No Rivalry! Open Realty EZ Pro Realty

Posted on April 4, 2008
Filed Under Open Realty, Real Estate News | 1 Comment

EZ Pro Realty and Open Realty Same Product yet different.

A visitor to my blog asked me to update the information regarding the options available for Joomla regarding listings managers and as I was informed EZ Realty a Joomla based product is not being developed for Joomla 1.5 due in part to license restrictions related to the product.

As it stands Open Realty is the ONLY game in town for integrated listings managers for Joomla 1.5 and as I was recently informed EZ Pro Realty is NOT going to pursue the day and night difference between the apps as I had originally been told.  Apparently the developers of EZ Pro Realty are going to build the variant (Fork no longer used in the language) Open Realty for a specific market and not as an alternative to the mega popular Open Realty.  What was the motive for the change?

Well in part the change was due to yours truly, ME! I have been working with Mick (one of the Open Realty contributors) by providing some code and suggestions I’m quite happy to see are now being implemented.  Like EZ Pro Realty, Mick has taken a few suggestions that we discussed via email specifically the changes in files and features.  Here is a quick update on the development of both applications as they currently stand.

Open Realty Pending!

  • Better search engine friendly URL’s that includes the use of hyphens as an option.
  • Inclusion of a change in the default common file which has been renamed common.dist.php
  • Possible inclusion of PDF support I had contributed
  • Possible inclusion of a new method for installation process we discussed.
  • Possible inclusion of a globals.php file which I had briefly discussed EZ Pro Realtys idea behind it.

EZ Pro Realty Pending!

  • Search engine URL’s were naturally from the start but like Open Realty the option for hypen or plus sign is an option but EZ Pro Realty has taken it one step further where you have the option of deciding what the extension is as either .php .html or simply a trailing slash / which will result in url’s like /listing-name-example/
  • EZ Pro Realty finished the implementation of three new templates each of them used to introduce the template methods used in building user interfaces based in part on a new CSS foundation provided by again, yours truly.
  • PDF Support is a guaranteed feature. ( I can’t go into the latest details)
  • Do you like vieleRETS, well EZ Pro Realty provides a way for you to LOVE vieleRETS, you will love it.
  • Brand new installer and a brand spanking new admin control panel with a some nifty features.
  • TinyMCE and XHINA editors are not to be included initially.
  • There is a new featured listings manager.
  • There is a new featured agent manager
  • There is a new Google Maps feature
  • And more…

Open Realty Gets Friendly?

Time away is what the doctor ordered according to Mick  one of the main contributors to Open Realty as he visited my blog and made a few comments related to my original post about EZ Pro Realty features.  Mick and I have shared a few ideas which I’m glad to say have been implemented into the 2.5 release of Open Realty.  Mick states in his email the suggestion that will likely be a more friendly environment at the Open Realty forums. Mick, who occupies a profession full of the kinds of stress that make life difficult did say that time away has given him some new perspective.  All I can say in this regard is I’m glad to see Mick returning to an attentive role at Open Realty and wish him and the other moderators well.

So what is the difference?

EZ Pro Realty is pursuing a different path not as a fork of Open Realty as originally planned but as a variant seeking to achieve something all together different with a product that is quite similar for the most part.  As best I can tell the only real major differences between the two developments is the core features most often achieved via add-ons in Open Realty.

Open Realty Release 2.5 Pending

Posted on March 25, 2008
Filed Under Open Realty | Leave a Comment

Open Realty 2.5 on the horizon with new features.

After doing some research early today for a new set of articles, I set out to see what exactly Open Realty will offer in the next release and discovered an impressive array of improvements pending.  Open Realty is the premier application for building listings manager driven sites such as galleries for automotive, boating and real estate primarily because of its general abilities to handle user interaction and by providing a wide range of control over defined fields.

One feature pending release is one I raved about in EZ Pro Realty that provides designers a way to build search results and listing details templates specific to property classes.  What this means is that you can have a listings details page for the class of residential look and feature only fields and characteristics specific to that property class.

Giving credit where credit is due means I have to make this correction. I like to make sure my posts are as accurate as possible and as it stands I was mistaken about a feature in EZ Pro Realty.  Open Realty in fact provided the above mentioned feature prior to EZ Pro Realty and I had assumed otherwise.  I’ll post additional details a bit later.

EZ Pro Realty Features Summary

Posted on March 20, 2008
Filed Under Open Realty | 11 Comments

EZ Pro Realty standard features not so impressive as of yet.

Okay well yesterday I managed to finally look in depth at EZ Pro Realty on the demo site from the developers and I must say that I’m impressed but surprised more hasn’t been done as of yet.  I’m glad to be part of the project and the efforts but of the features that are included in EZ Pro Realty now, other products can easily adapt via plug-ins, add-ons and core hacks making EZ Pro Realty efforts moot.  Now I’m not going to give EZ Pro Realty a bad rap as of yet since the project is barely a year old and the effort of two people part time, but considering the time frame I would have expected more.  I guess the good thing is that these features are core features and once they implement my new admin interface contribution site owners wont have to mod and bulk up their installs with countless add-ons to achieve things that SHOULD have been in all real estate applications.

Again, although after I examined the demo I wasn’t substantially impressed with the features that were added I must say that the open attitude and features of the website in general are such that make this fork a worth while attention getter.  Everyone who reads my posts here and abroad knows my attitude toward sociopath forum moderators and one thing that has set off every qualified professional (hacks and geeks don’t count) is the relentlessly rude and abusive un-friendly attitude in the Open Realty forums.  Thank God Almighty that EZ Pro Realty will not only entertain feedback, contributions and open forum support for things that INCLUDE core modifications but welcomes all developers, designers and other persons regardless of experience with the same respect and regard. That to me makes EZ Pro Realty the true benefit even if the application failed to achieve anything in its updates.

Top 10 EZ Pro Realty Features that Impressed me

  1. Search Results and Listings Details Templates by property class.  This feature I list as #1 because this is long over due.  When real estate companies have more than one class, they often have different fields of data applicable to that single class that should not or normally would not show up on the listings details template if it is not needed.  Now although Open Realty solves this by assigning fields to areas of the template using tags like {top} {center} etc… this does not solve the need for different layouts and design features of the class specific search results and listings details pages.
  2. FEATURED LISTINGS ON TOP OF SEARCH RESULTS. This is a real cool feature. This allows a site owner or real estate company to list their listings on top of search results and custom style those results so they stand out. Now my initial concern was that it would make the search results look spammy but after seeing it live and in use I was truly impressed with the potential.  If a company were to import 10,000 listings and the search results for any particular criteria brought back say 1,200 results for example then the mere addition of having 3, 5, or even more featured listings up front based on that criteria is very impressive.
  3. CSV Loader and XML Import Features.  This was going to be #2 but its not one many will use even though its very effective.  This is a commercial feature in Open Realty and as such adds instant value to EZ Pro Realty in that data can be imported via XML formatted sources.  Export methods are also on the list of features and when that happens maps for popular services like Trulia or Movechannel will be included.
  4. TRUE SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY FEATURES  EZ Pro Realty has a very effective feature for the SEO types by providing the ability to customize the page title, meta tags, URL and header includes (which I’ll cover next) per listing or per page.  When you create or edit a listing or page in the editors, you are presented with options to set the browser title or <title>{browser_title}</title> wording separate from the URL which lends a great deal to the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.  Also the biggest issue and by far the most confusing one is why exactly Open Realty felt that URLs would look good with page-The+Name+Of+Your+Page.html is beyond us. Not only is it baffling to try and relay that to someone its not at all SEO friendly.  I’m happy to say that EZ Pro Realty does it proper by first FORCING the URL to lower case and separating with hyphens as opposed to plus (+) signs.  the-name-of-your-page.html or even the-name-of-your-page/ is possible.
  5. HEADER INCLUDE VARIABLE EZ Pro Realty provides an impressive yet simple feature for content publishing which allows you to paste in code like JavaScript, CSS and other header includes types of scripting on a per page basis.  Why have javascript present on all pages when its needed in only specific areas? Why have form validation code and other types of variable includes displayed on each and every page when they are not needed? This feature allows you to specify what pages get what code.
  6. TEMPLATE TRANSITIONS BASED ON CLASS I love this feature but honestly can only see its use in companies that either do fsbo type sites or have a lofty rental or other types of management features for commercial properties.  This feature changes the look of the site to pull in a totally separate main.html template based entirely on property class or user defined type.  That means that your rental site could look like a rental site and your commercial site can look like a commercial site all from the same database and domain.
  7. SUPPORTED BRIDGING WITH WORDPRESS BY DEFAULT WordPress is the worlds premier blog solution and Realtors are discovering its power in marketing properties. One thing that is not easily done is integration Open Realty with WordPress nor is it an easy task to put WordPress features into Open Realty. EZ Pro Realty accepted my three contributions to the core which allow for three very important features that BTW will work with Open Realty as well (and they are free I might add).  EZ Pro Realty provides a new globals.php file that lets you do things like include Latest Posts or Latest Comments directly into your template and or pages for great cross linking features.  This globals.php also has other features I’ll cover shortly but a big part of this is the USER REGISTRATION BRIDGE which provides a way to have registrations to either EZ Pro Realty or WordPress and simultaneously add the user to both applications even if they reside in separate databases.  Now I funded this feature and I’m glad to say it will be a free snippet on my site for those who wish to use Open Realty and WordPress together as well.
  8. GLOBALS.PHP Has some key features. The first part is the simple inclusion of functions that can be called from within templates and or template pages and can even be used as a sort of mini-addon system by providing a quick way to add {template_tags}  What this means is this; if you have a website project for example that you represent ski lodges or properties in a recreational community where swimming, sports, events, and other things are key attractions then this feature natively supports an IF THEN type of scenario for showing data.  Still not clear? Well look at it this way. In Open Realty if you want to show an icon that represents a swimming pool or ski lodge as a sort of quick visual reference in the listings details page you either have to seriously work the existing system or alternatively build an add-on. With this feature in EZ Pro Realty the same can be achieved as plainly as "IF the field-name value is true, show this, if not, show this or nothing at all" So, if the property comes with a swimming pool, then show the little swimming pool icon you made and if it doesn’t then show the little swimming pool icon you made with an X over it or show nothing.
  9. Form Mail Manager Tool This tool is similar in features as pbflash’s commercial form add-on but in EZ Pro Realty it’s a standard feature.  I asked that one of my form processors be made optional to the project and if that happens that EZ Pro Realty will have all the necessary features for form processing and data capture it could need from the start. The current feature which basically provides custom fields and form processing on three primary default areas of the site is a nice feature but if they include my form tool then Realtors can have unlimited numbers of contact forms for things like CMA, mailing lists, news letter requests, online loan summary applications and more all of which the fields will be stored to a database for later retrieval.  I’m trying to encourage them to use this and if they do, as I said, it will make EZ Pro Realty sing.
  10. Google Maps  Last in this list but by no means last in features is the google maps feature that is at present a commercial option available in Open Realty.  EZ Pro Realty provides a way with a new template file that features an inline google map of the property and also a map feature for search results complete with baloons and photo thumbnail.

That was the top ten but these are worthy of mention;  EZ Pro Realty also has an inline mortgage calculator in the listings details template, dozens of included templates to chose from for design base, dozens of details, results, and featured templates to chose from and will also have bridging for Joomla users in the very near future.  The site bolsters external code hacks and snippets that make things easy to achieve simply by following some well documented instructions.

One thing I found interesting about EZ Pro Realty is the implementation of several new fundamental features all sites have and the inclusion of two new database tables bringing the total to 29 tables.  EZ Pro Realty added to its default package a /scripts folder, a /media folder and an /images/stories folder each of which has some default content used in the distribution version.  A brand new installer is also available which loads 11 default content pages, 15 default example listings (3 for each of the 5 default classes), two default example agents, and new default templates.  Things missing are the vertical-menu and cms templates included with Open Realty. Also removed are all the templates provided with the Open Realty SVN package as of the forks official diversion date which was a few weeks back. 

If you recall, legal council took a snap shot and copy of the Open Realty license from three locations including the SVN as of a certain version build so they could document the Open Realty permission to use their product in subsequent products providing criteria is met. That was done naturally in the event a change in the license pending version 2.5 were to take place preventing such a fork.

It is important to note that EZ Pro Realty is NOT developed as a rivalry to Open Realty, it was being developed as an alternative set of features and to provide more friendly and open support to members. It was taken down a new path since no other means to achieve changes were possible aside from add-on hell which is the loading up of Open Realty with dozens of add-ons just to get it to perform as it should.  Add-on hell is avoided as the fork includes most features as standard features normally found in add-ons.

EZ Pro Realty - The New Standard?

Posted on March 15, 2008
Filed Under Open Realty, Products in Review | Leave a Comment

Professional PHP/ MySQL Real Estate Listings Manager

I was writing an article in my post manager (via my new plugin) for the new "Professionals In Review" section of my blog I got to thinking about standards in software related to the real estate industry.  Fitting I thought, I would write a post about the fork of Open Realty called EZ Pro Realty since my post in draft touched on this very idea briefly as I wrote about one of the most influential and in my personal opinion one of the most articulate leaders regarding real estate technology standards, Mark Lesswing.  Since I was in the "standards writing" mindset while writing about Mark, I quickly jotted down a handful of little notes in the planner section for later reference like;  Who sets these standards? Why do they matter? Should websites that don’t follow them include legends similar to those used on maps? And dozens of others as I kept that ever present hand drawn depiction of my target audience in mind as I wrote.

Mark Lesswing, the NAR’s Chief of Technology Officer is the brain behind many tools that were developed in support of  "industry standards " like the RETS compliance mandate for MLS providers.  vieleRETS, one of Mark’s best known tools, is an open source application used to connect real estate sites to the standards compliant MLS provider using an XML wrapper.  Such is easy to follow as we can see how these key words net us the acronym RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard).  I’ve been supporting vieleRETS since the earliest version releases, and knowing the history of this application, the proprietary position it occupies, being an application defining a standard is easily understood.  Not unique per se, contrast and focus are evident when comparing to similar applications that may appear to be trend setting in a lead role, contributing or setting standards even though the opposite may actually be true.  All of this naturally assumes that the one setting the standard had an authoritative position and foundation of support that could be agreed upon. (well, thats the ideal anyway)

Software and website solution standards for real estate?

Real estate website applications by and large are custom solutions not following any particular pattern of implementation quite similar to the shopping cart standards in the early days of their development.  Today as many would agree, shopping carts follow a pattern that is standardized for what a shopping cart should have and be in regards to features. Anything falling short is just that, falling short. 

In the real estate industry one thing that rings true is how slow the industry reacts to change and implementation of technology.  Jokingly we know that the very last people to toss their pagers and brick like cell phones were Realtors as many are very slow to change and unfortunately prone fads more so than other industries I’ve followed. But when the real estate industry does implement change the vast majority of those who attempt to be pioneers do so running in the dark with a sharp object in hand.  Realtor site applications are just not quite to the level of bare minimum standards that an effective site should have. When someone does introduce an pseudo imposed standard its usually so proprietary that no incentive to follow it or even emulate it could possibly come to fruition, so where is the standard in that.

The Open Source influence on standards

Today, Open Source applications are positioned unlike any in the history of computer and software solutions being the defining guide post to standards.  Joomla and Drupal, the worlds premier content management systems set the standard for cms systems. Early on commercial application developers fought the notion of open source cms solutions like a rabid dog, yet today they must concede and keep up or risk an early grave.  phpBB a forum solution that fell into the very pits of hell climbed out recently, not only jump above standards in forum solutions similar in many regards to that of vBulletin and at least as high of quality as vBulletin.

Proprietary applications and developers of those apps can follow standards set by Open Source and survive just as effectively as mega popular open source solutions can.  Applications like SMF (simple machines forums) for example have historically tried to straddle the fence between what is or what should be a standard have been essentially defined by following the lead of others which likely prove successful for SMF’s survival even though they maintain their proprietary status. 

Before we move further in the software solution discussion for Real Estate its important to point out that for those interested in reading further on CMS solutions and how they impact the industry, one would be benefited by visiting the publications of Bryan Ruby.  Bryan Ruby is an authoritative and intelligent expert well versed in the myriad of CMS solutions available and writes extensively on the subject.

EZ Pro Realty - Standards from the REALTORS perspective

Early in this post I said that standards are something that are ideally agreed upon and widely accepted.  In an ideal world, standards should also be based on user needs in such a way that one would seek to eagerly employ or at least eagerly suggest without regret.  This is not always true in software or standards as we have seen Microsoft impose them in bold disregard and often dictated adversity with what actually works.

Open Realty among other similar applications like Hot Properties or EZRealty for example are open source per se yet maintain some level commercial or proprietary status.  Open Realty, the most open and free for use or modification, has been by far the most widely used application of its type by Realtors seeking to avoid other more restrictive proprietary solutions.  Proprietary is not a bad thing providing you are not a prisoner of the solution as many have experienced.  Since this post is about standards its important to point out that none of these applications have set or adhered to any in part because none exist. 

Solutions for real estate sites are among the most awkward in any genera or industry I’ve encountered.  For this reason Its been an unfortunate experience to witness the consequences the industry has suffered as a result.  The lack of a "base line standard for real estate web sites" leaves many Realtors exposed to an lofty level of wide abuse and lies as there is nothing to gauge what is and isn’t to be expected in a solution.  Is there help? Is there a defining solution that can save all the hassle? Yes, and its called EZ Pro Realty as in Easy Professional Real Estate solution. So EASY (EZ) a one armed monkey could use it yet so effective any real estate PROfessional would stand up and take notice regarding a new way to recognize true utility value. (Sorry for the play on words)

Utility value is a term Realtors should be most interested in as its an economics or financial term that is used in description of return on investment.  Since the above mentioned solutions are investments into your site they should help make a valuable return on your investment as opposed to hindering it by falling short of widely accepted standards in what makes a good web site work. Now I’ll show you some standards that you can expect with EZ Pro Realty without revealing to much regarding changes made.

Quick mention first; Open Realty, EZ Realty, and HotProperties although mentioned in this post for comparison are in no way sub quality products and are to this very day highly recommended tools for effective real estate site solutions.  In no way would I disparage these applications even though I will write about and compare solutions based on my experiences.  Each of the above mentioned are quality products.

Professional real estate website software solutions.

 Professional Documentation and Tutorials

EZ Pro Realty documentation is being assembled using RoboHelp from Adobe as opposed to a dictionary or encyclopedia solution used by some for documentation.  The tutorials will give designers and developers a jump start on implementation, use and deployment of the solution. The fork will feature a new modified version of my very own Dreamweaver Open Realty extension and will have ample documentation in a well articulated informative format.

Friendly Support (paid and non paid)

EZ Pro Realty forums will be used to provide support in a friendly environment that is not often seen in forums around the web.  People can’t set a standard and then treat those who seek to follow it with mis conduct, rude responses, and abuse and expect to do so with a straight face.  The support provided on the EZProRealty.com site is PAID support meaning that they are paid a monthly fee to provide technical assistance to users and support can be paid for regarding customization for users at a super affordable fee that is based entirely on a donation scale. Those who contribute and donate even if for paid support are given credit for contribution.

Credit given where credit is due

A pet peeve with some applications that are open source is the apparent harboring of all credit by the powers to be.  With the release of EZProRealty, developers, designers, and other contributors are not only given their own contributor blogs but are mentioned in the list of credits.  Lessons learned from products like Joomla and Drupal that boldly disclose who makes the product and project possible. 

The chief contributor will be on top naturally and that is Ryan Bonham the developer of Open Realty.  In keeping with Ryan’s license as of version 2.4.4 (see this post) Open Realty will be given full unrestricted credit for the application. Open Realty will also be mentioned throughout the documentation as I boldly requested that the developers of EZProRealty must not make any attempt to hide or attempt to disparage Open Realty nor depict it as as a rival.  That was my request in joining the effort of the fork by providing all of my add-ons and my three plug-ins which are also FREE.

Project request board for customization

Although many applications provide a way for users to hire professionals for design, customization and other aspects of development for their products, EZProRealty will provide this in a facilitated manor where projects are managed using an escrow system to set standard for quality.  Facilitated "subcontracting" or outsourcing will also help them establish network of qualified professionals with actual experience in Open Realty and this variant.

MORE TO COME SO BE PATIENT.

Mark my words with this prophesy because it will come true.

Open Realty and other applications will either follow the path that EZ Pro Realty is laying or be side stepped as a solution Realtors choose. I make these predictions not to harm the other applications but to simply provide a place I can easily send people back to when I get to say, I told you so. 

Here is what I predict will happen.  BTW I looked to see if any of these were either planned, bug fix posted, or pending in those applications above and none as of this date were.

  1. Open Realty will fix their URL issue and add in the features at bare minimum that allow users of the product to take better control over the URL, Title, and other aspects of good SEF features that are present in the fork. 
  2. I further predict that Open Realty will copy almost verbatim every feature that EZ Pro Realty added to the fork related to the way template management is handled and possibly the administrative interface features. 
  3. I further predict that Open Realty will implement similar features in the core templates that EZ Pro Realty provides and may also be copied by EZRealty and Hot Properties as none of them offer this feature.
  4. Developer blogs? I’m sure the other applications would likely add or at least copy the idea by providing blogs via our method which uses WordPressMU or something similar. The benefits to template designers, developers, Realtors and contributors would be so beneficial that not copying it or something close to it would be a surprise to me.
  5. I predict that the opposing applications that are proprietary with solution providers will either emulate structure of the template system and features or at bare minimum provide the same post and page editing features we have implemented into EZProRealty’s page editor. The editor has a few dynamic features that makes posting a blessing as opposed to a chore.
  6. Module management based on page is something that EZRealty and HotProperties offers and I’m guessing that since EZProRealty offers this, open realty will be sure to follow.  This feature allows for page specific code to be placed in page specific locations via the editor similar to the EZProRealty new {header_include} tag.  Super powerful especially considering its use in cross linking and marketing.
  7. I’d bet many features in EZProRealty will be copied, emulated and duplicated on every level regarding the integration and cross platform sharing ability that is currently under development and announced on the EZProRealty site.

EZProRealty, to expect anything less is lowering your standards!


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