,Townhouse,Condo).
■ Multiple Choice* - Choose multiple items from the list of choices.
■ Heading 1 - Print text in bold on the form. Use to identify a new
section of the form.
■ Heading 2 - Print a paragraph of text on the form. Use to provide
additional instructions or comments.
■ Heading 3 - Print centered/highlighted text in on the form. Use to
identify a new section of the form.
■ Delete - Deletes an existing line item.
4. Req? - check box to indicate a required entry.
5. *List choices for single & multiple choice question types. Leave blank for other
types. Separate choices with a comma ",".
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Save Change.
Back to top
5. Related Topics
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Add / Edit / Delete links and pages
(includes Newsletter, Employment, Extra Buttons
1 and 3)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Topic-123
Add a new page or link
Delete a page or link
Edit an existing page / Change a link
Related Topics
Back to top
1. Add a new page or link
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Click the navigation button on the left for the section/page you want to edit.
Choose "Add Entry" to add a new document.
From the edit screen "enter a brief description of contents or website" in the first field.
Enter a sub heading or leave the "Choose Sub-heading" section blank.
Enter your text for your web page in the "Link to a website or enter Text" area.
❍ Or you can create a link by entering http://www.yourlink.com on the first line.
( http://www.yourlink.com is any link you choose to enter)
Select the position this page will be listed on the main page list.
Click on "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
Back to top
2. Delete a page or link
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Click on the blue document link.
Click on the "Delete" button to delete the link or page.
Click Yes or No to confirm your deletion.
Back to top
3. Edit an existing page / Change a link
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Enter a sub heading or leave the "Choose Subheading" section blank.
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Back to top
4. Related Topics
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More topics pending
Edit Extra Button 2
Topic-121
The Extra Button 2 page will allow you to create web pages with text and photographs.
1. Edit / Delete An Existing Entry
2. Add A New Entry
3. Related Topics
Back to top
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Click on the "Extra Button 2" (or whatever you have renamed it.).
Click on the "Delete" button at the bottom of the entry you want to delete.
Or
Click on the "Edit" button to modify an existing entry.
Under the Title section enter the title.
This will show to the right of the picture in Bold.
To replace a photo, click the Browse button and select the photo from your computer.
Click the "Open" button to complete the selection.
Under Position (1-99) enter the number for the order in which you want this entry to show on
the page. (i.e. number 1 will be the first on the page, number 2 will be second etc..)
Under the Enter Text section edit or enter the text.
Use the "special format codes" to enhance your text.
Click Save Changes when you are done.
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2. Add A New Entry
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Click on the "Extra Button 2" (or whatever you have renamed it.).
Click on the "Add Entry" button to add a new entry.
Under the Title section enter the title.
This will show to the right of the picture in Bold.
To upload a photo, click the Browse button and select the photo from your computer.
the page. (I.e. number 1 will be the first on the page, number 2 will be second etc..)
Under the Enter Text section enter the text.
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3. Related Topics
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Advanced Options Overview
Topic-500
The following are added options available for all web site services.
To add any of these please feel free to contact us at 800-748-4218 or sign up from your site as
follows.
After logging into the Admin Menu click on the
Add Options link.
Search Engine Control- Monthly registration to the major search engines.
Find the current status of your search engine registration and
Prospect Generator- ("Free Brochures" button or "Buyer/Seller Course" on some sites)Our automated direct response system.
Edit submittal form, Add/Edit/Delete auto-responder articles.
Internet Flyers- e-mail your listings to online agents and contacts.
Step by step instructions on creating iFlyers and custom flyers.
Contact Manager- Manage your contacts with an online Rolodex®.
Edit, sort and manage your contacts.
Audio Message- Add a voice message to your homepage.
How to upload your sound file.
Web Pager- Add your alphanumeric pager to your website.
Activating your pager service on your site.
HomeLink- Give each of your listings a unique website address.
How to set up your search field and add your unique ID to your listings.
Quicksort- Group listings using our special Quicksort database.
Mirror Websites - Create a mirror copy of your website.
What is a Mirror Website, Why have one?
Search Engine Control
Topic-502
Automated Search Engine Submittal (Search Engine Control option)
Automatically submits your site to top search engines that accept automated submissions. There
are no guarantees on how quickly or where you will be placed on the search engines.
For more information visit our Search Engine Registration page.
To add this service to your account click on the
site.
Add Options link from the Admin Menu of your
Search Engine Control panel allows you to check the current status of your search engine
submissions and also provides links and information to other search engine resources.
To access the search engine control panel
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Click on the house logo on the home page of your site to log into the Admin Menu
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Click on the
Search Engine Control link at the bottom of the Admin Menu.
A status of submissions will be found in green just above the search engine logo.
This page does not have any edit features available.
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Edit Free Brochures (Prospect Generator
Option)
Topic-501
This service is an Advanced Option available for all sites.
Note: Some sites may have the "Buyer Seller Course". This is the same service.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How Does This Service Work?
Editing The "Free Brochures" Page
Editing/Deleting Existing Topics
Special Macros
Adding New Topics
Related Topics
Contact Support
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1. How Does This Service Work?
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This is an automated service which will send out reports or brochures via e-mail when your
visitor fills out the request form on your site. This service is commonly called an AutoResponder service in the real estate profession.
Reports are automatically sent out on a scheduled basis.
The first report will be e-mailed within the first hour.
Follow-up (trickle e-mail's) will be sent based on the schedule set up for that series of
reports.
You will receive an e-mail with contact information and details about which reports where
ordered.
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2. Editing the "Free Brochures" Page
Edit the "Instructions/Text" area of the form
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From the home page click on the house logo at the bottom of the page to log into the Admin
Menu.
Click on Edit Website Contents.
Click on the "Free Brochures" button on the home page.
Click on the yellow Edit button at the top of the page.
In the "Instructions/Text" section, enter the text you want at the top of the form.
Review the instructions for On Screen Response, Auto Response Via Email and Form
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Fields below.
Edit the "On Screen Response"
This is the response page that is presented after the form is filled out and submitted.
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In the "On Screen Response" section, enter the text message you want to display after the
form has been submitted.
Edit the "Auto Response Via Email"
This section will create a custom auto-response email that will be sent to the requester after the
form is filled out and submitted. Your standard auto-response email will be sent if this portion is not
filled out.
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Edit Form Fields (Questions)
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Modify or add entries as per instructions below.
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Form Detail:
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1. Order- (1-99) Order in which the question will display on the form.
2. Question- Enter the question as you want it to show on the form.
3. Question Type- Use the pull down menu to select the question type.
Question Types include:
■ First & Last Name - Ask for first & last name.
■ Email Address - Ask for email address.
■ Phone Number - Ask for phone number.
■ Articles - Provide free articles via email. This is required for the Free
Brochures.
■ Single Line - Ask for a single line of text.
■ Multiple Line - Ask for multiple lines of text.
■ Single Choice* - Choose one item from the list of choices.
■ Multiple Choice* - Choose multiple items from the list of choices.
■ Heading 1 - Print text in bold on the form. Use to identify a new
section of the form.
■ Heading 2 - Print a paragraph of text on the form. Use to provide
additional instructions or comments.
■ Heading 3 - Print centered/highlighted text in on the form. Use to
identify a new section of the form.
■ Delete - Deletes an existing line item.
4. Req? - check box to indicate a required entry.
5. *List choices for single & multiple choice question types. Leave blank for other
types. Separate choices with a comma ","
■
Save Changes
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3. Editing/Deleting Topics and Articles
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Log into the edit mode for the Free Brochures page as noted above.
Scroll down to the "Choose Topics" section (shown below).
To Delete a topic click on the yellow DELETE button below the topic name.
Caution- All articles and schedules will be removed from your site.
To Edit a topic click on the yellow Edit button below the topic name to view the Edit Topic
page.
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Modify the article description in the "Enter Description of articles" section.
Schedule article to be sent- Select Daily, Weekly, Monthly. All following articles will
be sent based on the schedule selected.
Click on the Preview button to Preview what the article will look like.
Click on the Edit button next to the article to edit the article content.
Edit Article Content
❍ Enter or edit the title of the article in the Subject Line Section.
❍ Edit the contents of the article in the Enter Text For Article Section.
Use our special format codes to enhance your text pages. You can also use our
Special Macros to automatically personalize the content of your articles. See Special
Macros below for more details.
❍ After making changes to your articles Click the Save Changes button
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4. Special Macros
Add Dynamic content to your articles.
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Example: {FullName}will embed the full name of the recipient in your article.
❍ {FullName} - Full name of recipient
❍ {FirstName} - First name of recipient
❍ {AgentName} - Name or real estate agent
❍ {AgentLastName} - Last name of real estate agent
❍ {AgentFirstName} - First name of real estate agent
❍ {AgentWebsite} - Link to agent website
❍ {AgentCity} - Name of city agent lives in
❍ {AgentStateAbbreviation} - Abbreviation of agents state (ex: NY,CA, TX)
❍ {AgentState} - Agent's state
❍ {AgentZipcode} - Zip code of agent's address
❍ {AgentAddress] - Agent's street address
❍ {AgentFax} - Agent's fax #
❍ {AgentPhone} - Agent's phone #
❍ {AgentCompany} - Name of agent's company
❍ {AgentEmail} - Agent's email address
❍ {Remove} - Link to remove recipient from email list
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5. Adding New Topics
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From the home page click on the house logo at the bottom of the page to log into the Admin
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Menu.
Click on Edit Website Contents.
Click on the "Free Brochures" button on the home page.
Click on the yellow "Add Entry" button at the bottom of the page.
Enter the article title in the "Enter description of articles" field
Select a schedule frequency for follow up articles- Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
SAVE CHANGES NOW- Do not click on the edit buttons for scheduled articles yet.
You will add individual articles after you have saved the above.
You can change the schedules and article description a later date if you choose.
Add the scheduled articles- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the edit button for
your new article.
Click on the edit button for the scheduled article you want to add.
Enter the Subject line for the new article and enter your article text as per instructions shown
above in the "Edit article Content" section.
Repeat this process for all your scheduled articles.
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6. Related Topics
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Back to top
7. Contact Support
If you can't find the answer to your questions from our help center, please e-mail our support team
at: [email protected]
Internet Flyers (iFlyers)
Topic-503
This feature allows you e-mail your listings to online agents and contacts. Use our database of
agents and brokers or use the online Contact Manager to sort your mailing list.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is an iFlyer?
How to send a Listing Internet Flyer
How to send a Custom Internet Flyer
Contact Support
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1. What is a Listing iFlyer?
Simply put, a Listing iFlyer is a printable e-mail flyer which includes the details about your listing.
Sample iFlyer- (reduced size)
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2. How to send a Listing Internet Flyer
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Select
Internet Flyers from the Admin Menu.
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Select Send Listing Flyer
Select your listing from the pull down menu.
Enter your text message in the Message section.
Click on the check box to select contacts from your contact manager. Choose from Agents,
Guests, Buyers, Sellers etc. This will include contacts from your contact manger to send the
iFlyers to.
Enter a zip code or series of zip codes separated by a comma to send iflyers to agents and
brokers in our contact list. These contacts are available for your use with iFlyers, but not
available for general use or distribution.
You can review our contact list entering in the zip codes and selecting the "click here view
iHouse2000 contacts from above zip codes".
Click on the "Preview and Calculate Totals" button to preview your iFlyer.
You will view details on how many flyers, cost (if any), status of how my iflyers are available
to send and contact information. Click on the "click here to view and print flyer" to view the
finished flyer and print it out.
Click on Process Order to send the flyers.
Click on Change Order to modify your order
or Click on Cancel to cancel your order.
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3. How To Send A Custom Internet Flyer
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Select
Internet Flyers from the Admin Menu.
Select Custom Flyer
Click on the "Browse" button to select an image from your computer to include in the flyer.
This is optional.
Enter your text message in the Message section.
Click on the check box to select contacts from your contact manager. Choose from Agents,
Guests, Buyers, Sellers etc. This will include contacts from your contact manger to send the
iFlyers to.
Enter a zip code or series of zip codes separated by a comma to send iFlyers to agents and
brokers in our contact list. These contacts are available for your use with iFlyers, but not
available for general use or distribution.
You can review our contact list entering in the zip codes and selecting the "click here view
iHouse2000 contacts from above zip codes".
Click on the "Preview and Calculate Totals" button to preview your iFlyer.
You will view details on how many flyers, cost (if any), status of how my iflyers are available
to send and contact information.
Click on Process Order to send the flyers.
Click on Change Order to modify your order
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4. Contact Support
If you can't find the answer to your questions from our help center, please e-mail our support team
at: [email protected]
Contact Manager
Topic-504
The contact manager is an online Rolodex® which will log contacts made through your website and
can be used with our Internet Flyers service to store email and contact information for sending
iFlyers. The service provides tools for editing, adding, sorting and exporting of contact information.
1.
2.
3.
4.
View Contacts
Add/Edit/Delete Contacts
Setting Up Sorts/Filters
Exporting Data From Contact Manager
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1. How Do I View Contacts
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Click on the
Contact Manger link from the Advanced Options section at the bottom of the
page.
You can sort/filter your contacts as show below
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1- Click on NAME- Then click on the letter for the last name.
❍ Choose from- A to Z or All to view all contacts.
2- Click on ZIP- Then click on the Zip Code to view.
❍ Choose from the zip code list displayed.
3- Click on FLAG- Sorts by Color Flag assigned to contact.
❍ Choose from the color list displayed.
4- Click on LIST- Then click on the list you want to view.
❍ Choose from- Agents, Buyers, Sellers, Personal, Guest, Contest.
5- To view ALL contacts click on "ALL" any time.
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2. Add/Edit/Delete Contacts
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Click on the
page.
Add New Contact- Click on the Add New Contact button at the bottom of the page to add a
new contact.
Edit Contact- Click on the "-edit" link just below the contact name to edit the contact
information.
Delete Contact- Click on the "-edit" link just below the contact name to edit the contact
information.
Click on the Delete button at the bottom of the contact
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3. Setting Up Sorts/Filters
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Click on the
page.
Edit Contact- Click on the "-edit" link just below the contact name to edit the contact
information.
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List Filtering- Select the list category from the List pull down menu.(upper right side of form)
Choices include- Agents, Buyers, Sellers, Personal, Guest and Contest.
This setting can be used to filter your contacts using the LIST sort feature noted in topic 1 above.
Color Group Flag Filtering- Select a grouping color from the Group Flag pull down menu. (lower left
side of form)
Choices include- Blue, Red, Green and Purple.
This setting can be used to filter your contacts using the FLAG sort feature noted in topic 1 above.
These filter settings will be available when using Internet Flyers to sort and filter contacts for
sending iFlyers too.
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4. Exporting Data From Contact Manager
You can export data from your online contact manager which can then be imported to other
programs.
We do not offer support for importing your data to other programs.
Export options include:
Excel Spreadsheet
Tab Delimited
Comma Delimited
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To export or download your contact list
Click on the
page.
Click on the Download button
Select the export method- Excel, Tab Delimited or Comma Delimited.
Select Save File.
Tab and Comma Delimited files will be saved in text (.txt) file format by default.
Audio Message
Topic-506
This service will allow you to upload an audio file that can be played by clicking on a voice message
button.
Note: Music will not play on your site when this service is activated.
1. Activating Audio Message/Uploading Your File
2. Audio Players
3. Recording Sound
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1. Activating Audio Message/Uploading Your File.
Note: This service accepts .wav audio files only. File size should be less than 1 megabyte.
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Click on the
Audio Message link from the Advanced Options section at the bottom of
the page.
Click on the Browse button to select your audio file from your computer.
Hi-Light the file and click the Open button.
Click on the Save Changes button.
Your file will upload to your site. This may take several minutes depending on your internet
connection and the file size.
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Test your message- From the Admin Menu click on the
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Click on the
icon located above the navigation buttons.
If the Voice Message icon is not displayed on your home page, refresh or reload your
browser window.
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Back To Website link.
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2. Audio Players
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Most PC's and Macs come with an audio player already. If your computer does not play the
audio message you may want to download one of the following players.
Real Player 8.0 Basic Mac & Windows 95/98/NT/2000 Download Page
Yahoo Player 1.5 Download Page
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3. Recording Sound
Most Window operating systems come with a sound recorder.
Click on Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Recorder
You will need to record your sound in .wav format.
Refer to your recording software or hardware help section for instructions on recording.
We do not offer technical support for recording your audio clips.
Web Pager
Topic-505
This service will add a pager icon and link to a form for your alphanumeric pager or cell phone.
This service Does Not include alphanumeric pager or cell phone service.
1. Activating Your Web Pager Option
2. Activate The Page Me Graphic Button For Your Site
3. Turning Off Your Pager Option
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1. Activating Your Web Pager Option.
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Click on the
Web Pager Setup link from the Advanced Options section at the bottom of
the page.
Enter the email address for your pager or cell phone.
Enter brief instructions if needed.
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2. Activate The Page Me Graphic Button For Your Site
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Click on the
Buttons & Designations link from the Admin Menu.
Click in the check box next to the "Page Me" Pager button to activate the Page Me graphic.
Click on Save Changes.
Your new pager button should appear on your home page within a few minutes.
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3. Turning Off Your Pager Option
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Click on the
Buttons & Designations link from the Admin Menu.
Click in the check box next to the "Page Me" Pager button to clear the check box.
Click on Save Changes.
The pager graphic will be removed from your home page within a few minutes.
HomeLink
Topic-507
This service allows you to give each of your listings a unique website address. In addition, you can
add an entry field to your site to go directly to a listing using a unique ID.
1. How To Add A Unique ID To A Listing
2. Using Your Unique Website Address
3. Add An Entry Field To Your Home Page
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1. How To Add A Unique ID To A Listing
This method can be used when entering in a new listing by entering in the MLS or ID number while
entering the feature details for your listing
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Click on the navigation button with the listing you would like to add an ID too. (Search For
Homes etc.)
Click on the Edit button next to the listing you want to update.
Scroll down to the Feature Details section.
To add a unique IDEnter ID in the first column and enter the ID number in the second column.
See example above with a unique ID number "1234".
The ID number can be a combination of alpha/numeric characters.
To use the MLS numberNote- If you already have the MLS number assigned for your listing
Enter MLS in the first column and the MLS number in the second column
See example above with an MLS number "2822911"
The MLS number can be a combination of alpha/numeric characters.
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After entering your unique ID information click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the
page.
Click the No Changes Made button if the edit photo page is presented.
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2. Using Your Unique Web Site Address
After completing step one above, your listing will have a unique website address that can be used
when advertising, as a link on web pages or e-mails etc. In the samples below use your domain
name in place of the "yourdomain.com".
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Unique address using an ID numberThe Address will be- www.yourdomain.com/id####
In the example above- www.yourdomain.com/id1234
Unique ID using the MLS numberThe Address will be- www.yourdomain.com/mls####
In the example above- www.yourdomain.com/mls2822911
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3. Add An Entry Field To Your Home Page (or any page on your site)
This feature allows you to add a field where the visitor can type in the unique ID or MLS number
and go directly to the listing page.
Example: (This is not a working sample)
Enter the house ID number
GO
The visitor can enter the ID number, click on the GO button and be directed to the listing.
How to add the code:
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Click on the Edit button for the home page.
Add the following code to any text area of your home page.
Enter the house ID number: @SEARCH_LISTINGS()
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Highlight and copy the blue text and then paste it into the text area of your home page.
The code includes a line break before and after the entry field. To remove the line break(s)
remove the from the code.
You can change the text Enter the house ID Number to any message you like.
Quicksort
Topic-508
The quicksort feature will allow sorting/filtering of you listings using a pull down menu. You can set
up your own sorting categories "on the fly" while entering in your listings or modify listing categories
at any time.
1. How To Set Up The Sorting Categories
2. Changing/Removing Sorting Categories
3. Helpful Hints On Setting Up Categories
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1. How To set Up Sorting Categories
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Click on the navigation button for the listings you want to set up (i.e. Search For Homes)
Click on the Edit button next to the listing you want to set up.
Once your Quicksort option is activated, you will find a Choose Quicksort Group area in the
edit section of your listings.
To add a category, type in the category name in the right form box as shown above.
The sample above shows adding a group named "$150,000 - $200,000"
To save your changes click on the Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Your new category will be saved and the listing will be updated to the new category.
To add additional categories, repeat the above process for each listing. As you add
categories, the pull down menu for Choose Quicksort Group will have the categories
available to select (shown below)
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2. Changing/Removing Quicksort Categories
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Click on the navigation button for the listings you want to set up (i.e. Search For Homes)
Click on the Edit button next to the listing you want to change.
Using the Quicksort Group pull-down menu select a new category or select Featured
Listings to remove the listing from the category.
After all listings are removed from a given category, the category will be removed from the
pull down list and will be removed from the choices a viewer will have when visiting your
site.
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3. Helpful Hits On Setting Up Categories
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Be Consistent
When entering your new categories be consistent with your text formatting.
Examples: If you are setting up categories by price range use consistent spacing and
formatting of your $ values.
Note the difference between the two samples below. It doesn't make a difference what
format you use as long as you are consistent
Featured Listings
Featured Listings
$ 100,000 - $149,000
$100,000-$150,000
$ 150,000 - $199,000
$ 150,000 - $200,000
$ 200,000 - $249,000
150K - 200K
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Group Geographically if you want- Our examples all show grouping by value. If it makes
more sense to group by geographic area then set up your categories accordingly. The
"consistency" rule applies here as well.
Examples of geographic grouping of categories: Note the difference in the formatting of the
two samples.
Featured Listings
Hanover South Area
Hanover East Area
Singleton Area
Albany Area
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Featured Listings
Hanover East Area
Singleton Area
Albany
South Hanover Area
Group combining Geographic and value- If you have a lot of listings you can combine value
and geographic grouping. Did I mention the "consistency" rule?
Examples of combined grouping: Note the first example shows geographic as the primary
sort and the second example shows value as the primary sort.
Featured Listings
Albany Area $100,000 - $149,000
Hanover South $150,000 - $199,000
Hanover South $200,000 - $249,000
Hanover East $150,000 - $199,000
Hanover East $200,000 - $249,000
Singleton $100,000 - $149,000
Featured Listings
$100,000 - $149,000 - Albany Area
$100,000 - $149,000 - Singleton
$150,000 - $199,000 - Hanover East
$150,000 - $199,000 - Hanover South
$200,000 - $249,000 - Hanover East
$200,000 - $249,000 - Hanover South
Mirror Website- Overview
Topic-509
The mirror website option allows you to have multiple domain names for a single site. We will create
a "mirror" of your site for each domain name we host as a mirror site. We can also direct any
domain name to land or point directly to any page on your site if you choose.
1. Why Have A Mirror Site
2. What's The Difference Between Our Mirror Site And A Pointer or Redirect
3. How Do I Sign Up For A Mirror Site?
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1. Why Have A Mirror Site
Mirror sites are used for several reasons.
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You have a new domain name but you want people, search engines etc. to still be able to
get to your site with the old address.
You want to improve your standing on the search engines by promoting multiple domain
names= multiple opportunities to be found.
You want to have target domain names that you can use in marketing or advertising to track
visitors to your site.
You want to have target domain names to direct visitors to a specific page to your site.
You want a simple domain name for business cards, marketing etc. but also want a domain
name(s) with better keywords that help with placement on search engines.
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2. What's The Difference Between Our Mirror Site And A Pointer Or Redirect.
Many companies and registrars offer pointer or redirect services so that when a visitor goes to a
domain name they get pointed or redirected to another site. This service may meet your needs to
get people to the correct site, but does not work well if you want your domain name listed on search
engines.
The major search engines will not accept site registration unless there is a valid web site for the
domain name.
Here is how our mirror service works compared to a pointer or redirect service.
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3. How Do I Sign Up For A Mirror Site?
Please call us at 800-748-4218 if you would like to set up a Mirror site that will go directly to a page
other than the home page. (targeted mirror site). You are also welcome to contact us for normal
mirror site hosting.
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Click on the
Add Options link.
Select Add for Mirror Websites.
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Select New Domain Name if you would like us to register a new domain name for you*
or
Select Transfer domain name if you already have an existing domain name and would like
to use it with our service.
You will receive an email confirmation of your Mirror Website order.
Internet Data Exchange- IDX
Topic-128
IDX or Internet Data Exchange, also referred to as Broker Reciprocity, allows participating
brokers/agents to exchange listings by displaying listings on each other's websites without
displaying the listing brokers' contact information.
1. IDX Overview
2. HouseTrack Overview
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How To Customize HouseTrack Email Options
Using IDX To Automatically Display Your Listing Data
Using IDX To Copy A Listing From Your MLS
Modifying The Disclosure Statement
Modifying IDX Contact Information
Display/Remove Your Photo On IDX Listings
Back to top
1. IDX Overview
IDX or Internet Data Exchange, also referred to as Broker Reciprocity, allows participating
brokers/agents to exchange listings by displaying listings on each other's websites without
displaying the listing brokers' contact information.
Integration of IDX on your site will largely be dependent on your MLS IDX program. Each MLS has
their own rules, regulations and methods of offering IDX to their members. Although the NAR
published IDX recommendations in January of 2002, MLS's are not bound by the
recommendations.
Contact NAR and your MLS for specific details on what options are available.
Summary of iHouse2000 IDX Services (subject to change)
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HouseTrack
Email Notification
Administration Section
Mortgage Calculator
Appointment Contact Form
Advanced MLS Searches
Customized Interface
For pricing and details on IDX services, contact us at [email protected] or View A Sample.
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2. HouseTrack Overview
HouseTrack is only available to IDX subscribers. The option is activated by default when IDX is
implemented on your site.
Registered guests can complete a questionnaire detailing their preferences and request a home
search. HouseTrack will automatically email consumers new listings that match their requirements
on a daily basis. Agents will be sent a copy of each client's request, and are also given an option to
receive copies of every listing sent to each customer.
By Default this feature is already integrated into the Search MLS form for you.
How To Customize HouseTrack Email Options
HouseTrack must be activated to edit the HouseTrack Options.
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Click on the Search MLS button/link. (Or the form that has your HouseTrack activated)
Under the HouseTrack section of your form click the small Edit button.
Subject Line- Is the subject line of HouseTrack emails that will be sent to your subscribers
Enter Text For Message- This is the actual body of the email.
Enter the text message to be sent to your subscribers.
To personalize the email, "special macros" are used to insert the recipients name, agents
name etc.
Click on the "special macros" link to view available macros.
IDX specific macros include:
- {HouseTrackResults} Inserts listing data and link to listing into the email.
- {NewSearch}Inserts a link to the MLS Search page for a new search.
- {CancelSearch}Inserts a link that will cancel the email subscription and link back to the
MLS Search page.
After making any changes to this section click the Save Changes.
Following is a sample of what a HouseTrack email looks like.
(Notes in red are not part of the email)
Subject: HouseTrack - Search Results
Hello Sally,
Here are some new listings that match your search criteria. Please let me
know if you would like to schedule an appointment to view one.
(MLS number shown in blue is a link to the listing on your site)
20236599 $355,000 3 Bed 2 Baths 10791 Forest Hills Rd., Fores
20236605 $315,000 3 Bed 1 Baths 9332 BOHEMIAN HWY, Monte Rio
20234285 $299,000 2 Bed 1 Baths 8175 GRAPE AVE, Forestville
20235939 $292,000 3 Bed 2 Baths 14718 WILLOW, Guerneville
20232412 $289,000 2 Bed 2 Baths 14943 Cherry, Guerneville
To enter new search criteria click here: new search
(new search links to the MLS Search page for a new search)
To cancel your HouseTrack search click here: cancel search
(cancel search will cancel the email subscription and link back to the MLS Search
page)
Joe Agent
Acme Real Estate Company
[email protected]
(222) 333-9999
www.yourdomain.com
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3. Using IDX To Automatically Display Your Listing Data
Applies to Search For Homes (Featured Listings). Other options may be available depending on
your MLS.
This option automatically propagates your listing page with your listings for you. Updates to your
listing data is done via your MLS and is updated on your site approx. once per day as the MLS data
is updated.
Note: This option will not allow you to update/modify your listings from you site.
See Using IDX To Copy A Listing From Your MLS for another method you can use to add listings to
your site and also modify the listing data.
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You can activate this feature from the Preferences section of your web site as follows.
Choose "Preferences".
Click Yes for "Use IDX to present Search For Homes?"
(or No to deactivate this feature)
Note: Depending on your MLS features, you may have an option to use this service for New
Construction, Lots & Land and other categories.
Click Save Changes to finish.
Note: It may take several minutes for the update to activate on your site.
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4. Using IDX To Copy a Listing From Your MLS
This option will allow you to copy your listing data directly to your listings page from your MLS. This
will allow you to manually update and edit your listing data. Please note that this method will not
automatically update your listing data as the MLS is updated.
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Select "Copy a Residential listing from MLS"
Click Continue
You will need to specify the MLS#, City and State.
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Click Get Listing.
Review the information and edit as needed.
Click "Save Changes".
Click the yellow "Edit" button to edit details for your listing.
Click on the photo to upload additional photos and access the slide show options.
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5. Modifying The Disclosure Statement
Most MLS's will require a disclosure statement to be displayed with IDX Listings. By default your
site will have an MLS approved disclosure statement already. Please check with your local MLS
before making changes to your disclosure statement to ensure the changes will meet MLS
disclosure requirements.
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You can modify the disclosure from the Preferences section of your web site as follows.
Click on the Edit button next to "IDX listing disclosure statement... "
Modify the statement as needed.
Click the Save Changes to update your site.
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6. Modifying IDX Contact Information
Each IDX listing will display your contact as shown below at the bottom of every listing.
This listing provided courtesy of Acme Realty Company.
For more information or to schedule an appointment please contact
Joe Agent (999) 123-4567
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You can modify the IDX Contact information from the Preferences section of your web site
as follows.
Click on the Edit button next to "IDX listing contact information..."
Modify the statement as needed.
Click the Save Changes to update your site.
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7. Display or Remove Your Photo On IDX Listing
You can upload a photo to display next to your contact information on each IDX listing.
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You can upload your photo from the Preferences section of your web site as follows.
Click on the Edit button next to "Photo to show on each IDX listing..."
Click on the Browse button to select a photo from your computer.
Double click the image file to select it.
Click Save Changes to update your site.
Your image will automatically be re-sized to the appropriate thumbnail size for you.
How to REMOVE a photo from your IDX listings.
From the Preferences section, Click on the Edit button next to "Photo to show on each IDX
listing..."
Click on the Remove Photo button.
Add / Edit / Delete links and pages
(includes Community Info/Links, City Overview
and Relocation)
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Topic-110
Edit / Disable "City Comparison" button
Related Topics
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Or you can create a link by entering http://www.yourlink.com on the first line.
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4. Edit / Disable City Comparison Button
Applies to pages/buttons Community Info/Links, City Overview and Relocation
The Community Info/Links, City Overview and Relocation buttons/pages have a "City Comparison"
button at the bottom of the main page. This button can disabled, renamed, and linked to other sites
or pages.
Note: If you change the button on any one of the pages it will change on all pages.
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Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the small edit button above the City
Comparison button.
Selecting a link- Use one of the following
❍ Select Yahoo Real Estate- city comparison tool
❍ Other Location- Enter the URL (http:// address) to another site
❍ Select a page from your website using the pull down menu
Renaming the button- Enter the new name in the Rename section
Disable- Hide button and link- check the Disabled section. No button will show.
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5. Related Topics
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More Topics Pending
Edit Buyer / Seller Info
Topic-107
To change the contents of your Buyer / Seller Info section
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Click the "Buyer/Seller Info" button.
Choose the section to make changes to (Tips For Buyers, Tips For Sellers, etc..).
Follow the instructions below to make changes to your pages.
Related Topics
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4. Related Topics
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Add / Edit / Remove Agent from "Our
Agents"
Topic-122
Applies only to Office Pro accounts.
The "Our Agents" page allows you to add agent profiles to the site. Each profile can include: Agent
Photo, Biography, E-mail, Phone, Fax and Personal website link. You may also integrate an agents
website with your office site if they have a web site set up with our service.
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Add An Agent Profile
Edit Agent Profile
Delete Agent Profile
Sorting Agent Names
Related Topics
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1. Add An Agent Profile
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Click "Our Agents".
Click the yellow "Add Entry" button to add a new agent to the Directory.
Enter the information as noted below.
1- Name, Phone, Fax and e-mail address.
2- Upload PhotoClick on the browse button to select the photo from your computer.
The photo will be uploaded after saving changes to the page.
3- Enter personal website( www.domain-name.com).
4- Enter biography/personal information.
Use our special format codes to enhance the text formatting.
5- If the agent has a website with our service you can enter their account number
(AR#####) in the iHouse2000 AR number section.
This will automatically add any listings from their site to your office site.
With this service, all listing maintenance for this agent will be done from their site and
automatically be updated on the office site.
Or enter the web site URL for a web page that displays this agents listings.
6- (Below) All listings assigned to the agent on the office site will automatically be displayed
on their profile.
Finished Page View
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2. Edit Agent Profile
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Click "Our Agents".
Click the Agent Name shown in blue.
Click on the Edit button.
Make changes as needed. See 1 above for details.
Click the Save Changes button to update the page.
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3. Delete Agent Profile
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Click "Our Agents".
Click the Agent Name shown in blue.
Click on the Delete button.
Select YES-delete or NO Keep Agent to confirm deletion.
Note- Any listing that was assigned to an agent that has been deleted will automatically be
assigned as an office listing with the default office contact information displayed with the
listing.
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4. Sorting Agent Names In The Agent Directory
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Agents are sorted by last name as a default. To sort by first name see the instructions
below.
Enter only the first and last name in the name section.
Avoid adding designations/certifications (i.e. John Doe CRS, Epro). This will keep the
names from sorted correctly.
Sorting By First Name
-Log into the Admin Menu of your site.
-Select Preferences from the menu
-Select Yes for "Sort agent directory by first name?"
-Save your changes
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4. Related Topics
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Uploading Photos- Tips and Troubleshooting
Edit Calculators
Topic-113
The Calculator for this page cannot be edited.
You can edit the "More Calculators.." and "Apply for a Loan" buttons.
Modify "More Calculators.." and "Apply for a Loan" buttons
Note: Any changes made to the "Apply for a Loan" button will also be updated on the "Mortgage
Rates" section/button.
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Click the "Calculators" button.
Click on the yellow Edit button above the "More Calculators.." or "Apply for a Loan" buttons.
You can choose the default link: Eloan®, Select a page from your site or enter a URL (link)
to a different site.
Rename the button enter the new name in the "Rename" section at the bottom of the page.
Save Changes
Edit Mortgage Rates
Topic-114
The mortgage rates for this page cannot be edited. The rates are updated daily.
You can edit the "Apply for a Loan" button.
Modify the "Apply for a Loan" button
Note: Any changes made to the "Apply for a Loan" button will also be updated on the "Calculators"
section/button.
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Click the "Mortgage Rates " button.
Click on the yellow Edit button above the "Apply for a Loan" button.
You can choose the default link: Eloan®, Select a page from your site or enter a URL (link)
to a different site.
Rename the button enter the new name in the "Rename" section at the bottom of the page.
Save Changes
Real Estate News
Topic-115
The default Real Estate News is linked to a series of articles, news and stories from "Realty Times".
The content is updated on a regular basis. There are no edit features for this page.
You can link this page to another site or disable the button.
1. Link "Real Estate News" to another site
2. Disable/Hide or Show the "Real Estate News" button
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1. Link "Real Estate News" to another site
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Click on "Buttons and Designation".
Click on "Navigation Buttons"
Click on "Link To.." at the bottom of the page.
Enter the location URL (ex: http://sampleonly.com) in the right column next to the "Real
Estate News" title.
Save Changes.
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2. Disable/Hide or Show the "Real Estate News" Button.
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Click on "Buttons and Designation".
Click on "Navigation Buttons"
To hide the button "uncheck" the box next to "Real Estate News"
To show the button "check" the box next to the "Real Estate News"
Save Changes.
Edit Schools
Topic-116
You can Add or Remove schools from the schools section or link directly to another site.
1. Add/Remove School Districts
2. Link to another site
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1. Add/Remove School Districts
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Click on the "Schools" Button
Click on the Edit Button
Use the pull down menu under "Add or Remove school district(s) by choosing the county".
Select the county to add or remove school districts.
Click "Continue"
Click on the check box to add the school district.
To remove a school district click to uncheck the box for that district.
Save Changes
To add school districts from additional counties, repeat the steps above for that county.
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2. Link schools to another site
This option will link directly to the site you choose. The default school information will not be
displayed.
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Click on the "Schools" Button
Click on the Edit button
Enter the link to the website by entering the URL (http://www....)
Edit Local Phone Numbers
Topic-118
You can add / edit and delete phone numbers and add a website link or Email address for this
section.
1. Add/Edit/Delete Local Phone Numbers
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Click on the "Local Phone Numbers".
To Delete a phone number click on the Delete button next to the number.
To Edit a phone number click on the Edit button next to the number.
To Add a phone number, click on the Add Entry button.
Enter the "Brief description of service:", "Phone", "URL or E-mail address".
Save Changes.
Edit Weather Report
Topic-117
You can change the link for the weather report to any site you choose.
1. Change the link for the Weather Report Button
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Click on the "Weather Report" button.
Click on the Edit button.
Enter the URL (http://www...) or enter "none" to disable and hide the button.
Save Changes.
Helpful Hint: If you do not want a weather report button for your site, you can rename the
button and link it to any other site or disable/hide the button.
2. Related Topics
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Renaming Your Navigation Buttons
Optional Weather Sites:
❍ http://www.absoluteweather.com
❍ http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wfront.htm
❍ http://www.weather.com/
❍ http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER
Edit Testimonials
Topic-120
The Testimonials page will allow you to add text and photographs.
2. Add A New Entry
3. Related Topics
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Click on the "Testimonials" button.
Click on the "Delete" button at the bottom of the entry you want to delete.
or
Click on the "Edit" button to modify an existing entry.
Under the Name section enter the name of the person(s).
This will show at the bottom of the testimonial as a "signature".
the testimonials page. (i.e. number 1 will be the first on the page, number 2 will be second
etc..)
Under the Enter Testimonial Text section edit or enter the text.
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2. Add A New Entry
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Click on the "Testimonials" button
Click on the "Add Entry" button to add a new entry.
Under the Name section enter the name of the person(s).
This will show at the bottom of the testimonial as a "signature".
the testimonials page. (i.e. number 1 will be the first on the page, number 2 will be second
etc..)
Under the Enter Testimonial Text section edit or enter the text.
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3. Related Topics
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Admin Menu Overview
Topic-140
The Admin Menu is the starting point for making any changes to your site or account.
Click on a topic below for specific details.
To access the Admin Menu at any time, click on the house logo at the bottom of any page on your
site.
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Edit Website Contents-Make changes to the contents of your website.
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Email- Manage WebMail, POP3, and e-mail forwarding for your domain.
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Buttons & Designations- Add, remove, or rename navigation buttons and designations
that appear on the left hand side of your website.
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Site Layout & Appearance- Personalize your website by choosing site style, button
style, colors, background graphics, and music.
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Keyword Manager-Customize your website title and tune keywords/meta-tags used by
search engines.
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Auto Response Email- Send an automatic reply to Dream Home Finder, Market
Analysis, Contact Us and other forms on your site.
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Preferences- Specify preferences for your website including Pop-up Forms, Maps,
Listings Order, Closed Listings Button.
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Back To Website- Logout from the Admin Menu and return to your website in the
regular browser mode as your visitors would see when visiting your site.
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Account Info- Update your address, phone, password, company, and contact
information.
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Traffic Report- View reports of traffic to your hompage, buttons, mirrors, and listings.
There are no edit settings for this section.
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Billing- View billing statement, update billing and payment method.
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Add Options- View and Add Advanced Options and features to your website.
Advanced Options
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Internet Flyers (iFlyers)- Send iFlyers and customer internet flyers.
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Contact Manager- Manage your contact with your online contact manager.
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Prospect Lead Generator (Free Brochures)- Add, edit and remove topics and
information for your "Free Brochures" section.
Web Pager Setup- Activate and setup your web pager.
Audio Message- Activate and upload your home page audio message.
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Search Engine Control- View search engine submission status and links to search
engine resources.
Email Overview and Setup
Topic-132
The following is intended to assist in answering questions regarding our email services.
If you are using Pop3 email (Outlook etc.) and are able to receive messages but not able to send
out messages, please see the notes section for topic 4 below or contact your ISP.
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Email Features Overview
Add your Email Accounts
Viewing The Email Settings For Your Accounts
Edit/Delete An Existing Email Account
Setting Up Pop3 Email- Outlook and Other Programs
Related Topics
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1. Email Features Overview
Our service includes Pop3, WebMail and Mail Forwarding services.
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Email Forwarding
This service will allow you to forward email to any other email address. You can set up as
many "alias" email forwarding accounts as you wish.
Example: [email protected] forwards to [email protected]
While [email protected] forwards to [email protected]
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WebMail Service/Pop3 Services
You can set up a mail account where you access your mail from your personal WebMail
location. Using a login name and password you can read, send, forward, save email. (much
like Hotmail)
Setting up a WebMail account will automatically allow you to use the account for Pop3 if you
choose.
The Webmail service will also allow for setting up a POP3 account using a program like
Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape mail you can access your mail and
download it to your mail program. Each Pop3 account will have a unique user name and
password.
Setting up a Pop3 account will automatically establish a web mail account for you.
*See below for Pop3/WebMail account fees and information
* WebMail/Pop3 account fees and information
Each account comes with WebMail/Pop3 account service at no charge as noted below.
All accounts include Unlimited Email Forwarding Services.
Agent Express accounts- Includes 1 WebMail/Pop3 account with the regular service.
Additional accounts are billed at $2.00 per month for each additional account.
Agent Pro accounts- Includes 5 WebMail/Pop3 accounts with the regular service.
Additional accounts are billed at $2.00 per month for each additional mail account.
Office Pro accounts- Includes 10 WebMail/Pop3 accounts with the regular service.
Additional accounts are billed at $2.00 per month for each additional mail account.
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2. Add Your Email Accounts
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Select
Email from the Admin Menu.
Click on the "Add email address..." link at the bottom of the page to add an account.
Enter the name of the email account in the "E-mail Address" field
Example; enter sally if you want the address to be [email protected]
Select Yes or No "Is this the main email address for yourdomain.com?"
All mail that is not addressed to a specific email address and mail from all forms on your site
will be delivered to the main email address that you select.
Select "WebMail/POP3 Email" or "Forward to another email for pickup?"
❍ If you choose- WebMail/POP3 EmailEnter your password
❍ If you choose- Forward to another email for pickup?Enter the email address you want the email forwarded to. All mail that comes to your
new account will automatically be forwarded to the email address for you.
Save Changes
WebMail/Pop3 accounts- Print the "Email Settings" page for reference in accessing your
WebMail account or setting up your Pop3 mail account.
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3. Viewing The Email Settings For Your Accounts
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Select
Click on the Settings button to the right of the account you want to view.
Print the settings page for future reference when setting up new accounts.
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4. Edit/Delete An Existing Email Account.
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Before starting this process make sure you have your email settings available.
Select
Click on the Edit button next to the account you want to edit or delete.
Edit Account- Make your changes and click Save Changes.
Delete Account- Click on the Delete button at the bottom of the page.
Note- If you delete an account your WebMail and Pop3 services will no longer work for the
deleted account.
All email that is received to a deleted email address will automatically be delivered to your
main email account.
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5. Add a new Pop3 email account to Outlook, Outlook Express or other program.
Before setting up your POP3 E-mail program make sure you have set up your account with our
service and printed your settings.
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Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook Express
Netscape Users- You must have a 6.0 or later version of Netscape to set up POP3 email.
Earlier versions of Netscape will not allow you set up your user name properly
Netscape, Eudora and other email programs.
Setup for these programs is similar to Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.
Consult the help section for your email program for specifics on setting up your POP3 email.
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6. Related Topics
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More topics pending
Setting Up Microsoft Outlook
Topic-151
Setting Up your Outlook Mail Account
Although not all versions of Microsoft Outlook will look exactly as show below, the information
required to set up an account will be the same.
Before starting this process make sure you have set up your email account and have your email
settings available for your account.
Select Tools from the out menu bar.
Select Accounts (or Services if Accounts is not an option).
This will open the Internet Accounts window.
Internet Accounts set up
From the Internet Accounts window select the “Mail” tab.
Next, click the “Add” control button on the right side and select “Mail" from the choices.
Your Name
Type in the name that you want to appear in your e-mail headers (usually your name),
Click Next to continue.
Internet E-mail Address
Type in Your e-mail address exactly as it is set up on your account.
[email protected].
E-mail Server Names
In this window, select POP3 if it is not already selected for the incoming mail server type.
Enter mail.cisdata.net for the Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server.
Enter mail.cisdata.net as the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server.*
*Note: Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may not allow use of our Outgoing mail SMTP server
address.
If this is the case, you will not be able to send email from this account.
Solutions- Contact your ISP for the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address.
- Try using "mail" as the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address- Many cable users can use this with no
problems.
- If you have another Outlook email account set up that allows you to send mail, use the same
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address that is used for that account.
Make sure to enter the server names exactly as the shown below.
Internet Mail Login
Type in the Account name and the password for the account.
Your Account name is Your e-mail address exactly as it is set up on your account.
[email protected]
You can elect to have Outlook remember the password, but this can be risky if your computer is ever
available to others while you are away.
Internet Connection
Now, you must tell Outlook how you want to connect to the Internet to access the e-mail accounts.
Select your connection method as shown below
If prompted, click "Finish"
Setting Up Microsoft Outlook Express
Topic-152
Setting Up your Outlook Express Mail Account
Although not all versions of Microsoft Outlook Express will look exactly as show below, the information
required to set up an account will be the same.
Before starting this process make sure you have set up your email account and have your email
settings available for your account.
Select Tools from the out menu bar.
Select Accounts (or Services if Accounts is not an option).
This will open the Internet Accounts window.
Internet Accounts set up
From the Internet Accounts window select the “Mail” tab.
Next, click the “Add” control button on the right side and select “Mail" from the choices.
Your Name
Type in the name that you want to appear in your e-mail headers (usually your name),
Internet E-mail Address
Type in Your e-mail address exactly as it is set up on your account.
[email protected].
Be sure that you have selected the “I already have an e-mail address” option.
E-mail Server Names
In this window, select POP3 if it is not already selected for the incoming mail server type.
Enter mail.cisdata.net for the Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server.
Enter mail.cisdata.net as the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server.*
*Note: Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may not allow use of our Outgoing mail SMTP server
address.
If this is the case, you will not be able to send email from this account.
Solutions- Contact your ISP for the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address.
- Try using "mail" as the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address- Many cable users can use this with no
problems.
- If you have another Outlook email account set up that allows you to send mail, use the same
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address that is used for that account.
Make sure to enter the server names exactly as the shown below.
Internet Mail Login
Type in the Account name and the password for the account.
Your Account name is Your e-mail address exactly as it is set up on your account.
[email protected]
You can elect to have Outlook remember the password, but this can be risky if your computer is ever
available to others while you are away.
If prompted, click "Finish"
Auto Response Email
Topic-144
This feature will send an automatic reply (acknowledgment) email to anyone that uses a form on
your site.
This service does not send out auto response email unless a form is filled out on your site.
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Where To Set Up Auto Response Email
Disable/Turn Off Auto Response Email
Customize Auto Response Email For Individual Forms
Related Topics
Back to top
1. Where To set Up Auto Response Email
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Choose
Auto Response Email.
Enter the message that you would like sent.
This should be a text message- No html or special codes.
Click Save Changes.
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Back to top
2. Disable/Turn Off Auto Response Email
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Choose
Auto Response Email.
Remove/Delete all text in the message area.
Click to Save Changes
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Back to top
3. Customize Auto Response Email For Individual Forms
By default, if a custom auto response is not set up for individual forms, the default auto response
(above) will be emailed when a visitor fills out a form on your site.
You can customize the auto response email for each form on your site as follows.
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●
●
●
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Click on
"Edit Website Contents".
Choose the button name for the form you want to customize the auto response email.
Click on the edit button for the form.
Back to top
4. Related Topics
●
Customizing/Edit Forms
Admin Menu- Preferences
Topic-145
The preferences section will allow you to set up your default preferences for the items shown below.
1. Log Into The Preferences Section
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Click on
"Preferences".
From the Preferences screen select your preferences as noted below.
When you have completed your changes click the "Save Changes" button.
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*****Sample Only*****
Specify preferences for your website
Sort listings in descending order?
Yes- Highest value listing at the top
No- Lowest value listing at the top
Yes
No
Would you like to show your closed listings?
Yes- Shows the Closed Listings button on your featured
listings page.
No- Hides the Closed Listings button.
Yes
No
Link to location map from each listing?
Yes- Displays View Map button/link for each listing.
Map links to listing address map in Yahoo Maps.
No- Hides View Map button/link for each listing.
Yes
No
Link to schedule an appointment from each listing?
Yes- Displays Schedule An Appointment button on each
listing. Button links to a form to email an appointment
request.
No- Hides Schedule An Appointment button.
Yes
No
Provide a payment estimate for each listing?
Yes- Activates Payment Estimate calculator at the bottom
of each listing.
No- Hides Payment Estimate calculator.
Yes
No
Graphical banners on subpages?
Yes- Graphic banners will be displayed at the top of the
subpages.
No- Graphic banners will be removed. A text title will be
displayed at the top of the sub pages.
Yes
No
Display slideshow on homepage?
Yes- Slide show will be active on home page.
No- Hides slideshow
Applies to site style #1 only
Yes
No
Sort agent directory by first name?
Yes- Sort agent directory alphabetically by first name.
No- Sort agent directory alphabetically by last name.
Applies to office sites only
Yes
No
Feature open house listings on homepage?
Yes- Will display thumbnail image of Open House listings
on the home page.
No- Will Not display Open House listings on the home
page.
Yes
No
Feature virtual tour listings on homepage?
Yes- Will display thumbnail image of virtual tour listings on
the home page.
No- Will Not display virtual tour listings on the home page.
Yes
No
Feature other listings on homepage?
Yes- Will display thumbnail image of Featured Listings on
the home page.
No- Will Not display Featured Listings on the home page.
Yes
No
Feature MLS listings on homepage?
Yes- Will display MLS Search field on the home page.
No- Will Not display MLS Search field on the home page.
Applies to site style #2 and IDX subscribers only
Yes
No
Display Home Link listings in frames?
(Only applies to Home Link Option)
Yes- Will display listings framed with the navigation
buttons on the left for links directly to the listing using the
Home Link option.
No- Will display only the listing page without the left
navigation buttons for links directly to the listing using the
Home Link option.
Yes
No
Present pop-up windows to new visitors?
Yes- Will pop-up a form window when a new visitor clicks
on a button for the first time on your site. (*See pop-up
options below)
No- No pop-up windows will be activated.
Yes
Which form should appear in a popup window for new
visitors?
Select the form from the pull down menu (or None) to
pop-up when a new visitor clicks on a button for the first
time on your site.
Guest Book
Which form should appear in a popup window when
visitors try to leave your website?
Select a form from the pull down menu (or None) to
pop-up when a visitor leaves your site.
Guest Book
Which page should appear as your start page?
Select the page from the pull down menu.
Select the page that the visitor will land on when they
arrive at your site.
Home
No
Click on the Save Changes or No Changes Made button after selecting your preferences.
Save Changes
No Changes Made
Admin Menu- Account Info.
Topic-146
Update your address, phone, password, company, and contact information. This information is used
for contact information on listings uploaded to Yahoo, iFlyers and other areas of your site.
Edit Your Account Information
●
●
Click on the
"Account Info" link.
Enter/Edit/Modify the information as needed. Most fields are self explanatory.
❍ Your Name: Your name or company name
❍ Mailing Address: Usually the office address
❍ City, State, Zip.
❍ Company: Your companies full name
❍ Choose Password: This is your web site login password.
Minimum 4 characters- You can use alpha/numeric character.
If you change your password, the new password will become active next time you
log into your site.
This is Not your email password. To change your email password use the Email link
from the Admin Menu. For help visit our Email Help Section.
●
Admin Menu- Traffic Report
Topic-148
The Traffic Report will give you details about the traffic (hits) for your web site. The data includes a
12 month rolling detail of visitors to your site broken down on a month to month basis. Additional
sort detail includes traffic details for each of the buttons on your site.
1. How To View Your Traffic Report
2. Related Topic- Reporting Traffic For Individual Listings
Back to top
1. How To View Your Traffic Report
●
●
Click on the
"Traffic Report " Link.
The following example is a sample only and does not reflect on the details that your traffic
report may show.
●
●
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1- Page: Pull down menu to select the page you want to view traffic details on.
Click the pull down menu and select from the menu. Then click the GO button.
The traffic data displayed will be for the page selected.
2- Source: Reports where the visitor came from (AKA- referring link). We only report
referring links for those sources that report the information to us. Not all sources report
referring link information.
All traffic that has no source information is reported in the "other source" category.
3- Data- Columns reflect monthly data, rows reflect data by the source.
Other Source*: Visitors that access your domain directly, search engine robots, spiders, proxies,
and traffic originating from other pages within your site.
Notes: Results may be delayed up to 24 hours.
Back to top
2. Reporting Traffic For Individual Listings.
The Traffic Report does not report on traffic to individual listings. Our Home Link option will
integrate data for traffic to your individual listings. For more on our Home Link option Click Here or
view the
Add Options section from your Admin Menu.
Admin Menu- Billing Section
Topic-147
The Billing section allows you to update your billing, credit card, payment plan information and
cancel options.
You can also view and print your billing statement.
Edit/View Billing Information
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●
Click on the
"Billing" link.
Modify the billing information as noted below.
●
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1- Credit Card Billing Information
You can update your credit card information at any time. Our billing system will
automatically refer to the latest billing information from this section
❍ Select the credit card type.
❍ Enter the credit card number.
❍ Enter the credit card expiration date.
❍ Enter the cardholders personal information.
●
2-Cardholders Personal Information
❍
❍
●
Name- As it appears on the credit card.
Billing Address of cardholder- The address that the credit card statement/bill is
mailed.
This information is used to verify/approve credit card charges.
3- Options Details- Displays current billing details and pricing.
❍ To change a billing frequency click on (select) the desired billing frequency.
Usually Monthly/mo or Yearly/yr.
Changes will take effect at the next billing frequency.
❍ To cancel any service, click on (select) the Cancel option.
In All Cases click on the Save Changes button to update your changes.
●
4- Billing Statement
❍ Click on the Billing Statement button to view/print a current billing summary of your
account.

iHouse2000- Web Site Help- CIS Data Systems

Transcription

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