A nice feature of hiring a TourVista professional photographer is that the original hi-res photos are yours to keep.  No licensing fee, no use restrictions!  You paid for the photos and you can use them any way you want.

Watch the following video tutorial that shows you how to download your original photos from our online archive.

Sometimes point & click camera’s don’t cut it.  See the difference for yourself between my hand held point & click and my professional quality Nikon digital SLR camera with wide angle lens.

Click on the photos below to launch the slideshow comparison.  Once the slideshow is launched, click on the right side of the photo to view the next, or the left side to view the previous photo.

The equipment you use can make a big difference to your end results.  A wide angle lens can help your photos stand out.  However, not many (if any) point & click cameras you would carry around have the option for a wide angle lens.  I used the exact same camera angle in all these shots with both cameras zoomed all the way out…see for yourself.  A tripod can also really help, but I’m sure most people don’t carry one around with them, nor do they have one for their point & click camera.  It’s a really useful tool in creating professional quality photos.

Another item setting professionals apart from those who do it themselves is editing software.  At TourVista we use HDR technology (High Dynamic Range) to get a more vivid feel for what the image really looks like in person versus the single exposure setting you would take with a personal point & click camera.  Using editing software such as Photoshop or online editors like Picnik.com can save you when you’re underexposed or shots are tilted.  But learning how to use them is a major time commitment you should be prepared for if you want your shots to turn out great.

Google Analytics to Track Virtual Tour Statistics

We are happy to announce support for Google Analytics on TourVista’s  real estate marketing platform.  In addition to the built-in statistics that TourVista provides all user accounts, it is now possible to track your virtual tour statistics using Google Analytics.  Here’s how:

1. Copy your Google Analytics tracking code.  It will be in this format: UA-12345678-1
2. Login to your TourVista account and select the tour you want to track stats.
3. Select “Analytics (Stats)” from the “This Tour” drop down menu.
4. Paste your Google Analytics tracking code from step 1 into the field.
5. To quickly apply the same Google Analytics tracking code to ALL virtual tours in your account, just mark the checkbox.
6. Save.

Any tour views you get from this point on will be tracked in your Google Analytics account (although it will take a few hours for the stats to start showing in Analytics).

Here’s a shout out to Grant Walker of Queensland, Australia, for the awesome virtual tour with interactive floor plan.  Nicely done Grant!

Now you can easily link your TourVista virtual tours to another website.  When editing your tour, in the description, highlight the text and add the link.  You can choose to link in a new window or the same window. The following screencast shows you how:

Your property virtual tours look great on Apple’s new iPad.

However, at first, it appears that you can’t scroll the thumbnail photos on the iPad.

Use 2 fingers to scroll the thumbnail box on your iPad

iPad doesn’t support inline scrolling.  Inline means a scroll box within the web page.  The thumbnail photo box is an inline scroll box.  So is the property description (if you have a lot of text in there).

Turns out the solution is simple. To scroll an inline scroll box, use two fingers and swipe up or down.  That’s how you scroll an inline scroll box.

Thanks to Jodi of Minnesota for requesting that we add rich text editor to the tour description field.

Rich text editor to quickly format your tour description

Access the rich text editor by (1) selecting your virtual tour and (2) selecting Property Details.  You’ll see the description box at the bottom of the Property Details page.  Just point, click and edit away!

We’ve made it easy to update your email address on TourVista.

On TourVista.com

1. Sign in at www.tourvista.com/sign-in/ using the email address that you used when setting up your account.  If you don’t remember your password, click the link “Having trouble accessing your account?”
2. Once signed in, click the “My Account” link at the top right.
3. Then click the link to “change email” and enter the new email address (twice) and save.
4. Piece of cake!

Keep in mind that your email address for your TourVista account is not only your login, it is also the recipient of all leads generated by your virtual tours.

On Your Apartment Community Website

1. Go to your website and at the bottom right, click the “Login” link
2. Login with your username and password (this will be different than on TourVista.com).  If you don’t remember your password, click the link “Lost your password?” and enter your email address to receive instructions on resetting your password.
3. Once logged in, on the left, click the “Profile” button
4. Scroll down a bit and under the “Contact Info” section, update your email address.  You can leave the rest of the info as is.
5. Scroll all the way down and click the “Update Profile” button — this is also where you can change your website password if you want to.

That’s it!  Feel free to hit me up with any questions.  We are busy with a lot of improvements to your websites that you’ll see soon.  I’ll keep you in the loop.

Best,
Matt

Thanks to Keisha for suggesting that we add a parking option for “carport”.

Carport option added to Virtual Tour Details

Carport option showing on Virtual Tour Web Page

Carport option showing on Virtual Tour Widget

Let us know if you have ideas for improving TourVista!