This xml property feed service allows you to upload your properties instantly to toptenproperties.net without having to go through the long process of uploading them online 1 by 1.
You'll need to upload a XML document to your website and notify us where it resides (ex. http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlproperties/properties.xml). Also, we need the images for these properties uploaded to your website from where we'll copy and host them on our servers. Our server will copy the xml feed document from your specified location and run a series of tests through the document to check if it is valid or not. If there are errors, we'll notify you and request that you'll fix them. If valid, the toptenproperties.net team will then import this document on a weekly basis (Monday mornings) to add, edit or delete properties in our database as it is changed in the document by you.
In Steps:
Copy the xml property feed document to your web server
Copy all the images for the properties to your web server as in the xml property feed
Notify us where the document can be located (ex. http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlproperties/properties.xml)
Make sure to purchase the xml offer that suits your property amount (Click here). If you already have listing space with toptenproperties.net and would like to purchase the xml extension (Click here)
We'll copy the document from this location and run a few tests to make sure it is valid
If not valid, we'll notify you of the errors and request that you fix them
If valid, we'll import this property feed to add, edit or delete properties in our database as it is changed in the document by you on a weekly basis (Monday mornings)
The Property Feed Protocol format consists of XML tags. All data values in a Property Feed must be entity-escaped. The file itself must be UTF-8 encoded.
A sample Property Feed that contains one property and uses all tags is shown below. Click here for a xml example.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
<property>
<id>myref1000</id>
<date>2007-07-06 18:46:48</date>
<country>Spain</country>
<region>Murcia</region>
<town>Los Alc�zares</town>
<price>224500</price>
<currency>GBP</currency>
<type>Apartment</type>
<beds>3</beds>
<baths>2</baths>
<part_of_topten>1</part_of_topten>
<best_property>0</best_property>
<postcode>12345</postcode>
<level>1</level>
<why_topten>This property is on the beachfront</why_topten>
<desc>Apartment, Residential, Partly Furnished, Fitted Kitchen, Parking: Off road parking, Pool: Communal Pool, Garden: Community, Facing: West
Views: Surrounds.
Features Air conditioning Hot/Cold, Community Pool, Conveniently Situated for Golf, Conveniently Situated Schools, Double Glazing, Fitted Kitchen, Green Zones, Large attic space, Laundry, Penthouse, Private Terrace, Solarium, Sought After Area.
</desc>
<image_1>http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlimages/myref1000_1.jpg</image_1>
<image_2>http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlimages/myref1000_2.jpg</image_2>
<image_3>http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlimages/myref1000_3.jpg</image_3>
<image_4>http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlimages/myref1000_4.jpg</image_4>
<image_5>http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlimages/myref1000_5.jpg</image_5>
</property>
</root>
The Property Feed must:
Begin with an opening <root> tag and end with a closing </root> tag.
Include a <property> entry for each Property as a parent XML tag.
Include at least all "required nodes" child entry for each<property> parent tag as described in the table below.
XML tag definitions
The available XML tags/nodes are described below.
<id>
Required
The id/reference of the property.
Format restrictions:
Must be unique
<country>
Required
Country of the property.
Format restrictions:
Must be from this list:
<region>
Required
Region of the property
Can be anything, but preferably from the same regions listed on toptenpropeties.net
Format restrictions:
none
<town>
Required
Can be anything, but preferably from the same towns listed on toptenpropeties.net
Format restrictions:
none
<price>
Optional
The price of the property.
Format restrictions:
Numeric values only
<currency>
Optional
The currency for the property. Preferably GBP
Value restrictions:
Must be GBP, USD or EUR. Default to GBP
<type>
Required
The type of the property
Format restrictions:
From supplied list:
<beds>
Optional
The number of bedrooms the property have
Format restrictions:
Numeric values only
<baths>
Optional
The number of bathrooms the property have
Format restrictions:
Numeric values only
<part_of_topten>
Optional
If the property is part of your 10 best, set value to 1, otherwise 0
Can only be 10 properties with the value 1 in the excel document
Format restrictions:
1 or 0
<best_property>
Optional
If the property is your best property, set the value to 1.
Can only be 1 property with the value 1 in the excel document. If the property's <best_property> value is 1, then the <part_of_topten> property must also be 1
Format restrictions:
1 or 0
<postcode>
Optional
The postcode for the property
Format restrictions:
None
<level>
Optional
Value 1 = Low priced property
Value 2 = Mid priced property
Value 3 = Luxury priced property
Format restrictions:
1, 2, 3. Default to 2
<why_topten>
Optional
Reason why this property is part of your top ten properties
Format restrictions:
None
<desc>
Required
The long description for your property
Format restrictions:
None
<image_1>
Required
The full http URL where the main image resides on your website.
ex: http://www.toptenproperties.net/images_xml/ih15_01HS01_img1.jpg
Format restrictions:
Full URL Value
file extension must be jpeg, jpg and must be in jpg format
<image_2>
Optional
The full http URL where the 2nd image resides on your website.
ex: http://www.toptenproperties.net/images_xml/ih15_01HS01_img2.jpg
Format restrictions:
Full URL Value
file extension must be jpeg, jpg and must be in jpg format
<image_3>
Optional
The full http URL where the 3rd image resides on your website.
ex: http://www.toptenproperties.net/images_xml/ih15_01HS01_img3.jpg
Format restrictions:
Full URL Value
file extension must be jpeg, jpg and must be in jpg format
<image_4>
Optional
The full http URL where the 4th image resides on your website.
ex: http://www.toptenproperties.net/images_xml/ih15_01HS01_img4.jpg
Format restrictions:
Full URL Value
file extension must be jpeg, jpg and must be in jpg format
<image_5>
Optional
The full http URL where the 5th image resides on your website.
ex: http://www.toptenproperties.net/images_xml/ih15_01HS01_img5.jpg
Format restrictions:
Full URL Value
file extension must be jpeg, jpg and must be in jpg format
Entity escaping
We require your Property Feed file to be UTF-8 encoded (you can generally do this when you save the file). As with all XML files, any data values (including URLs) must use entity escape codes for the characters listed in the table below.
Character
Escape Code
Ampersand
&
&
Single Quote
'
'
Double Quote
"
"
Greater Than
>
>
Less Than
<
<
In addition, all URLs (including the URL of your Property Feed) must be encoded for readability by the web server on which they are located and URL-escaped.
However, if you are using any sort of script, tool, or log file to
generate your XML (anything except typing them in by hand), this is
usually already done for you.
Below is an example of a URL that uses a non-ASCII character (ü), as well as a character that requires entity escaping (&):
http://www.example.com/ümlat.html&q=name
Below is that same URL,
ISO-8859-1
encoded (for hosting on a server that uses that encoding) and URL escaped:
http://www.example.com/%FCmlat.html&q=name
Below is that same URL, UTF-8 encoded (for hosting on a server that uses that encoding)
and URL escaped:
Q: Does it matter which character encoding method I use to generate my Property Feed files?
Yes. Your Property Feed files must use UTF-8 encoding.
Q: Where do I place my Property Feed?
You can place it anywhere on your webserver and let us know where the document resides. Example: http://www.toptenproperties.net/xmlproperties/properties.xml
Q: How big can my Property Feed be?
Minimum 50 and up to 20,000 properties. It all depends on the amount you've purchased.
