XSite Blog

There are a lot Firefox browser fans out here who don't like using Microsoft Internet Explorer or even Microsoft Windows. Naturally, we want to use Firefox, and perhaps even Macintosh or Linux for our XSites.

In fact, the only reason we at Market Moose internet marketing solutions keep Internet Explorer around is for alamode XSites customization and optimization.

Occasionally, the complaint of an absence of Firefox compatibility with the back end (works fine on the front end) comes up in a forum, and is listed as a reason to go with an inferior real estate site platform.

Where there's a will, however, there's a way. There are all kinds of things that any software company - alamode included - won't support - that's to be expected. But there's a difference between "unsupported" and "doesn't work at all". It's like being a beta-tester. If you're willing to put up with a quirk or two, you can do things that others won't be doing for some time. Case in point: I'm writing this XSite blog entry in Firefox, right now!

So here's a set of options for you managing your XSite in Firefox.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind, no one makes any guarantee that everything works with these methods, that everything does what's expected, or that all results are predictable. We're just saying that we're administering some alamode XSites with Firefox and, for you diehard Firefox lovers out there, we've gathered some nice methods. If you use any of these methods, we point to the more detailed instructions on the sites linked below to help you (not only does alamode not support any of these methods, but neither do we :-). That said, there is discussion on those sites, if you have trouble. Our stuff all worked great on the first try - no hitches at all.

There are several overall methods that we can comment on:

alamode XSite in Firefox Method 1: Install the User Agent Switcher plugin, and set it to IE7 within Firefox. This works for lots of things. I used a user agent toolbar for Firefox in 2004, because my university was IE only. These plugins simply fool any web site you designate into thinking you're logging in with Internet Explorer. If you're willing to live with a quirk or two, it works great for every day editing. This is what I'm using right this moment. This is not, however, a comprehensive solution to all XSite administrative functions, so we've also included some other methods.

The above is the only native Firefox and XSite solution that we're going to discuss that will work in Windows, Macintosh, or Linux (Yes, you can manage your alamode XSite in Linux, brother!). The other native method, involves hand-modifying Firefox, and just isn't simple, practical, or elegant like using an easy-to-install plugin. At the bottom of this article is a table showing what works and doesn't work with method #1.

The other solutions, require Internet Explorer to at least be installed on the computer, so you'll either need to be running Windows, or running IE in a virtual machine (or Wine) if you're a Linux user.

alamode XSite in Firefox Method 2: Install the IE Tab plugin for Firefox. This method simply opens selected pages "in Internet Explorer" but as seamless Firefox tabs. In other words, Firefox will use Internet Explorer's engine to open  your XSite, if you tell it to, and will display it entirely within Firefox itself, without opening IE as a full browser window. It's just another Firefox tab. So, yes you're using IE, but you're also using Firefox. If you're not ditching IE because you're using Linux or another non-Microsoft operating system, but you are using Windows and do have IE installed, this should (note the disclaimer above) mean that the alamode XSite's admin login and tools act exactly as they would if you opened a new IE window. Can't swear to it - I'm using method #1.

alamode XSite in Firefox Method 3: Install the IE View plugin for Firefox. This is quite similar to method 2, but just allows you to right click any page within Firefox and tell it to open in an IE window. Not as elegant, but if you're a purist, and want to use Firefox for everything but XSites, and still never click on that darned blue 'e', well this will take care of you. Furthermore, disclaimer above noted, this should mean that XSites work exactly the same way as you're used to, since it's really opening it in an IE window - just doing so from Firefox.

So, Firefox fans and alamode XSite users, remember you heard it first at Market Moose, you can quite easily manage or administer your alamode XSite in Firefox, including Linux and Macintosh versions.* Don't expect tech support to troubleshoot in Firefox - be good - if you have some kind of issue with your site, always test it in Microsoft Internet Explorer before giving them a call.

Notes:

* Keep Access to Windows and IE: There are surely other ways to use XSites in Linux and Mac, if Firefox is not your preference. See the links below for getting IE to work in other Operating Systems. However, as with Firefox, don't think that alamode will support it. Once you change operating systems, you're probably on your own, unless it's really an issue in IE on Windows, too and not specific to your OS or browser. If in doubt, before calling alamode tech support, have a buddy test for your problem in a supported version of Windows and IE. If it occurs there, too, you're surely good to call. In any case, you'll want to keep some access to Windows and IE.

* About Internet Explorer 8: This is Microsoft's lean version of the browser designed to try to keep up with Firefox. I uninstalled it immediately, once I tried it with the XSite. The admin interface just didn't work. Either use IE 5.5, 6 or 7, which are supported by alamode, or else (for the slightly more adventurous) go with Firefox. Remember Vista? Yeah, some of us have had enough with Microsoft - I was just curious. Our advice? Keep it at IE7 and don't upgrade to a new version of IE. :)

Method 1 (User Agent Switcher) Further Notes:
These are the results of our tests. Keep in mind, we think all of the things that don't work with method 1 will probably work with the other methods. In fact, we're proofing and correcting this article with Method 2, just to say we could. And we uploaded the graphics with method 3. Method 1 is basically for the regular content maintenance and contact functions of editing your blog and other pages, sending e-mail, and checking stats or contact info. For full-time management (and certainly for your applications, xsellerate marketing, and credit card processing), you'll need to rely on one of the other methods. Good news for appraisers is that, if you manager your contacts in Wintotal instead of the XSite, that part's taken care of.

In the olden days (2-3 years ago, by internet standards), we all rushed to build web sites of the static variety. They had the usual things - a Contact page, an FAQ, an order form...

These days, static sites are getting wiped off the search engine rankings by sites with dynamic content - sites that are updated frequently - most especially, blogs.

The XSite blogging tool is one that anyone can use with no special knowledge. If you can write an e-mail, you can write a blog post. The hurdle is not how, it's the will to do it. The keys to the will in this case are several:

First: you have to accept the fact that the old days are gone, and putting up an internet billboard and just waiting for people to come to you is like fishing in your backyard swimming pool. Invest and hope nets very few fish. In other words, you can make no progress, unless you accept that the world really has changed. Has changed. Past tense. If you cannot get past this point, you will be stuck, like Willy Loman, in Death of a Salesman, relying on a handshake in an era that has long since gone by. The hunger, the craving for fresh content has made static sites seem like reading the same newspaper every morning at breakfast - it just doesn't cut it anymore.

Second: you have to accept the fact that other people truly are making hay with dynamic content - with blogs. This amounts to accepting that, by providing consistently fresh content, people elsewhere are driving business traffic and drawing in new customers. In other words, you must not dismiss as irrelevant the news that quite ordinary people (almost exclusively ordinary people) are using the internet to effectively market and grow their businesses. If you maintain disbelief here, you cannot hope to use the internet effectively yourself. While this may be comforting, because it demands no further activity, and it may compel you to throw money at experts like ourselves, and hope that's enough, you're not truly committed to marketing your business, beyond dropping flyers from a helicopter into the internet. The returns will be commensurate with the strategy.

Third: you must accept that blogging was invented so that people with no technical knowledge or background, and no skill in web building, could post content as easily as writing an e-mail. In other words, you have to resign yourself to the fact that it's stoltifyingly easy. If you maintain the myth that internet marketing is for experts, you will certainly alleviate yourself of any felt responsibility for marketing your business, and you will also alleviate your prospects of any interest in your marketing efforts. They will find those enterprising persons in point two (above) who have no more knowledge or skill or talent or expertise than you, but only have slightly more courage and clarity. They will find those with the will.

Yes, we're being quite frank, here. That's one of the keys to our success. We'll tell you the truth, when others demur. We'll be straight with you, where others offer you Camelot for the price of swamp land, and sell you swamp land at Camelot prices. One of the reasons we have loyal clients is our willingness to push back, to say the hard thing, to nudge you into the next phase in your marketing success. Your XSite is a tool that can help.

Finally: if you have truly accepted the reality of the situation, you must make a decision about whether your business is worth the five minutes a day it will take you to maintain an interesting blog. If not, then you must accept the results of the first three points:

• a marketing strategy from internet past, not internet present
• a marketing strategy that discourages today's hottest sources of prospects
• a marketing strategy that is less than ordinary, and requires no ongoing effort

On the other hand, if you are willing to update your marketing strategy, willing to attract the prospects you aren't currently attracting, and willing to spend 5min/day or so being fairly ordinary to accomplish these, then blogging can become the beating heart of a business marketing plan (and the XSite can help here) that is able to unlock a host of marketing tools, like:

• powerful social networking
• effective e-mail marketing
• enhanced search engine results

It's largely up to you. We can design and build your XSite, using the engine provided, and we can help with your branding, style, content, navigation, lead capture, search engine optimization, and more.

From there, we can advise you on how to make that 5min/day really count for your business. If you want to reach the next step after launching a site you can be proud of, blogging is an important starting place. Remember:

A business that isn't growing, is dying.

A business that isn't marketing, is shrinking, not growing.

and lastly:

Marketing is about the market - not what we wish the market to be, not what it once was, and not some static thing that pretends to be the market, but where the rules never change. In all its rambunctious, evolving, sometimes fickle splendour, the market is the ground of our business choices. Any marketing consultant that sells you less truth than that, is filling your head with fancy lies. Always invest in honesty when it comes to the market, and it'll forgive most other mistakes. - Daniel DiGriz, founder: Market Moose LLC