RealShout Real Estate Search Wordpress Plugin Instructions

Real Estate search powered by GoogleBase listings.
Contributors: Go Smart Solutions, LLC (RealShout.com)
Release: 3.0
Release Date: 08/19/10
Tags: real estate, realty, plugin, listing, homes, real estate search, idx
Requires at least: 2.8
Tested up to: 3.0.1
Stable tag: 3.0

* Author: Go Smart Solutions, LLC (RealShout.com)
* Author URL: [http://www.RealShout.com](http://www.realshout.com "Real Estate Marketing")
* READ LICENSE FROM http://www.realshout.com/wplicence1/license.txt
* By downloading and using this plugin you must accept and agree to be bound by the Google Base Data API Terms of Service.
Go Smart Solutions, LLC or RealShout is not affiliated with Google, Google API or Google Base.

== Description ==
Real Estate Search Real Shout Wordpress Plugin allows you to add a Real Estate search portal to your Wordpress blog. The search portal is search engine friendly, allows you to capture buyer leads, provides your visitors with simple and advanced search features, allows your visitors to view details about each property, allows your visitors to save listings, allows your visitors to contact you regarding listings and provides you with admin features for managing it all.

View details, screenshots, features and live example at http://www.realshout.com/wordpress-real-estate-plugin.php

== Installation ==

NOTE: PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE EXACT ORDER THEY ARE LISTED IN. IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET THIS WORKING QUICKLY. IF YOU NEED SUPPORT OR HELP YOU CAN PURCHASE OUR SUPPORT OPTION

1. You will need to obtain a license key from http://www.realshout.com/real-estate-plugin-download.php for the plugin to work

2. Unzip and copy the RealShoutSearch folder to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory or install using the Wordpress Install Plugins screen by searching for term "RealShoutSearch".

3. Activate the RealShoutSearch on your plugins page.

4. Go to the "Default Search" options which should be located at the bottom left of your admin area after the plugin is activated and setup options as described below.

State/City Management: first setup all the countries you would like available in your search form by clicking "Add Country". After you add countries, click the "View States" option associated with each country to add states. After you have added your states, click the "View City" option associated with each state to add cities you would like available in each state.
NOTE: You should use country codes and state codes for the country and state options. Do not use country names or state names. Example use USA for United States and CA for California.
Listing Types: allows you to add listing types that will display in the search form. Currently GoogleBase supports foreclosure, for sale, for rent, new home, room for rent, sublet listing types
Property Types: allows you to add property types that will display in the search form. Google supports apartment, commercial, condo, coop, farm, land, manufactured, multifamily, ranch, single family, tic, and townhouse property types
Distance Management: allows you to setup distance miles that visitors can choose in the advanced search form
Display Settings: allows you to setup the first row, alternate row and hover colors on the search results page that displays the list of matching listings
User Management: displays a list of users who have signup to save listings and allows you to edit these users.
User Contacts: displays users who have made contact from a listing and shows the inquiry they submitted. These inquiries are also emailed to you.
Google Map API: allows you to input your Google Map API key, which is needed for the map to work on the listing details page. You can obtain an API key for free from http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html
Default Search: specify what data you would like displayed by default in the advanced search form. This is also what will initially display when visitors visit your real estate page without performing a search so it is important to set these defaults. Copy the license key here that you received in your email after registering. Input the email address you would like inquires sent to.
From your WP admin area go to Appearance -> Widgets -> drag the "RealShoutSearch" to sidebar section you would like the simple and advanced search form to display in.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

Q: Why when I click to perform a search nothing happens?
A: Make sure you setup your default search settings like described in step 4 of the installation instructions. You should also use country codes and state codes for the country and state options. GoogleBase uses state codes and country codes. Do not use country names or state names. Example use USA for United States and CA for California. Also make sure and set your "Default Search" form default fields in the plugins options.

Q: Why is the Google map not displaying anything?
A: Make sure you registered for an API key from http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html and added that API key to Google Map API admin settings

Q: Why is my blog running slow after I install the plugin?
A: Most of the time a slow response is due to a low level shared hosting plan. The plugin uses the GoogleBase API to pull data to power the listing results. This takes resources each time your pages load the plugin to pull this data. It also uses the database to pull your added cities and states.

Having Trouble? Purchase Our $50 Support Option for help

== SEO Recommendations ==

We highly recommend you optimize your templates header.php and page.php files so the meta title tags and page h1 tags come over as the city, state and address from the property search. This will help your pages rank organically in Google for relevant searches. Many header files for templates are different so we do not guarantee the following example will work in all template header files. BACK UP YOUR header.php and page.php FILES BEFORE MAKING CHANGES. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILAR WITH MODIFING YOUR TEMPLATE FILES YOU SHOULD CONSULT A WORDPRESS PRO OR CONTACT US AT http://www.realshout.com/contact-realshout.php FOR A QUOTE ON CUSTOMIZATION.

In your template header.php file replace the following lines:

with below...

<?
//Start modifications for SEO on RealShout Plugin
$detail_meta=$_REQUEST['d_'];
$detail_meta=str_replace('-', ' ', $detail_meta);
$city_meta=$_REQUEST['c_'];
$city_meta=str_replace('-', ' ', $city_meta);
$state_meta=$_REQUEST['s_'];
if ($city_meta=="")
{
$meta_desc=$detail_meta;
}
if ($meta_desc=="" && $city_meta!="")
{
$detail_meta=$city_meta . ' ' . $state_meta . ' Real Estate';
$meta_desc=$city_meta . ' ' . $state_meta . ' Real Estate. Property for sale in '.$city_meta . ' ' . $state_meta;
}

if ($detail_meta=="")
{
?>
<title><?php wp_title(''); ?><?php if(wp_title('', false)) { echo ' :'; } ?> <?php bloginfo('name'); ?></title>
<meta name="description" content="<?php bloginfo('description'); ?>" />
<?
}
else
{
?>
<title><?php echo $detail_meta; ?></title>
<meta name="description" content="<?php echo $meta_desc; ?>" />
<?
}
//END modifications for SEO on RealShout Plugin
?>

In your template page.php file replace the following line:

with below...

if ($detail_meta=="" && $city_meta!="")
{
$detail_meta=$city_meta . ' ' . $state_meta . ' Real Estate';
}

if ($detail_meta=="")
{
?>
<h1><?php the_title(); ?></h1>
<?
}
else
{
?>
<h1><?php echo $detail_meta; ?></h1>
<?
}
//End modifications for SEO on RealShout Plugin
?>

== Changelog ==

= 1.0 =
* Changed call to action graphic buttons.

= 2.0 =
* Fixed deleting of cities from city dropdown if state is deleted.
* Fixed bug where large photos sometimes overlapped other page areas on property details page.
* Added clickable property types to simple search when city is clicked.
* Allows you to choose to display simple search hyperlinks or advanced search form in the right/left panel.
* Now supports other countries. You are able to add/edit countries.
* Contact option now opens contact form using AJAX rather than JavaScript. Much nicer!
* Removed Javascript code from header and moved to external js files. Makes the pages much cleaner.
* Installation now automatically creates a search-real-estate page and automatically inserts the {listing} tag into it. This eliminates a step from the setup.
* Made some minor changes to comply with recent changes in the GoogleBase API terms.

= 3.0 =
* Made compatible with 3.0.1
* Added style sheet option that allows for editing css styles for listing display output.
* Install option now automatically adds supported listing types, property types and distances, saving type in setup.
*Improved database performance for faster loading pages.
* Fixed IE display bugs.
* Fixed issue with plugin conflicting with rss feed.