We have made a development fix for the new tour and its support for Internet Explorer 6. There was an issue with the new tour layout and users who have Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6) installed as their web browser – these users could not see some of the content and formatting. IE 6 is an old, outdated version that does not support some of the functionality and features on the new tour format.
With the fix, we now detect the browser of the user, and if they have IE 6 on their computer, we will show the old tour format to that user vs the new tour format. This will ensure the user sees the content of the tour…it will just be in a different format. As long as you created the tour in the new format, this browser detection is automatically supported – you do not need to do anything.
If you are using IE 6, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer – version 8 and also upgrade your flash player, or download Firefox. Firefox is a great alternative to IE. It is generally faster as well and has some customization capabilities. You can download Firefox at www.firefox.com. Please also install the Adobe Flash (to see the tour content) and Adobe Reader (to view PDF files) plugins. Please note Microsoft is ending its support for IE 6 completely in July…so if you have it, your computer is going to have a very high security risk for getting viruses, malware and spyware. We STRONGLY recommend you upgrade.
We are also working on some fixes to the content area that we hope to have live next week, that include automatically adjusting the content area for the screen size so the content area is always visible on the screen and we show the photos side by side with the floorplan. Currently, if you have a narrower screen size (for example 1024×768) we show the embedded floorplan view which has photos popping on top of the floorplan.
Thanks for the feedback and as always, your business!
I wanted to thank everyone for the positive and negative feedback on the new tour layout. Some people love it…some people do not. Let me address some issues, and resolution to the issues.
1. Floor plan view – first…some people are not seeing the floorplan side-by-side with photos (similar to the old tour view). The reason is we have a screen resolution detection feature to show a different view to some users based on their computer screen, and right now, it is set to not show the right tour for some users. We are changing this by the end of this week, so if your screen is 1000 pixels or wider, you will see the floor plan side-by-side with photos. If your screen is less than 1200 pixels (which is less than 2% of users, per our statistics), then you will see an embedded floor plan view where the photos show on top of the floor plan. To see your screen resolution on a Windows computer, just right click your mouse on your desktop and then either select Screen Resolution (Windows 7) or Properties, then Settings (Windows XP).
The floor plan side-by-side photos view should look like this screen shot….photo on the left, floor plan on the right. The floor plan can also be zoomed in.
2. Content window and scrolling. We understand some people may need to scroll to see all the content window. We are working on making an adjustment to the content window to make it a little smaller if your screen height is 900 pixels or less, which should reduce the need for scrolling. If you have many toolbars on your browser, you may still have to scroll….but you can disable the toolbar by removing them under VIEW, Toolbars and un-check those you do not need.
Well, the dust has settled from our weekend release of the new tour. The release went surprisingly well….probably one of the best releases we have ever done in terms of few issues and the issues getting fixed quickly. I did want to point out a few things that have come up today regarding the new tour and tour conversion.
1. Portrait vs Wide-screen View. Depending on your screen resolution, you may see a little different content view for photos, video and the floor plan. If you have a screen resolution of 1024 pixels wide or less, you should see the “Portrait” version of the tour, which has photos in a 4:3 aspect ratio (similar to the old TV size before we had wide-screen TVs) and the Floor Plan View is the embedded floor plan vs the side by side floor plan view. We have set it up this way because the content would have to be very small or it will run off the page to the right. So to provide users with these screen resolutions the best view, we alter what they see to the Portrait view. Users with screen resolutions larger than 1024 will see the Wide-screen view which has photos in a 3:2 aspect ratio (what most digital SLRs shoot today) and 16:9 photos will be supported with an ability to mouse around the photo. In addition, the Floor Plan View will have the photos (here they are in a 4:3 aspect ratio) side by side with the floor plan, similar to the old tour view. You can always change a Portrait version to a wide-screen by adding &ws=1 to the end of the tour lnk, such as www.seetheproperty.com/presentation_v2/presentation.php?order_id=61383&mode=branded&ws=1 ….so if you do see the portrait version, you can see how the Wide-screen will look.
We have noticed that on some computers, the widescreen version is not showing up as the default view when it should be…the Portrait version is, so that is something we are working to fix.
2. FloorPlan/Photo Icon issue for tours created between April 15th and April 30th. For tours produced between April 15th and April 30th, we have done some work to ready the floor plan for the new tour by making a version of it in Flash, so it can be zoomed in if it is used in the new tour. Right now, if you convert a tour produced during this time frame to the new FPO 2.0 format, the floorplan on the tour is automatically changing to this flash version. This causes all of the photo icons on the floor plan to be mis-placed because it is a different size and file type. Therefore, be aware that if we convert the tour, the photos may need to be repositioned. You can do this for free or we can do this for the $20 conversion fee – if this issue was brought up to you before the conversion. We are working on a fix here.
3. Content Area View-ability. On some computers you may not be able to see the complete content area without scrolling. We are aware of this issue and are working on a fix to adjust the size of the content window if your vertical screen resolution is 900 pixels or less. We will make the content area a little smaller so it fits on the screen without scrolling.
4. Some Internet Explorer Issues. On some computers, the Photos and Video may not load…you may get a blank area. It appears to be an issue with Adobe Flash. The simple fix is go to www.adobe.com and download the most recent version of Flash. Install the update, close out your browser window, and then open it up again and try the tour. This seems to fix the problem. We are investigating what changed, as it was fine last week….this could have been caused by a recent Windows Update. The tour works in Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Go figure…another issue with Microsoft software???
We have had some great comments so far. Please send us comments, testimonials, complaints and more!
FloorPlanOnline Marketing Director Chris Drayer Spoke with Mike Muller about the new FPO 2.0 Live on the M Files Real Estate Technology Radio Show Today.
I am pleased to announce we have changed our sign rider process, for the better. In the past, we acted as a middleman to place orders with a sign vendor. Now, we are directing you to ABetterSign.com, a Georgia company that can ship signs anywhere in the United States. The benefits of this arrangement are many:
Lower Price – signs are now $10.40, so with shipping, you can get a sign for around $20. We do not make any money on the sign….so you save at least $10 a sign. Plus, since we are no longer the “merchant” there is no sales tax.
Higher Quality – we have narrowed the material choice to a new Duraplast material which is a solid plastic sign that is similar to wood. No more corrugated plastic! It is a very nice, solid material and will stand up to a lot of weather.
More Customization – now, you can pick from different templates and customize the sign EXACTLY to how you want it. You can upload an image of the house, of you, or just have a direct link to the virtual tour. You can also pick different sign sizes and colors. How it looks is up to you and they have an easy to use online design tool. You can save your initial design and then reuse it for different tours in the future.
The new process might take a few more minutes, since you will need to enter your shipping and billing info with Abettersign. But you can save your information by creating an account. Overall, we think you will be much happier with the end product at a great price, and that is what matters most! If you want to save even more money, get a few signs with www.FloorPlanOnline.com/_____ and fill in the blanks with numbers that can be resued.
Why get a sign rider? According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2009 report, 59% of respondents quoted the Yard Sign as an information source used frequently or occasionally. Of course, 90% said the Internet was used as a source! We provide a basic mobile tour for every listing….so let people see some basic info while they are driving by….which can lead them back to you! Plus, it can save on printing costs with flyers if they can get the basic stuff at the “point of browsing” without a piece of paper. And did I mention, it is greener too!
To place a sign order, just select Order Now once you confirm a new tour order, or go to Manage Orders, and click the “view” link under Tour Upgrades, then the Order Now button for Sign Riders. A new web page will open to ABetterSign.com and you can create your new sign!
We are pleased to announce that the new, FPO 2.0 Virtual Tour format is live. The new tour format will apply to all tour orders placed on or after May 1, 2010.
See an overview video below or check out the FAQs to get answers to some common questions.
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