SimplyRETS free WordPress plugin

Getting Started SimplyRETS allows you to display and search your Real Estate listings directly on your WordPress site. And it can all be set up in less than 5 minutes! The SimplyRETS Plugin has the most filtering options of any IDX Plugin on the market, with over 25 different ways to create unique pages of listings on your site. No iframes, great SEO, and a modern and customizable interface for a modern Real Estate site. To get your listings showing through the plugin there’s only three steps: Create an account with SimplyRETS Use the RETS credentials from your MLS to create an app. Start getting LIVE listings right on your site! View plugin examples and documentation Visit our website Quick Start After installing and activating the plugin – you can quickly get listings showing by putting the following short-code on any page: [sr_listings]. But that’s just a start! There are many ways you can show and filter the listings – check out the full documentation. The 5 Minute Setup Using the Test Listings To use the free trial listings, all you need to do is install it and start creating pages! The test credentials are already saved in the plugin when you install it, so you can spend more time making an awesome real estate website. Features & Documentation To use the available widgets, and short-codes – start by reading over the Documentation page. The GitHub README also provides a good starting point for developers looking to customize some features. As always, you can email support@simplyrets.com for any questions you can’t find an answer to! How it Works The SimplyRETS plugin generates accurate and correct HTML and does not use iframes or ever take your visitors away from your site – which we’ve learned is essential for materializing online leads. The power is put back in your hands by giving you full control of which of your listings to show, and on which pages. The plugin also provides you extensions on many standard WordPress features: A robust set of shortcodes and attributes to build virtually any type of page you can imagine. A custom ‘SimplyRETS Listings’ page type for creating pages with listing results. Sidebar and footer widgets for Featured Listings, Search, etc. Plenty of short-codes for splicing your listings into any page or post. Filters for searches, custom pages, etc. SimplyRETS provides the fastest and most up-to-date solution for embedding your listings on your site. SimplyRETS will update as frequently as every hour (or as frequent as your MLS provider allows). This means that you’re ahead of the competition and can have the fastest possible response time for dealing with interested prospects. This plugin is fast! You don’t have to worry about slowing down your website by pulling lots of data on every page load. The SimplyRETS plugin is optimized to only load on the correct pages, and to only load the listings you choose. By doing this, you are able to keep visitors on your site to look at more properties. If you offer the fastest searching solution in your city, why would they go any where else? SimplyRETS uses the RETS (Real Estate Standards Organization) protocol. This allows you to be on the leading technical edge and provides you with many advantages of IDX (internet data exchange) including response speed, compatibility across multiple MLS areas, and up-time. So while your competition is working on getting properties on their site, you can install the SimplyRETS WordPress plugin and spend more time actually selling! Documentation See the full plugin examples and documentation here The SimplyRETS plugin makes it easy an intuitive to show your listings on your site in a way that you want. There’s virtually no restrictions to how you can customize the plugin and your site. The plugin is based around shortcodes; there are shortcodes for listings, search forms, sliders, and more. Each of these shortcodes takes attributes that refine which listings are pulled. For example: To show all listings from your MLS: [sr_listings] but to only show listings from a specific agent: [sr_listings agent=”AGENTID”] ..read more about the available attributes [here][#Available-Attributes]. Contents Shortcodes Show Listings Search Form Featured Listing Slider Interactive Map Search Available Filters Admin Settings / Permalinks MLS Compliance Settings Widgets Trial Listings SimplyRETS Pages Customizing CSS Support / More Documentation Shortcodes Most of the plugin is built around using shortcodes. This allows the most flexibility for customizing your own layout and search pages. SimplyRETS Listings Shortcode [sr_listings] This is the main shortcode for showing listings on any page of your site. Put this shortcode onto any page and, voila, you’ve got listings! This shortcode takes many different [attributes][shortcodes attributes], and you can combine almost any of them. If you want to use the listings shortcode, but only show listings above $500,000 then you would simply add the minprice attribute: [sr_listings minprice=”500000″] So how about the same minimum price, but only for one specific agent? Easy! [sr_listings minprice=”500000″ agent=”ID”] (Note: the ID is provided by your MLS) SimplyRETS Search Form Shortcode [sr_search_form] Next up is the search form shortcode. This is what ties together the ability to search and view listings. This shortcode also takes a few different attributes, but not quite as many as the listings shortcode because the user will change them. For example, you can set up a search form that will only search form that will always search one specific office or brokerage: [sr_search_form brokers=”ID”] (Note: the ID is provided by your MLS) You can also set the search form to search pre-designated property types (like Residential and Condominium). To do so, use the type attribute within the sr_search_form short-code: This will default to search Rentals only: [sr_search_form type=”Rental”] This will default to search Commercial and Land only: [sr_search_form type=”Land; Commercial”] There are several use-cases for the search form and you can put it anywhere on your site you want! The two most common ways to use the search form are: On the landing area of your homepage, to get the visitor to start a search immediately. To be used in combination with the listings shortcode, like so: [sr_search_form] [sr_listings] This builds a nice page with an initial set of listings, which promotes the visitor to continue making a search. Listings Slider Shortcode [sr_listings_slider] The listing slider is a great feature that allows you to build a ‘slider’ of listings. See screenshot #7 for a quick glance of how it works. Note: Some attributes (listed below) can take multiple values. sr_listings_slider currently only supports one value per attribute. For example, [sr_listings_slider postalCodes=”123456″] is supported, but [sr_listings_slider postalCodes=”12345; 34567″] is not. Attributes random Show the listings in a random order whenever the page is loaded. [sr_listings_slider random=”true”] The slider shortcode takes all the same attributes as the listings shortcode, which is all of them. So to make a slider with listings over $500,000: [sr_listings_slider minprice=”500000″] And the same minimum price, but only for one specific agent? Easy! [sr_listings_slider minprice=”500000″ agent=”ID”] (Note: the Agent ID is provided by your MLS) Interactive Map Search The SimplyRETS plugin also provides a second kind of map based search that allows the user to search by drawing polygons over and area and setting their parameters. The short-code can be used with: [sr_map_search] Attributes search_form Show search form in addition to the map. [sr_map_search search_form=”true”] list_view Show a list view of search results below the map [sr_map_search list_view=”true”] (Note: Maps can only be enabled when latitude and longitude are available for the listings. Some MLS’s do not provide this, in which case you can check out the SimplyRETS Geocoding Addon.) Available Filters There are ton of attributes available for refining the listings in any way you can imagine. Each of these attributes can be used in any of the shortcodes, and you can use (most of) them in combination with each other like the examples above: mlsid Fetches a single listing by it’s mlsid. [sr_listings mlsid=”12345″] status Refines listings by a certain status, like Active, Pending, or Closed. (Separate multiple with a semicolon ‘;’) [sr_listings status=”Closed”] [sr_listings status=”Active; Pending”] Note: By default, Active and Pending are queried minprice Refines listings to a minimum price. [sr_listings minprice=”500000″] maxprice Refines listings to a maximum price. [sr_listings maxprice=”1000000″] minbeds Set a minimum amount of bedrooms. [sr_listings minbeds=”3″] maxbeds Set a maximum amount of bedrooms. [sr_listings maxbeds=”3″] minbaths Set a minimum amount of baths. [sr_listings minbaths=”3″] maxbaths Set a maximum amount of baths. [sr_listings maxbaths=”3″] q A fuzzy keyword search that will include listings matching a given string. [sr_listings q=”great view”] type Refines listings by a certain type, like Residential, Condo, Rental. [sr_listings type=”Rental”] agent Refines listings to a specific agent by taking an agent’s MLS ID. [sr_listings agent=”JDOE12″] brokers Refines listings to a specific brokerage by taking a brokerage’s MLS ID. [sr_listings brokers=”KWREALTY1″] cities Refines listings to a given set of cities. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings cities=”Houston; Austin; Dallas”] neighborhoods Refines listings to a given set of neighborhoods/subdivisions. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings neighborhoods=”Heights; Downtown; Uptown”] postalcodes Refines listings to a given set of postal codes. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings postalcodes=”12345; 34567″] counties Refines listings to a given set of counties. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings counties=”Harris; Travis”] amenities Refines listings to a given set of amenities. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings amenities=”Granite; Balcony”] features Refines listings to a given set of features. (Separate multiple with a semi-colon). [sr_listings features=”Tennis Court; Waterfront”] water Refines listings to only ones that have a value for the ‘water’ field. true is the only valid value: [sr_listings water=”true”] Note: This is only available for feeds that have a value for ‘water’. vendor Refines listings by a certain vendor or MLS Board. (This is required when your account has multiple MLS’s). [sr_listings vendor=”MFRMLS”] limit The amount of listings to return. Default is 20, maximum is 50. [sr_listings limit=”50″] offset Returns a set of listings and skips the first n, where n is the offset. [sr_listings offset=”20″] sort Displays the listings in a specific order. [sr_listings sort=”listprice”] (The available sort options are listprice, -listprice, listdate, -listdate, baths, -baths, beds, and -beds. Options starting the a minus (-) are high to low, no minus sign is low to high). Note: By default, the listings are sorted by modification time, newest first advanced This attribute is to turn the basic search form into an advanced search form. [sr_search_form advanced=”true”] SimplyRETS Widgets The SimplyRETS plugin comes with several widgets you can use in you sidebar and footer. The currently available widgets include: Search Form Widget The search form widget allows you to add an MLS search in the sidebar or footer of your site. Featured Listing Widget This takes one listing MLS id, and will embed the property in a widget with a link to the details page of that property Random Listing Widget This is similar to the Featured Listing Widget, but takes multiple MLS Id’s. On each page load, it will show one of the listings provided. Agents Listing Widget The search form widget allows you to add an MLS search in the sidebar or footer of your site. Admin Settings and Permalinks This sections will discuss some of the basic configuration options available to admin’s through the plugin: Account credentials The account credentials section in the admin settings is where you’ll enter your API Credentials for your SimplyRETS app. If you don’t yet have a SimplyRETS app, the default demo credentials will be available. Single Listing Page Settings These settings allow you to control various parts of the listing details pages, including the contact form and some of the fields that are shown. Contact form lead capture When this is enabled, a lead capture contact form will be shown at the bottom of listing details pages. In the Send lead capture form submissions to input, you can enter the email address where you’d like to receive lead emails. Note: The WordPress admin email is used if no email is provided Show/Hide fields Show and/or hide various parts of the listing details page: Hide ‘Listing meta information’ fields from property details? This option hides listDate, modificationTimestamp, taxYear, and taxAmmount from listing details pages. Do not show Agent/Office phone number and email address If checked, the listing office and agent’s contact information will not be shown. Note that, in most cases, the name will still be shown. Hide ‘Listing Remarks’ (description) field from property details? If checked, the listing description will not be dispayed. Show additional room details? If available, extra information about the listing’s rooms will be shown when this is enabled. Show MLS status text if available (hide standardized status)? If a statusText is available for the listing, show that instead of the standardized status. Read more about statusText here Image gallery settings There are two types of image galleries available for listing details pages: fancy and classic. Here, you can choose which one you’d like to use. Permalinks SimplyRETS has support for ‘pretty’ and ‘ugly’ permalinks. It will choose the best one based on your current configuration and there are a couple of options to fine-tune it. If your WordPress site uses ‘default’ (ugly) permalinks, the plugin is forced to use those as well. If your WordPress site is using ‘pretty’ permalinks, you can choose between ‘pretty’ and ‘extra pretty’ SimplyRETS links in the “Permalnks” section of the admin panel. Here are some basic examples: Pretty: http://yoursite.com/listings/{id}/{streetAddress} Extra Pretty: http://yoursite.com/listings/{city}/{state}/{postalCode}/{streetAddress}/{id} MLS Compliance Settings In some cases, you may need to show additional disclaimers and information for broker reciprocity. The SimplyRETS WordPress plugin has some options you can use to make this easier. Show brokerage name by listing summaries In the SimplyRETS Settings page of your WordPress dashboard you will find a setting called “Show brokerage name”. With this enabled, the name of the listing brokerage will be shown next to all thumbnail and summary sections, as well as on listing details pages. IDX Image for listing summaries This option allows you to add a URL for an image that will be shown with all listing summaries. For example, a broker reciprocity image can be added, and anywhere a listing summary is shown that image will be shown as well. Custom disclaimer If you need to add a custom disclaimer to your website, the SimplyRETS plugin offers a way for you to do so. On the Settings -> SimplyRETS Settings page there is an option called “Custom disclaimer”. In this box, you can paste the text or HTML for your own disclaimer. A few notes: Use the {lastUpdate} variable to splice in a timestamp for the last time the listings were updated. You can use HTML or plain text. Disclaimers will be shown at the bottom of the output for every short-code. Trial Listings You can use the Trial Listings as much as you need before you set up your own. They only contain a subset of the options that are available from most MLS’s, but there is plenty to work with! Here’s how to get hem set up: Navigate to the SimplyRETS Settings page in your WordPress dashboard Settings -> SimplyRETS Insert the testing API Keys (Username: simplyrets Password: simplyrets) The trial listings are activated automatically – so if you’re installing the plugin for the first time, you don’t need to do the above steps. SimplyRETS Pages Note: SimplyRETS pages are no longer the recommended way of creating listing pages. Instead, we recommend creating a regular WordPress Page and using the short-codes directly. SimplyRETS pages allow for an easy way to get up and running with new pages. Here’s a few tips: To create a new page, navigate to SimplyRETS -> Add New Page in your WordPress dashboard. (by default these pages will show all of your listings – 25 per page). Name it, publish it, and you’re done! You can add filters to this page by editing the post and using the Filter Results on this Page options. You can add filters for price, agent, min/max bed, min/max bath and more. SimplyRETS Pages give you the ability to choose from your theme’s available templates. Note: it is usually recommended to use the shortcodes directly since they give you much more control and options, however if you’re a theme developer then customizing the SimplyRETS pages may be the best option. Customizing the CSS We’re are totally OK with you tweaking the CSS and changing it to fit your needs. As a matter of fact, we want you to! If you need to add any custom styling you can add custom CSS using our Style Guide. The Style Guide will show you which classes and id’s to use to when adding your own css. You can find it here: SimplyRETS Style Guide Support, Contributing, and More Information We want to hear from you! Whether you’re an agent or developer, need help getting set up, or want to contribute some code – come one come all. Feature Request? If you have a suggestion for a new feature to add to the plugin, let us know! We’re always looking to expand our plugin to give you what you need to make the best possible site. Email support@simplyrets.com if you have an idea, we’d love to hear it! For Developers If you’re interested in building your own Plugin or Application, SimplyRETS offers several different API’s specifically geared towards developers. We provide a JSON API’s to access the same data you see in this plugin, as well as other services like Database population and analytics, and geocoding. The API’s are simple, and the documentation is robust. Try it out and let us know what you think. Visit the SimplyRETS website for more details and a full list of services: SimplyRETS Features There is more documentation for both the SimplyRETS API, and the SimplyRETS WordPress plugin. You can dig into all of that on the SimplyRETS Docs website: SimplyRETS Documentation