RETS Import

First make sure that you have installed Estatik Premium RETS version and then proceed. There is no RETS import option in Estatik PRO or Simple version.

When it comes to actually processing the images and other data elements a server setting called the max_execution_time setting plays a role. This is the most often error that you can get if your max_execution time is not enough.

Beside this, there are some others  important requirements that your hosting provider server should have:

• mod_fcgid=off
• safe_mode=off
• open_basedir=NULL
• RLimitMEM parameter's value of Apache = 20MB
• Response body limit( SecResponseBodyLimit ) =20MB

The options below also are a must:

• php 7.1.x or higher
• cURL support = enabled
• allow_url_fopen = on

php.ini file settings:

• memory_limit = 256M - 10* 24M
• max_input_vars = 20000
• max_execution_time = 360 or more
• max_input_time = 600
• upload_max_filesize = 30M or more

Also you need to open TCP ports 6103, 6160, 8080 if you have errors including them in result of connection attempt.

IMPORTANT: If your server doesn't meet the above mentioned requirements, the following errors can appear:

-  listings imported without data (empty),

-  server lags,

-  website crash,

-  and others.

If you have a website built on wordpress.com or other service that do not provide full control of the website, we recommend to find self-hosted solutions otherwise our team will not be able to setup and control automatic import via server cron.

Setup of Estatik Premium version is mostly the same as the one of Estatik Pro.
Premium version has a White label option, which can be found in Estatik>>Settings>>General

Enable it to remove Estatik logo and Powered by link from all Estatik pages.

If you have got Setup error like displayed below which says - You are not connected to the MLS server -->

you need to check the following:

* Your server PHP version is 5.5 or higher
* Your server have extension curl installed
* You have the latest version of Estatik Premium Version
* You have entered user agent name and password in Advanced Settings (required for some cases, please check screenshot below)

If all steps above were done successfully, now you need to connect to your MLS account using RETS credentials that your MLS provider granted you.

Go to MLS RETS Import area of the Estatik plugin, enter your RETS link, username and password. Click Save and Connect.

This basic settings usually enough for connection. Do not touch Advanced link. The Advanced settings are mostly for Estatik Support team.

Once connected to MLS via RETS, additional tabs will become available. Please click on second tab - Fields configuration. Here you need to select resource, class and entity values in drop-down lists.

Important: Fields maping is the most important part of the plugin configuration. Please do not hurry up with it and do everything carefully. 

If you map MLS fields to the wrong Estatik field and will make import, these fields will be imported wrong and as result you will not find he required information about property. So please follow our instructions or order additional service and we will set it up for you.

When we need to import properties, we select Resource: property. Field Classes will provide us with a list of property types - Residential, Lots/Land/Farm, Multi-Family, Commercial.

It is important to select the required fields as different class will give you different list of fields. Let's select Residential class and Entity - Property.

Click Submit button. You will get a drop-down list of MLS fields available for the Resource Property, and class Residential. Use quick access search and type the fields. Please note that the MLS fields can be named differently and if you are uncertain whether you need this field or not, omit it and do not add. There can be numerous empty fields and it is not necessary to add them to your website.

So you need to add MLS field and map it to Estatik field like displayed below:

Below is the list of most common MLS fields and corresponding Estatik fields:

MLS field = Estatik field:

MLS number = Property MLSID

Building Name = Title

MLS Number = Large photo & Images

Current price = Price

Beds Total = Bedrooms

Baths Full = Bathrooms

Public Remarks = Description

Sqft Total = Area

Lot Size Area = Lot size

Foreign Country Or State = Country

State Or Province = State

City = City

Amenities = Amenities

Property Type = Type

Status = Status .. etc.

Please note that there are some crucial fields that must be assigned correctly. They are - MLS Number - without it being properly assigned as indicated above, you will not be able to make import properly.

There can be hundreds of fields on MLS side and sure that there is no such fields in the plugin. But there is no problem to add them. With Fields Builder you can add as many fields and sections as you need.

Please check Fields Builder guide first. Once you add the new fields, they will be all displayed in the drop-down list in Fields Configuration >>

First add new fields via Fields Builder, create new sections first, e.g. Interior Features, Exterior Features, School Information, etc.

Once you add new fields, you will find them in the drop-down list of the plugin in MLS RETS Import >> Fields Configuration >>

You can always get back to Fields Builder and edit any field or section, as well as add any new ones.

When configuring fields for specific Property Class, please put a check mark if you want to narrow the import and pull out only specific listings.

 If you make some fields filterable, you will be able to configure filters in Import pages (Manual Import or Automatic Import) like displayed below:

Listing URL consists of a customizable slug URI '/property' and a listing title. Default slug '/property' can be changed in the plugin Settings:



Listing Title can be setup when configuring MLS fields. You need to assign necessary fields that you want to be displayed in listing URL in appropriate order.



If you did everything properly, you will see listings with correct titles:



and consequently listing page URL will be framed as you required:



If you do not want to show Listing Title on frontend and leave it only in URL, please make sure that you selected Address in plugin Settings for the field Title/Address:

To connect to another MLS provider (RETS profile), you need to disconnect from the one to which you are connected currently. Please check our screenshot below:

Please note that you have to configure the MLS fields separately for every single profile.

Please make sure that you have all necessary credentials, i.e. rets url, username and password. Then go to MLS RETS Import -> General and enter your first profile credentials.

Once you save it, you will be able to connect it or to add your second profile credentials. All profiles will be displayed on the right side of the admin page:

1. Error - Malconfiguration of the fields: 

It means that you didn't set up fields for the selected Resource - Commercial. You should go to Fields Configuration tab , select this resource and configure the fields. Please check it here.

You can also import listings manually. Please open Manual Import:

Also, set up all the fields in this tab and click Submit. If you want to add any filters, please check this document to learn how to proceed.

Click Submit and get a list of properties like below:

To start import, please do not miss to select all listings or some of them an only then press Import button. If you miss out to select listings, nothing will get imported.

All listings will be imported unpublished.

1. Error of malconfiguration of the fields.

   

It means that you didn’t set up fields for the selected Resource – Land. You should go to Fields Configuration tab, select this resource and configure the fields. Please check it here.

To handle scheduled tasks, you need to set up cron job via cPanel.

First, you need to disable the file to be hit every time someone loads your pages. To do this, open the wp-config.php file in your website folder and add this line at the end, before the closing ?> tag:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

Then you can set up cron via cPanel. Open cpanel and find there Cron Jobs section.

When you open it, there will be offer to set up an email sent to you each time when cronjob is executed successfully. You can add your email just to be sure that it works ok.

Below you will see a list of preset intervals. Select Every 2 -5 minutes from the minutes drop-down and leave a * symbol in the rest of fields.

Add command below where /user/ must be your cPanel username.

/usr/local/bin/php /home/user/public_html/wp-cron.php

Click on Add new Cron Job button. You will see this cron job in a list of cron jobs which can be removed or edited.

In Automatic Import you can set up a schedule and launch properties import on automatic basis.

First select from drop-down lists correct values and click Save. You will see the scheduled import below with the number of listings that is available for import:

1. Support coverage

Estatik Support includes Mon-Fri email and chat support. We do not provide support via phone or other devices.

What we do:
* help to figure out any issues with incorrect configuration of the Estatik plugin
* help to figure out conflicts with themes
* provide you with documentation and video tutorials
* advice as for the server requirements and issues connected with it.

What we do not:
* we do not contact MLS directly to figure out your questions regarding RETS credentials or any others.
* we do not contact your hosting provider directly. We can tell you what you must ask about or request from hosting tech support.
* we do not setup cron on your server until you ordered paid setup service. You do it yourself using our documentation.

1. Trials and refunds

We can offer returns only in case if you are not able to connect to your MLS server and we are not able to figure it out. You are required to contact support and describe the issues you experience before demanding refund. Only in case if our team is not possible to solve the issues or get it work as it is presented in our documentation and demo, we may provide you with refund.
We do not offer returns for reasons like:
“I thought it comes with RETS credentials already”
“I thought you are a Vendor and will give me credentilas”
“I changed my mind and switched to another plugin”
“Sorry but it works in other way than I imagined”
“It shows some errors , please return my monney back”, etc.
We also do not offer trials.

1. Manual Import errors - no listings imported

If Estatik Premium version was installed and activated correctly, but when you try to import listings manually you get nothing, please make sure that you configured major fields (Property MLS ID) correctly. Check out our Documentation or please contact us and we will check that.

2. Error 401

If you have Error 401, please check if you entered your RETS credentials properly. 401 error means incorrect login/password.

3. Images for listings are not imported

If the images are shown for every listing, but they are not imported with all the other listing data, please disable htpasswd popup on your website. The script that uploads images gives the status 403 - unauthorized and the prevents images from importing.

4. Error "String could not be parsed as XML"

If RETS credentials are correct, but you still cannot connect to MLS server - the click on Connect button results in "String could not be parsed as XML" error, please, check curl version on the server. It should be 7.50 or higher, and the issue will be resolved.

5. Can not load resources and classes

If you have connected successfully but when you go to Fields Configuration there no resources can be loaded,

please contact your MLS provider with request to check your account permissions (you can refer to the error: GetMetadata' tried but no valid endpoint was found. Did you forget to Login()? ) or make sure that you do not have additional agent username and agent username password that should be entered in Advanced Settings:

5. Keep getting RETS Error: Miscellaneous Search Error

If you keep getting the error like above, please go to your RETS profile Advanced settings and switch on the option: Miscellaneous Search Error Fix ->

6.  Manual import error: Invalid Query Syntax. Missing or Empty [Query] Argument.

If Fields Configuration is done correctly, but Manual import results in the error "Invalid Query Syntax. Missing or Empty [Query] Argument.", please, try to mark one of configured fields as Filterable:

And then choose one or several values as filters for listings import:

1. Free Theme Setup

We offer Trendy, Native or Project theme – one of them you can choose within Premium
Package and we will setup and configure the chosen theme so they will look like Trendy demo site, Native demo site or Project demo site.
Free Theme Setup doesn't include Estatik Premium version configuration. We offer documentation for that and also additional service which costs $98. You can find details here.

2. White label option

Premium version has a White label option. Read more about it here, please.

3. CRM option

There is no such option on our plugin and we do not offer integration with any of these plugins. Estatik has agents (users who registered to become agents and can submit listings via frontend), users (simple visitors) and admin.

4. Search function

With Estatik Premium you will be able to make search listings that were imported from your MLS provider using Estatik Search widget. So the search results will be based on MLS data.

5. Number of listings for import and update

There are no limitations in the quantity of listings for importing or updating in the plugin but WordPress itself can handle smoothly up to 5,000 listings. If there are more listings the website can become slower or show errors.

6. Synchronization

The amount of listings available for updating depends on how many listings you have. If you have thousands of listings and your server allows to update 5 listings per request (each 2 mins), it means that every hour you will get updated 150 listings or 1800 per day.

1. Payment for Estatik Premium version

$489 is one-time payment for the plugin and free updates and support for 1 year. Once the first year has passed, you still can use the plugin but do not longer receive free updates and support until you prolong your subscription. The renewal price for subscription is $299.

2. Additional or hidden costs

There are no hidden payments. We can offer your Setup service for $98.
Please note that Estatik is not responsible for any costs charged by your MLS provider for granting RETS credentials.

Please, read the following notes carefully to avoid mistakes and misunderstandings!

1. RETS credentials

To obtain RETS credentials, you need to contact your MLS provider and figure out if they offer this type of integration or not and what must be done to get it. Please check other details about MLS integration service here.

2. RETS access

Estatik is not a vendor and we do not provide customers with RETS. That is why we write on our website that you should buy the Premium plugin only after you have RETS credentials. Usually it takes some time to obtain credentials. MLS also may charge for it. All of MLS providers fees are payable by customer.

3. MLS coverage

Estatik Premium covers any MLS provider, which offers organic integration via RETS and grants RETS credentials for that, and doesn't have any strict limitations (amount of requests per day etc.). It works via RETS connector which is a standard technology in any of these MLS.

4. Multiple MLS providers

You can enter and use several RETS profiles and enter credentials for each of them in Estatik Premium. But in this case you will need to make all configuration separately for every profile.

5. Usage on several websites

You can use Estatik Premium plugin on several websites and with different RETS credentials. There are no limitations for it.