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September 2023 Release

The September 2023 release is here, and it includes many new enhancements, fixes and improvements to the UI of the HomeDiary system, which is now the backbone of the FloorPlanOnline tour platform, so this blog post goes through it in detail.  And if you have not noticed, we are now defaulting you to the new HomeDiary PRO website experience because it really has a lot of cool and new features, it is much more usable, plus it should work on an iPad and even a phone in a pinch.  When you place an order, the order will be under the new account interface as well, including all associated emails relating to the order.

If you need to, you can still access the old FloorPlanOnline platform by clicking the menu at the top that says Back to FloorPlanOnline, but most of the functionality should be in the new system at this point.

Update to the Stories Page

Stories is where you go to manage, edit and download content for your virtual tours.  You can also create a New Order using the “+ New Order” button.  We added functions under the Action column, with anything active in orange color, and anything not active in a light gray color.  That way it is clear where to go to download your photos or manage your Media for example, or to edit the property presentation (the tour look and feel), all in one click.

A summary of the options under Actions:

  • Property – add the location, description, Property facts (like size, year built, beds/baths), features, Price, MLS number, and  owner/co-listing info.
  • Order – see what you ordered and the status of it, view/print your invoice for the order and order additional things after the initial production of the tour.
  • Photo/Media – download photos, floor plans & videos, get access to your virtual tour and other links, edit the Photo Gallery, Slideshow Video and Floor Plans, edit and download flyers and more.
  • Presentation – customize the look and feel of your virtual tour – pick from various themes, show or hide content and even reorder the content sections, so if you want the Photo Gallery, or the contact from, up at towards the top of the tour page, you can drag it in your desired order and save (you can also set the default in your profile).
  • Publishing – publish a produced tour to make it visible via search engines and more. If you have added your MLS in your profile, and we can automatically link it to the MLS (select MLSs only), it will also show here.
  • Disable – disable a published tour.  You can reactive a disabled tour by selecting Order and the reactivate button.
Story Manage page for all virtual tour management and media downloads

Manage Listing Status in One Click

You can also easily manage the status of your listings from Active to Sold just by mousing over the status icon and selecting the right status for your listing and its associated Story.  This also helps managing the Story page, because at the top you can filter to just show Active Stories, for example, and it will just display those tours marked as Active, as you see in the screenshot below.  Remove the filter to see all tours created over time.

manage story status

Gallery Page

We added a new way to just view the photos in the Gallery Link. Click the View Gallery button and it pops a new tab to show your images in that view. See Sample.

This Gallery page is also accessed via a button on the shared media page, a page that does not require login access, so you can share it with anyone.  Just copy/paste the link into an email and the other person gets access to the downloads too. See sample.

 

gallery page display for a virtual tour

Quickly Download Photos

When a tour is produced, you should get an email notifying you that it was produced (example in the screenshot below).  The email has links to the virtual tours as well as the media downloads.  We updated this to go directly to the download photos page, so it is one click from the email right to Photo downloads!  We also default it to the Print Quality Photo size – at this point, most MLS systems should be able to resize to fit their needs, and some require larger than HD size (1920 pixels), so when in doubt, just download the Print Quality size and upload that to the MLS, or where ever else they need to go.  Note, you can create your own custom size on the fly as well using that option, just check the box and enter your desired dimensions.  

 

email media
download photos

The Download link now takes you directly to the Media page and the download section for the media type selected.

The Tour Links will take you right to the virtual tour, or Story.  Read below on how the tour can get you more business with Brandkeepr.

  • Branded – shows your branding on it – this is good for your own email marketing or blog posts, social media posting, etc.
  • Unbranded – the base unbranded version removes all of your branding – this is accepted by most MLS systems and is needed to comply with the IDX rules that prohibit agent branding on listings distributed to various brokerage sites.
  • Restricted – use this URL if your MLS does not want ANY out links from the tour, no address (which can have links via the map) and other restrictions.  Some MLSs that we know need this link – e.g., CRMLS, NWMLS.  This is the bare bones tour.

Download Videos

We added a way to download the Custom Videos created for you under the Custom Video section on the Media page. This only applies to new videos created as of writing this post.  Just click the download icon to download the video to your computer or mobile device.  You can then upload it natively to the various social media platforms. You can also click play to pop the video in a larger window – the video link should be on the video when you click the airplane icon.  

download custom video

Note: while it did not make it in this round, we will be adding ways to get your video links as well as make review comments on the videos in this section as well, coming in a future release.   You can also download the Slideshow video included – scroll down to the Slideshow video section and select the download button.

How to get FREE leads on the top sites like Zillow?

Put the unbranded tour into the MLS.  We do the rest. With Brandkeepr.

Brandkeepr is our patented process where we automatically convert the unbranded (or restricted unbranded) tour you put into the MLS back to a branded version on select “public” portal websites – Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Homes.com, etc. On 98% of the Top 10 sites, we can show your branded virtual tour when clicked on from these larger websites.

You can even set up Brandkeepr for your own website or company website – after all, if you are a Keller Williams agent, there is no harm in having your branded tour show on KW.com.  Just go to your Profile (top right) and scroll down to the Brandkeepr section and add as many sites as you want – just respect IDX rules on your direct competitor sites.

What people see when they click the virtual tour link from within the MLS is the unbranded tour…as well as on all of your direct competitors’ websites.  But on Zillow and others we show the branded tour.  This has helped our clients get free buyer and seller leads, leveraging the tour they already have to win even more business!  Our tour showcases all of the great content buyers want to see, and sellers appreciate it.  That is why we have had one agent re-list the same house 3 times now = each buyer wanted the same content to sell their home as they got when they bought it, so they sought out that original listing agent.

The HomeDiary Story = more business for you, if you put it into the MLS as the virtual tour…

brandkeepr April 2022

Featured Listing Page

We added a new way to customize your featured listings page, both the section that shows on the virtual tours, as well as the separate link to the page, which you can use to embed on your own website or blog.  See below for more on that…  You can now select what tours to show on your tours as well as the display order.  

See the Video for more.

Embed your featured listing page on your own website or blog.

Use this sample html embed code to quickly and easily add your featured listings (our virtual tours or Stories) to your won website.  Just add a new embed code module (most sites have this functionality), and just remember to change the number in this sample code to your customer ID.  Your customer ID is under your profile, at the top of the page next to your name – MID xxxxx – in the example below the ID is 66.

account ID

 

The embed code (iframe) code to use is below – just change the x’s with your actual tour/order ID and if you need to adjust the height, play around with the 85  — 90 will make it fill up more of the page, something like 75 will do less…

<iframe width=”100%” src=”https://my.homediary.com/story/featured/xxxxxx” frameborder=”0″ style=”height:85vh;width:100%”></iframe>

Additional Addons – Post Production

Once a tour has been produced, you can now add on additional enhancements, even if they were not ordered originally at the time you created the order.  Just select the Order link under Actions and scroll down to the bottom of the page and select additional addons available.   We will get the order and complete the enhancement and add it back to your tour and order.

The Order page is where you go to find all what you ordered, who the service provider was, how much it costs and you can even print the invoice associated with the order. 

 

order addons for additional enhancements
displayed content lets you set the order of how content is displayed on the tour

Displayed Content Order

You now have the option to display the tour content in any order you want, so if you want to show the Matterport, Photos or even the Contact form towards the top of the tour, just click and hold your mouse on the content section and drag it to the desired location.  When done, save and the tour you are working on will show the content in that order.

If you want this order to be the default for every tour you create, just go to Profile Settings (top right menu where your name and photo is location) and go to the Default Presentation Settings and change the order here.  Save and every tour you create in the future will show this order.  Note it will not change older tours. You will need to adjust those manually if you want them to have a different order.  

If you want to hide certain content sections, just click the toggle next to the Content section to turn it off – that content section will not show on the tour.  This is great if you have a custom video and want to hide the built in Slideshow video, or maybe you have a tour for a rental and you want to turn off the Claim Home option, which allows the buyer to claim the home and get the listing content put into their own private HomeDiary account.  Again, this can be done on a tour by tour basis, or as part of the system default. 

Tour Reporting

We now have both the high level summary tour reporting for visits and vistors, along with more detailed reporting – click the View More link to see the complete reporting page for the listing.  Just go to the Presentation sub-menu option for the listing and then scroll down to the bottom to see the Reports section.

reporting - summary and more detailed reporting

The detailed reporting looks like this…

Visitor Statistics detail reporting

That’s about it for the major things in the release.  As always, if you need help, just reach out to us at support@floorplanonline.com.  

4th of July, 2023

Happy 4th of July to our great country, and customers

To get your own virtual timelapse for your listing, just select it when you place an order.  We will deliver the video and the included virtual twilight photo with our regular tour order.  Priced at $75, it is a great value considering you get the virtual twilight image (priced at $35) as well.

Terry Wins Listings with FloorPlanOnline

We love hearing from our happy customers!

As a long time top producer, I met the owner of this company at a Realtor Trade show many years ago and immediately added FloorPlanOnline to my business plan.  At first I just used it for higher end properties, and I quickly decided to use it for ALL my residential properties. It is point and shoot, affordable and I obtain listings due to my excellent marketing presentation--which includes FloorPlanOnline data--and Clients are impressed/hire me as they also see this value. I demonstrate this value in my Zoom presentations, send past listings in email presentations, as well as in-person follow-up emails. The editable floor plans, (which every Seller and Buyer want), the professional photos/virtual tours/scans, the QR codes and their property websites ROCK!I recommend this company to any Real Estate residential professional. This company helps me win in listing competitions and helps me with future Client loyalty as they recommend me to their friends/family and use me again and again as my listings have more market activity, shorter days on market and sell for more money!  I love FloorPlanOnline!

Terry Miller

Realtor, CRS, CRB, CIPS, WPM & Managing Broker | International President's Elite, Coldwell Banker Bain

New Platform Updates for June 2023

New Platform Updates for June 2023

We did a comprehensive development release on June 4, 2023, that added several new features and addons to the HomeDiary Story (i.e. virtual tour) platform, along with some bug fixes, including

  • Drag & drop/reposition the various content sections on the Story to your desired order (see screenshot above)
  • Add branded documents to the branded version of the Story
  • New Addon – Virtual Timelapse video
  • New Addon – Blue Skies through Windows
  • Added Pre-Shoot and Re-Shoot options under No Tour
  • Bugs & Fixes
    • Updated the Social Media video to a 9:16 aspect ratio (portrait orientation) to better fit with Instagram, TikTok and Facebook Reels. The price of this addon remains the same at $25. 
    • Bathrooms now properly account for 3/4 baths on the Hero features
    • Changed “asking” to “price” for the listing price of the property
    • Fixed co-listing display issues on the flyer editor
    • Profile display settings fixed to show correctly on tour
    • Simplified the Matterport links provided to match Matterport’s standard convention

See below for more details on some new items.

Drag & Drop Content Sections on Story 

With this new option, you can change the order of the content displayed on your virtual tour by simply dragging and dropping the content in the desired order.  Save and update, and the tour is updated.  So if you want Matterport, or the Photo Gallery to be at the top of the tour, right below the “Hero” image, you can change the layout.

You can also change the default order in your profile settings, which will apply to all future tours created. So set it once and forget it.  Check out the video on how easy it is to do.

Branded Documents

With this new tour enhancement, you can upload any kind of branded document, and as long as you mark it contains branded content, it will only show on the branded version of the virtual tour.  This is a great option to add a detailed property overview, a sales sheet about you and your brokerage, a custom property brochure and more.  Check out the video on how easy it is to do, and because we can show the branded version of the virtual tour on the top sites like Zillow with our patented Brandkeepr feature, this content will get seen more often than not as well!

Virtual Timelapse Addon

With the Virtual Timelapse addon, priced at $75, we simulate a 24 hour period at the property using just one daytime photo.  The video gets added to your slideshow video (and/or other custom videos) so you can make your content stand out further.  You also get a virtual twilight photo included as a bonus, a $35 value. Just pick the preferred location of the photo and sky for the virtual twilight photo, and we will create the video and image, then add them to your tour.  Check out some of the examples on how cool it looks.

Click here to see a few more examples 

Blue Skies Through Windows

With the Blue Skies through Windows addon, we will add a blue sky to the selected number of window views, starting with the most important view shots.  So, regardless of the day outside, we can always make it a blue sky day!  Priced at $50 for sets of up to 10 photos.  Just select how many photos you want and we will do the PhotoShop editing and deliver the images for download. 

Susan Feldman, eXp Review

We love hearing from our customers.  Here’s a great review from Susan Feldman, Realtor with eXp.  You can view her website here susansaysrealestate.com

susan logo

Several years ago, I was searching for a way to provide floor plans for my listings and was so fortunate to find FloorPlanOnline and incredible Ace Photographer/Market Manager Christine Cox!

They are the real deal for sure! Not only do they create stunning photos, detailed floor plans, 3D walkthroughs, drone photography and movie quality video, but they deliver everything in a "done for you" platform that is oh so easy to navigate. Each customizable website looks like you spent hours creating it, when really it is 100% plug and play. After Christine works her magic onsite, the editors work behind the scenes to develop a comprehensive digital program that is a show worthy, multifaceted marketing piece that will truly blow your clients away. And, it's done in record time- less than 48 hours! The people in customer service are equally impressive, handling requests, edits and questions in a timely manner with kindness and grace.

Owner Kris Cone has definitely created an amazing service and gathered an unbeatable team of highly creative and talented professionals around him. Additionally, they are ever evolving, adding new and relevant features that will make you shine online from start to finish and beyond. I highly recommend Christine and FloorPlanOnline. I can't imagine going anywhere else.

Brokered by eXp Color1 

Susan Feldman

Realtor, eXp Realty

How many bathrooms?

How many bathrooms?

A few fixes on the property information displayed on the tour.

 

1. We have changed the term for listing price from Asking to Price as you see in the screenshot

2. You have new options to show or hide the property description on the Hero View – the initial view you see when the tour loads.  In addition, you can show or hide property info such as the price, beds, baths, etc, like you see on the screenshot.  See the video below for more on how to configure to your liking.

3. We have fixed the issue of the display of the bathrooms on the tour and on the flyers. We had an issue where 3/4 bathrooms were not being displayed correctly.  They now show up right, and you actually have two options to show bathrooms – either the total calculated, which matches how the RESO standard defines the total bathroom count, or you can input your own number for display.  For RESO, if a home has 2 full baths, 2 3/4 baths and 2 half baths, the total bathroom count = 6.  If you don’t want that, you can override it with your desired total.  See below for more.

Customize the Hero View

Customize the Bath Count

property detail

RESO Standard

If you select Calculate Total, the system will calculate the total bathroom count equal the total number of bathrooms regardless of the fixture count. A bathroom is counted as a bathroom, whether it is a full, 3/4, 1/2 or 1/4 bath. This is coming straight from the RESO Standards definition and should match how things are displayed on sites like Zillow. 

Example = 5 baths

  • 2 full baths
  • 1 3/4 bath
  • 2 half baths

 

calculate bath total

click to enlarge

input your own total

click to enlarge

Your Total

With this option, you can input any total bathroom count you want to display, while still showing the detail of full, 3/4, and half baths in the details.  Just untoggle the Calculate Total button and input whatever total you want to show for Total Baths.

Example =  3.25 baths 

  • 2 full baths
  • 1 3/4 bath
  • 1 half bath

 

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