Uploading Properties to RightMove.co.uk

I'm putting the finishing touches to a recent project for an estate agent and thought I would blog about the process:

Summary: My client, an estate agent, was currently adding their properties to their own website and then also adding them to RightMove and basically repeating the 'addition' process for every property. Very tedious and time consuming so they approached me about uploading to RightMove automatically...

Started off by contacting RightMove and asking whether it was possible, and yep it was and many agents are now doing it this way as it makes a lot of sense. So they gave me their Automated Datafeed specification and my work had begun!

In a nutshell, I had to extract the data for all their properties from the database on the website, get everything in the right format and then upload it to RightMove. Yeah, easier said than done! :)

Here's how I've done it...
1. Wrote a PHP script that will extract all the properties from the MySQL DB at the end of the working day to grab all the latest properties. It then save the data into a delimited file with all required RightMove fields.
2. Now we have this data file, we need to 'Zip' it up along with all the photos for the properties. Did this with http://www.7-zip.org/ and wrote a batch file for the process.
3. The batch file then runs FTP and uploads the Zip file to RightMove.
4. A Scheduled Task will then run the batch file each night.
5. RightMove receive the datafeed file, process it, and Bobs Your Uncle, the properties all appear on RightMove.

I also had to increase the amount of validation on the estate agent website so that when they add their properties, all of the data is good. Else otherwise when it gets to RightMove they will not be able to process it properly.

Client is now more productive as they only have to add each property once to their own website. And I'm happy as its been quite a nice project to work on.

If there are any other estate agents who can benefit from a process like this then please give me a shout! In fact, AutoTrader allow the same bulk data upload for any car dealers who may be reading.

Cheers,
Swof

Corporate Impact Videos

Here are some Corporate impact video templates that would look great on a website to impress your visitors. Impact videos are great for advertising your services and tend to convert really well. Let me know if you are interested in having one created...







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PR Impact Videos

I was recently asked about producing some videos for a PR company and I've put together this collection of impact video templates. Impact videos are great for advertising your services and tend to convert really well...

.CO domain, the new .COM

.CO is a new global domain extension - available to anyone or any company worldwide.

So for the first time in many years, .CO will provide a significant new opportunity to register a truly global, recognisable and credible domain name extension.

.COM domains are now used everywhere. Due to its meaningful and universal appeal, .CO has a similar potential to grow quickly.


Let me know if you would like to register a .co domain...

How 'Bright' is your CRM?

As a Web Developer, I'm always looking at ways of making life easier by using the web to streamline our business processes. Here is a good example...

I'm sure you already have a website for your business, right? And on this website is probably a contact form? And when someone completes the form it e-mails you all the details, and your left thinking of a way to store their contact information. Sound familiar?

Well, I would like to recommend a great CRM system called Bright Pearl which is a web based system that does lots of clever things... Including the use of 'Smart Forms' which allows your website contact form to generate a new contact automatically into your database. Cool right? 

And once their in your database the fun really starts... You can contact them individually, mailshot everyone using MailChimp (which is what I'm doing right now) and it even has an Accounts system allowing you to generate Invoices with their details on, etc.

But don't take my word for it, I want you to try it free for 30 days! Here is a direct link: http://www.brightpearl.co.uk/?aid=37867

Cloud Computing rocks!
Steve

iPhone 4G

Rumours are all over the internet about Apple's next iPhone, the 4G, with more pictures and videos leaking and cropping up. Gizmodo.com got their hands on one after it was found lost in a bar in Redwood City near California. Here is their full review with pictures and a video: http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

New hardware features include a front facing camera and an improved back-camera which now has a flash.

The new iPhone OS 4.0 is due for release this summer with software improvements such as multitasking and the ability to organise your apps into folders. So the iPhone 4G will no doubt be supplied with this OS update. The update will also be available for the iPhone 3G, 3GS and the 2nd/3rd gen iPod Touches. Full details about the update are available here: http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/

So will we be able to use the 4G network in the UK? Well, not for a while by the looks of it. We are still struggling to get 3G everywhere and 4G coverage is way off. In fact, the UK's future 4G network has tech companies divided: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-02/16/uk%27s-future-4g-network-has-tech-companies-divided?page=all

With this in mind, Apple are thought to be calling it the iPhone HD rather than the 4G. Either way, it's sure to be hot property and will no doubt boost their market share of the mobile world even more. The official release date is thought to be April 2011.

My 5 favourite iPhone apps

As I've started developing iPhone apps, I thought I would write about my current 5 favourite apps...

5. iTranslate
A language translation app based on Google Translate. I'm currently trying to learn Spanish so this is great for tapping in sentences and getting the translation.

4. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great business tool and posting and checking updates on the iPhone is something I do when I'm wating around for something. If you want to connect with me, I'm here: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/steveswoffer

3. iHandy Level
This is a clever app which uses the iPhone's accelerometer to display a virtual spirit level! When doing virtual tours I need to make sure I have my camera flat on top of the tripod so this is very useful.

2. Dropbox
I use Dropbox a lot for backup and file sharing with colleagues and being able to view the same docs and pictures on the iPhone is pretty useful.

1. TweetDeck
Probably the thing I do most on the iPhone is tweet and TweetDeck is a great app for using Twitter.If you want to follow me I'm over at: http://twitter.com/SteveSwoffer

I'll be speaking about iPhone apps at Circle Events on the 17th March.