Download WP Realty

Posted on November 16, 2009
Filed Under General | 3 Comments

I keep forgetting to link to the downloads for any of the plugins we produce. This really isn’t my business site, just a personal blog. You can find the WordPress Real Estate Plugin Here. Earlier today I forgot to mention that this week we are adding in new features for better image handling and contact forms as well as some core AJAX stuff. We opted to go with jQuery as opposed to MooTools largely because of the features we incorporate in our formkit. You can also see the WP Realty Video Press Releases they produced last week regarding the product. You do have to register to view the video press files.

WPRealty vs Open-Realty

Posted on November 16, 2009
Filed Under General | 2 Comments

Lots of people have asked us what exactly is WP Realty and how will it work for me. It began with WP Realty version 1.0+ which at the time was essentially a plug-in for WordPress designed to bridge WordPress with OpenRealty. From the start there were countless issues with this method specifically in the area of keeping users logged in and sharing data between each application. After lengthy battles against the limitations of OpenRealty, too many custom modifications really required us to build a fork in order to make OpenRealty behave as we needed. This method was not just impossible to maintain it wasn’t practical.

WP Realty 2.0 was born.

WPRealty 2.0 came about after we had already created a forked version of OpenRealty. After realizing that Transparent Technologies would not likely embrace support for nor discussion of any integration methods with OpenRealty, we took the wheel to fill in this gap. The final decision to rebuild WP Realty was solidified after OpenRealty introduced a rather desperate looking blog feature which had no chance of performing as efficiently as WordPress could.

We knew we could substantially improve upon the previous platform by reworking OpenRealty into the actual plug-in and removing all the un-necessary code and trouble spots that presented limitations. In the previous version of WPRealty, we spotted endless issues with bloggers trying to maintain two separate applications and the plug-in effectively so we took the next logical step. We forked OpenRealty completely and stripped out all the code we would never use. There were about 300 modifications to the actual core, most of which were enhancements and improvements in the ways things were dealt with in OpenRealty itself.

Keeping with the OpenRealty license we took the forked version and made it part of the plug-in. We naturally maintain all required disclosure, open-source code and other features required by Transparent Technologies as per the license and even include Original-License.txt for compliance. OpenRealty requires that if their code, even if modified, is included into another application, that the source must be open and disclosure must be present.

WPRealty 2.0 is easily 3 times faster and 10 times more effective than our first bridged method and this version includes many features that were previously obtainable only by third party license such as Google Maps, Contact forms, CSV Import and much better support. The support method we opted for was a paid support as opposed to a free for all for two primary reasons. We take out all commercial aspirations of the plug-in by using the support fees to pay for add-ons and plug-ins to be included freely and we have dedicated professionals with literally years of experience ready to help preferred members. That leads us to WP Realty 3.0 and why it was built.

WP Realty 3.0

WP Realty 3.0 was built almost side by side with WP Realty 2.0 even though it differs substantially in terms of core code. WP Realty 3.0 has NO OpenRealty code at all. Built from our own home grown listings manager, we set out to emulate all the features of the most popular Real Estate listings applications. This application was built entirely as a plug-in for WordPress and will not likely work outside of WordPress any time in the future.

Why build this version? Because blogging, content management, contact management, search forms, and other types of media elements are better off being handled by other applications such as WordPress. Built entirely in PHP-5 we opted to use the native PDO abstraction wrapper as opposed to ADODB primarily because of speed. PDO is easily 1200% faster than ADODB for the types of data we would be handling. We also optimized the database structure to handle listings above 80,000 more efficiently than WPRealty 2.0 is capable of. With WPRealty 3.0, it becomes possible to have several million listings as opposed to tens of thousands.

WPRealty 3.0 will not be ready for production release until March 2010 and will be released with a GNU/GPL license for the most part. Some extensions and widgets will have other licenses.

When Should OpenRealty be used?

I’m a strong supporter of OpenRealty and would suggest its use in any situation where WPRealty would not fit the project specs. OpenRealty is a pretty sharp little application for a stand alone solution and has pretty good strong points in the level of code quality. Its been discussed all over the web that the code inside of OpenRealty is poorly done or shoddy in part. There is almost nothing to substantiate this claim above and beyond the age of some coding methods.

The people with the OpenRealty project are not stupid by any measure. OpenRealty developers have done exceptional work in the maintenance of the application and keeping it rich with features right on the heels of website trends usually little more than one step behind and certainly no more than two steps behind. Because of this OpenRealty can compete with most solutions on the market including those of a proprietary nature. OpenRealty is by far the best possible solution a Realtor could chose if they sought to maintain their own inventory of listings on their own websites.

If asked which I’d choose, a proprietary hosted solution with an iframed MLS or OpenRealty, I’d certainly go with OpenRealty without question. OpenRealty is also the only application available for listings management aside from WPRealty that can support MLS Listings. All that being said, OpenRealty has but one major limitation and it centers around its support and community forums. I have heard of instances of rampant banning for any subject that challenges those in power or seeks to entertain using OpenRealty in conjunction with any other solution. In recent days I’ve received comments in my blog that the mere mention of WordPress, vieleRETS or Joomla could result in a ban.

Feel free to comment and or contact me for more details about these products.

WP Realty 2.0 Pre-Release Ready!

Posted on November 4, 2009
Filed Under General | 8 Comments

Quick note to those following and asking about the WordPress plugin, WP Realty. The pre release version was posted today but it does have a half dozen typographical and style bugs we are dedicated to fixing by Friday. None the less you can download this version with confidence that when you do the update it will not break your previous install or substantially modify the interface beyond several cosmetic updates.

You can find the download on the http://www.wprealty.org site. Although version 3.0 and 2.0 were being developed at the same time, we could never have hoped to bring 3.0 to public release by years end. WP Realty 3.0 is a fully DB optimized version that has been tested to 240,000 listings in both the SOCAL and Chicago MLS’s. Its unfortunate that 3.0 wont be released until 2010 but its going to be worth the wait. It is unlike any thing you have ever seen.

WP Realty 2.0 however is a pretty darn nice product too. Keeping with the spirit of open source it is freely available. There are paid support options naturally which we use to fund further development and there is a tiny fee for an unlimited NON BRANDED use license.

Adding IDX or RETS MLS data to a WordPress site works well with some custom scripting. ALL of our clients using this plug-in are MLS clients and ALL of them using WP Realty are indexing faster than their competition for “Long Tail SEO” search terms for those listings. Chad and other team members are updating some features this evening and then we will be adding in XML Feed Export features among other things in the release following this one.

A quick note about some of the key features include easier templating, proper default image paths, better looking admin panel, easier to use template tag system, much cleaner integration with WordPress on every level and Google Maps is available for members. You can read more about it here http://wprealty.org/downloads/wp-realty-plugin/


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