XML upload specification

If you want your data to go to a third party web designer or perhaps a regional or smaller portal that does not have a nightly upload routine from Expert Agent, you can use our XML file upload system. Full details are in the Using Expert Agent data in your Website chapter

Property data is extracted from Expert Agent in XML format and optionally zipped with the relevant property images and then placed in an ftp directory that is unique to you.  You are then supplied with an ftp username and password along with a specific FTP URL. You can pass this on to as many third parties as you want to and they can collect the data. They cannot use our FTP server to power your website - they must collect the data and images.

The file is normally updated every hour – you can ask us to reduce this frequency if you prefer.

To get the feed set up, merely post a support ticket requesting it. Please not that we treat the XML Upload File as one of your three free portal uploads. The 4th and subsequent uploads are subject to a small monthly charge.

XML File Intro

The XML file will contain property information for each branch.  Properties are grouped by branch within the xml format.

Each property will contain the following information.

Property Reference – A unique identifying code for each property (AB12345)

Department – text – “Residential Sales”, “Commercial” etc

Property of the week – users can define one property as POW – this then gets flagged Yes otherwise NO

Price Text – A textual based version of the price for display purposes. (“Offers over £350,000.00)

Numeric Price – The numeric currency based version of the price for selection purposes (350000.00)

Advert Heading – A Short descriptive text about the property, usually one line. (Heytesbury Park: 4 bed detached)

Main Advert – More descriptive text (“A well appointed 4 bedroom detached property in a walled garden, parkland setting. 3 Reception Rooms, Luxury Kitchen, study, cloakroom, 4 good bedrooms, double garage, central heating, 1/4 acre professionally landscaped walled garden”).

Adverts - 2 -6 – check with client which ones they use 10 bullet points. i.e, Detached, 4 beds, Garage, Central Heating etc.

Brochure – a link to either a PDF or full brochure in HTML on the Expert Agent site

Address – Single line address (14 Charles Avenue)

Town – (Warminster)

County – (Wiltshire)

Postcode

Beds – Numeric number of beds

Type, style and commercial type - text

Virtual Tour URL – URL linking to location of virtual tour.

Rooms - i.e, Room – Name of room (Lounge), Measurement Text – Length and Width of room in metric and Imperial (12' 3''  x 10' 6'' (3.73m x 0m)), Description – (“with picture window overlooking garden”)

Pictures - Expert Agent exports up to 8 pictures.  The first picture in the list will be the main property picture.  All pictures will come through in their largest size as they can then be reduced, allowing resolution to be maintained. If you take an unzipped XML with links to images, the images must be collected and hosted on a 3rd party server - they cannot be served from our servers using the links in the XML - our FTP servers cannot serve them quickly enough for a live website environment. 

XML File format

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<agency name="">

<branches>

<branch name="">

<properties>

<property reference="">

<department>Residential Sales</department>

<propertyofweek>No</propertyofweek>

<price_text></price_text>

<numeric_price></numeric_price>

<bedrooms>4</bedrooms>

<receptions>3</receptions>

<bathrooms>4</bathrooms>

<priority>On Market</priority>

<advert_heading></advert_heading>

<main_advert></main_advert>

<advert2> </advert2>

<advert3 />

<advert4 />

<advert5 />

<advert6 />

<house_number>18</house_number>

<street>Heytesbury Park</street>

<district>Heytesbury</district>

<town>Warminster</town>

<county>Wiltshire</county>

<postcode>BA12 0HG</postcode>

<country>UK</country>

<area>Bath Villages North</area>

<tenure>Freehold</tenure>

<bullet1></bullet1>

<bullet2></bullet2>

<bullet3></bullet3>

<bullet4></bullet4>

<bullet5></bullet5>

<bullet6></bullet6>

<bullet7></bullet7>

<bullet8></bullet8>

<bullet9></bullet9>

<bullet10></bullet10>

<brochure> </brochure>

<virtual_tour_url> </virtual_tour_url>

<property_type>House</property_type>

<property_style>Detached</property_style>

<commercial_type>Hotels</commercial_type>

<rooms>

<room name="">

<measurement_text></measurement_text>

<description></description>

</room>

</rooms>

<pictures>

<picture name="alt">filename</picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

<picture name=""></picture>

</pictures>

<floorplans>

- <floorplan name="floorplan">

<filename> </filename>

</floorplan>

</floorplans>

</property>

</property> 

</properties>

</branch>

</branches>

</agency>