Last year, I wrote a post that shared my excitement about the Cromford Report integrating with flexmls. The main reason for my excitement is because agents can link the interactive reports from their websites free of charge. You can set ‘em and forget ‘em. They’ll always be up-to-date thanks to the agreement ARMLS has with Michael Orr through the end of the year – hopefully longer. The goal of this post is to show you how to set ‘em.
How To:
Hyperlink Icon
It’s all about hyperlinks. If you’ve never installed a hyperlink – here’s a video that shows on how to create one. (Highlight text, click the hyperlink icon in your page editor, paste destination website address) Once you understand how to create the links, all you need is the URL for the Cromford reports.
Cities or Zip Codes
You get a choice right from the get go, do you want statistical charts based on city names, based on zip codes, or both?
City Report (default set to Scottsdale):
http://www.cromfordreport.com/armlsstatscity.php?Name=John%20Hall%20Associates&Address=Successful%20Agents&Logo=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnhall.com%2FAssets%2Fimages%2Fjohn-hall-rocks%2Fsuccessful-agents.jpg&ListCity=Scottsdale
Copy and paste that whole thing. If you would like to change the default city, remove and replace Scottsdale from the end of the URL with a city name – like Phoenix. It is case sensitive and all the cities in the Valley won’t work, so test after you create.
Zip Code Report (default set to 85260):
http://www.cromfordreport.com/armlsstatszip.php?Name=John%20Hall%20Associates&Address=Successful%20Agents&Logo=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnhall.com%2FAssets%2Fimages%2Fjohn-hall-rocks%2Fsuccessful-agents.jpg&ListZIP=85260
Again, you’ll need to copy that whole thing. If you would like to change the default zip code, remove 85260 from the end and add whatever zip code you would like. Again test after creation.
How They Open:
As you know, when you open a hyperlink they don’t all work the same. Some open in a New Window, some open in the Same Window, and some open a pop-up window. When you add hyperlinks to your site with the hyperlink icon, one of the options says “Target”. This is what affects how the link will open.
The two most popular choices are New Window (aka: “_blank”) and Same Window (aka: “_self”). When you add the link, pick which one you’d like. For the Cromford charts, I think New Window is better than Same Window so your website stays open behind the graphs. You can either create the link through the hyperlink icon with the URLs above, or here’s the code to paste in the HTML or Source editor.
This example is a zip code report that opens in a New Window:
<a href=”http://www.cromfordreport.com/armlsstatszip.php?Name=John%20Hall%20Associates&Address=Successful%20Agents&Logo=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnhall.com%2FAssets%2Fimages%2Fjohn-hall-rocks%2Fsuccessful-agents.jpg&ListZIP=85260″ target=”_blank” title=”Real Estate Statistics”>Real Estate Stats By Zip Code</a>
Since this is the HTML Code, do not paste this into your Visual editor. You’ll need to first click “Code” or “HTML” or “Source” (depending on what your website calls it) and paste it there.
When you preview how it’s displayed it should look like this:
Real Estate Stats By Zip Code
Some editors – like the one in Superlative – allow you to choose Pop-Up Window. I like that option as well. I tried to copy and paste that code here, but our blog software messes it up. If you would like it, ask in a comment, or talk to me on the John Hall & Associates’ Facebook page. We’ll figure out a way to get it to you.
Using Buttons Instead of Text
Let’s be real, text isn’t the most visually appealing type of hyperlink. For these charts, I prefer using images or buttons to help draw attention to the link. Feel free to create whatever buttons you would like, and use those as your click-able link. I’ll use an example button to demonstrate.
Hyperlinking an image is a little different than hyperlinking text. Instead of highlighting the words you would like to link, highlight the image. Some text editors don’t have an “Add Image” button, so I’ll include the code you can paste in the Source editor.
<a href=”http://www.cromfordreport.com/armlsstatszip.php?Name=John%20Hall%20Associates&Address=Successful%20Agents&Logo=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnhall.com%2FAssets%2Fimages%2Fjohn-hall-rocks%2Fsuccessful-agents.jpg&ListZIP=85260″ target=”_blank”><img height=”128″ border=”0″ width=”100″ alt=”Real Estate Market Trends” src=”http://johnhall.com/Assets/images/john-hall-rocks/market-trends.gif” /></a>
Now when you copy and paste this code into the HTML editor it should appear on your site like this:
Okay, good luck! If you have questions or success stories I’m all ears.
Phil, It took me awhile to loop back to this post. It’s still as timely as ever. Thanks for sharing the details.