The past few weeks at ByTheOwner’s web development offices were focused on upgrading the search tools available under the Find a property tab. The advanced search, map search and search by phone number (which becomes the search for a specific property) all received important changes.

Advanced search

This page’s layout has been re-designed so that you can get a quick look of all the parameters chosen without having to scroll down. Instead of displaying a long list of checkboxes for the cities and types of properties, we’ve decided to roll back and use a control we had in the past : The available cities are displayed in a list-box. The visitor then clicks on the cities he’s interested in and sends them to a second list-box, using arrow buttons. Note that you can send multiple properties using the CTRL and SHIFT buttons or by clicking and dragging your mouse over the cities.

A keyword field was also added just below the options so you can be even more specific in your search. Simply type in the words you search for, separated by spaces and click on the search button.

Google Map search

The map search also received a lot of upgrades.

The provinces, regions, and cities markers were all replaced by a red target icon whose size represents the number of properties available in it. Keeping the same marker icon for those 3 steps makes it clearer and more intuitive to use.

The posted markers adjust themselves now automatically according to the zoom level and the map movements. In the past, it was necessary to click on the markers to enter a province, then in an area, a city, etc… Now, if a visitor uses directly the google maps controls to explore the map, the areas, cities or properties are displayed automatically.

A Jump to city field above the map makes it possible for visitors to quickly position the map on a city of their choice. Simply type in the city name and push Enter.

The filters you can apply to the map are now available under the button Modify my search criteria.

We have also decided to double the size of the map. This makes the map a lot more interesting to use.

Finally, a maximum of information on the properties is now available directly in the map. When you rollover a property, you get it’s photograph, price and city. When you click on the marker, an infoWindow containing part of the listing, the 320×240 pictures, the owner remarks and contact information opens. The visitor does not have to go back and forth any more from the map to a listing, the map, the listing, the map…

Also, in each search mode, a navigation bar allows the user to go to the other modes quickly in order to use that one that is appropriate to his needs.

Your comments?

Frédérick Dubois, ByTheOwner.com
Web development and programming

The last 3 posts on blog.ByTheOwner.com and ByTheProgrammer.com are now displayed directly on ByTheOwner.com’s home page.

This new feature allows the visitors to see easily if a subject that meet their concerns is talked about in the Real Estate blogs.

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The new Download my pictures link, now available into the Your account section of ByTheOwner’s sellers allows them to save a copy of their home’s pictures onto their personal computer. This new page is usefull for the ones who wish to keep those photos in their files or use them in another advertisement on the free classifieds websites.

In order to download your pictures :

1. Right-click on the picture;
2. Select the Save picture as option;
3. Choose an easy to remind folder on your local computer;
4. Rename the picture as you wish;
5. Click on the Save button!

A new column was added to the Room dimensions box in the fsbo listings on bytheowner. Owners can now assign the floor covering type of each room in their property, to help visitors figure out more about their home.

Frédérick Dubois, ByTheOwner.com
Web development and programming

The english version of neuves.DuProprio.com, the selling tool custom made for builders is now available at newhomes.ByTheOwner.com

Have a look!

Frédérick Dubois, ByTheOwner.com
Web development and programming

The following image shows some adjustments that were made to the search results based on the suggestions you gave us.

Many told us they had difficulty finding the city and price in a glance. So we’ve decided to put the city at the very beginning of the line and drop the property type just below. It’s easier to read this way.

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A new tool was released this week in the Your Account sections of our customers.
The detailed stats page provides to the owners all the infos concerning the number of visits on their listing, the number of times their property is displayed in the search results and the number of unique visitors coming to their property. When a potential buyer visits a property for the second time, it is not counted as being “unique”.

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An online property value report option has been added this week in the homes for sale’s descriptions. It’s available for most of the properties in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia.

This online tool, from Home Valuations Canada, provides an instant online estimated value of your home based on market sales and trends in your area.

A link located in the I’m interested! box of each property’s description will take you to the homevaluationscanada.com website, where you can order your report.

For a year now, the 5 digits codes that used to be indicated on the lawn signs have been replaced by the owner’s phone number. To make it easier to find a property that you’ve seen on the street, a new search tool has been inserted on the right column of ByTheOwner’s home page.

Enter the phone number in the box and you’ll get directly in the properties description.

Note that you don’t have to follow any particular format when you enter the number.

You see them popping everywhere on your favorite websites. These cool effects that seemed to be possible only in flash websites. Javascript and ajax effects are getting more and more popular, and this popularity is built around two names : script.aculo.us and moo.fx.

Those two are javascript effects librairies allowing you to insert pretty cool visual effects in your website. Script.aculo.us is probably the most used actually. We tried it a month ago when we updated the homes listings. Using it, we were able to display the google maps and big pictures without reloading the page, and without having to download them before the user clicks. Only problem was that the librairy’s weight (50Ko) caused our pages to load much slower.

That’s when Moo.fx comes in handy. This librairy contains all the effects that we need and weights only 3Ko. No wonder their quote is “Moo.fx - size does matter”. How do they describe it?

“moo.fx is a superlightweight, ultratiny, megasmall javascript effects library”. Wow!

Why are we using it so much on the new homepage?

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