There are 2 steps to install and setup Buying Buddy on your WordPress website:
- Get a Google Map API Key.
- Install the Buying Buddy WordPress plugin which is available in the WordPress Plugin Directory
The installation process will also create the required foundation pages.
If you need to create foundation pages manually, see the section below on how to do this.
This article provides detailed instructions to guide you through these steps.
Have an easier installation by reading the notices below, then continue down to Step-1.
Support for WordPress Themes
The Buying Buddy WordPress Plugin will work on any WordPress theme.
However, see notes for themes below, which includes Real Spaces Theme and DIVI Theme
More details can be found in WordPress Compatibility and Technical Notes.
Also see Troubleshooting WordPress Plugin Issues.
Use Buying Buddy WordPress shortcodes.
Always use the Buying Buddy shortcodes where available and not HTML <div> tags for published widgets.
In your WordPress site, you should only use Buying Buddy Widget shortcodes.
HTML <div> tags for Published Widgets are NOT supported and will not work with the Buying Buddy Plugin in WordPress.
(This restriction does not apply to Widget Functions that should still be deployed as HTML).
For example:
In your WordPress site, do NOT use <div> tags to display properties with a Display Widget (list, gallery, map), as these will not work.
Do not add <div> code to a sidebar or footer "Text Widget" - use the Buying Buddy Widget shortcode from the WordPress list of Widgets.
If you wish to add widget <div> code to your WordPress code base then you will need to replace with do_shortcode().
Staging Domain / "Sorry this domain is not authorized"
Your Buying Buddy widgets are authorized to work on your IDX approved domain (and only on this domain).
If you are using a staging domain, then this needs to be authorized too, otherwise
instead of seeing the widgets you will see a message that says
"Sorry this domain is not authorized".
(Seeing this message means that the widgets and Plugin are indeed working correctly!)
If you need your staging domain to be authorized, please submit a help ticket and request a sandbox / staging domain and tell us the specific URL you need authorized.
Add Buying Buddy WordPress shortcodes as 'text'.
Many page builders allow you to add predefined 'blocks' to your page. Always add Buying Buddy shortcodes to "text" blocks. Do not use "code" or "widget" blocks.
DIVI Theme
The DIVI theme also loads the Google Maps Library.
Loading this twice causes many errors and breaks the Buying Buddy plugin.
See our support article to read how to remove the conflict with DIVI.
Real Spaces Theme
The Real Spaces Theme also loads the Google Maps Library.
Loading this twice causes many errors and breaks the Buying Buddy plugin.
See our support article to read how how to remove the conflict with Real Spaces.
Godaddy Managed WordPress Hosting ** AVOID THIS **
Buying Buddy does not work with Godaddy's Managed WordPress Hosting.
Godaddy say: "The caching system that is built into Managed WordPress hosting. prevents the Buying Buddy plugin from loading as required."
The solution is to move your site to a different hosting provider, or a Godaddy CPANEL hosting plan, which doesn’t have caching built in.
DO NOT DEFER, and ALWAYS LOAD IN CORRECT ORDER
*Do not defer loading of the Buying Buddy plugin.
*Do not defer loading of Google Maps API libraries.
Many optimization plugins will manipulate Buying Buddy and Google maps JavaScript and make it load at the end of the page.
** This WILL break the plugin.**
The Buying Buddy plugin must load at the top of the page.
Normal installation of the plugin ensures the following load sequence. However, we have seen a lot of tinkering, and so its important to note that the loading sequence should always be:
1. Google Maps API script library
2. Buying Buddy CSS script
3. Buying Buddy JavaScript.
For example: The image below shows the lines of code that load the Buying Buddy plugin on a page. A separate plugin has added the text "defer" to the plugin scripts essentially breaking the plugin and widget functions.
BEWARE CACHING PLUGINS
Do not use the default settings on your caching plugins
Change settings on your caching plugins, otherwise they will stop the latest content from showing.
Be aware that there are many caching plugins for WordPress that cache content from Buying Buddy widgets so that you don't see the latest details on a page.
Typical issues will include: a listing page (or details page) may continue to show listings as Active when they are not, open house properties may be inaccurate, or photos may not update, and so on.
This will also impair the ability for search engines to see the latest listings and will therefore impact the indexing of listing pages for SEO.
Suggested Solutions
- If you want caching and have to set it globally, change your cache time frame to a maximum of 24 hours (this usually resolves most issues).
- The best approach is to update settings for your caching plugin to exclude all pages that have Buying Buddy Widgets on them.
WP Rocket - Exclude Buying Buddy Script
You must exclude the Buying Buddy script from the "Load JavaScript Deferred" as follows:
- Go to WP Rocket settings
- Add the this into the field for "Excluded JavaScript Files" and savehttps://d2w6u17ngtanmy.cloudfront.net/scripts/my-buying-buddy.5.0.js.gz
See the WP Rocket support article for full details.
WP ENGINE - Special Notes
Please note that WP Engine has a built-in caching system and you MUST request exclusion of your designated 'results' page (or any page where you use the Results Widget) from the WP Engine Cache.
To do this, LOGIN to your WP Engine Portal. Then contact WP Engine support (e.g. using the chat button) to request these pages are excluded from the Cache.
Once they confirm this is done, in the WP Engine Portal - for your site, go to the "Caching" section, and "Clear All Caches".
Do not use 'lazy load' on 'details' page
Lazy load is a method to defer loading of images to improve performance. Lazy load theme options and plugins will prevent property images from being shown on the 'details' page. Ensure these are turned off or disabled on the page on your designated 'details' foundation page.
Lazy load options can be found as:
Plugins (there are many).
E.g. WP Rocket (Turn off Lazy Load setting)
E.g. WP Optimize (Turn off Lazy Load setting)
Theme performance settings. E.g. the AVADA theme has a 'Performance Setting' panel where you can turn off Lazy Load (should be off).
Do not use 'lazy load' options that rewrite images as background images
Lazy load options on optimization plugins will change the way images are loaded by converting the image tag into a div with a background image.
If you want to see images on the summaries and other areas, then do not allow this happen - turn off these 'lazy load' options.
DO NOT 'DEFER' LOADING OF BUYING BUDDY SCRIPT
Just in case you missed this warning earlier(!) ..
In WordPress there are many optimization and speed enhancing plugins that have settings to (for example) 'defer loading of JavaScript' etc.
The Buying Buddy plugin scripts (including the Google Maps API library) must not be deferred. Always make sure these are excluded from such methods.
Do not use WordPress Page Break Blocks for "Foundation" Pages
The WordPress Page Break Block will modify the URL which will prevent Buying Buddy from loading results and property details.
SEO Plugins
We recommend using an SEO plugin on WordPress such as Yoast or AIOSEO.
On just the "property details" foundation page, the Buying Buddy plugin overrides the meta tags that the SEO plugins generate so they use unique meta tags for each property page.
NOTE: We do not advise Rank Math as this has created conflicts.
WordPress MU - Multisite
The Buying Buddy WordPress plugin is fully supported in a WordPress multisite (MU) environment.
In such a case, the plugin would be installed once for your Network.
You may then Network Activate, or have activate the Buying Buddy plugin with settings and options for each site as needed.
Step 1: Get your Google Map API Key
A Google Map API Key is required for any widget that uses a map. Widget features that do not use the map will function normally without a map key.
You should not postpone getting a Map Key - do this straight away so that everything works and you do not have to repeat this process.
Note: If this is a production or live website, you should obtain a Map Key.
Even if the Google Maps library is being loaded (including a valid API Key) by third party plugin or Theme in you website, you must STILL add your Google Map API Key into the plugin field during installation.
Follow these instructions to Get a Google Map API key.
Step 2: Add Buying Buddy Plugin To Your Site
Install and Activate Plugin:
- Go to your WordPress admin panel.
Select "Plugins / Add New".
- Search for "Buying Buddy".
Install and activate the plugin.
- After successful installation, you will be asked to enter your Buying Buddy Account Activation Key.
Your options are:- Choose "Free Trial" or "Buy Now"
Follow the instructions provided.
At the end of the process, your plugin will be activated. - For existing accounts:
Obtain your Account Activation Key from your Buying Buddy account.
Go to the top menu and click "Widgets" to show the Widgets menu.
You can find your Activation Key on this menu panel - it is shown on the right side at the top. Click the copy button to copy to your clipboard, and then add to the plugin.
- Choose "Free Trial" or "Buy Now"
Whenever the plugin is activated with an Account Activation Key, the Buying Buddy plugin will always automatically add 4 pages:
- 3 x required foundation pages with the appropriate widget shortcodes added to the pages.
- 1 x search page with a search form widget added to the page, so that you can start searching and see things working straight away.
The "Website Settings" options in your Buying Buddy account will also be automatically updated with the default URL page slugs matching the foundation pages that were just created.
Add Additional Template Pages
You will now see options to add various template pages.
If you are re-activating the plugin, then you will shown the Plugin Dashboard.
Template pages provide you with examples of how to use various Buying Buddy widgets.
These example pages can be modified or deleted.
The Template Pages tab in the plugin also has options for adding template pages.
Step 3. Add the Disclaimer Widget
You should now add the "Disclaimer Widget" to the Footer so that it shows on every page.
This is not required, however if you don't do this, then the mandatory MLS disclaimer text and terms will be shown directly underneath all widgets. So the "Disclaimer Widget" helps keep your pages clean by showing the required disclaimers in the footer area.
Disclaimer Widget Colors
The widget will display dark gray text on a panel with a white background.
To blend this widget with your website footer, the color of the disclaimer text and panel background can be modified, e.g. white text on a transparent background. Use the Widget Wizard in your Buying Buddy account to create an Disclaimer widget with color options.
See Disclaimer Widget Reference to learn more about this.
To add the Disclaimer widget:
Add this shortcode:[mbb_widget id="MBBv3_Disclaimer"]
Installation is complete!
Now the plugin is installed and operational, you can start to use more Buying Buddy widgets on any number of pages to display properties.
Skip to the Doing More section at the bottom of this article.
Additional Plugin Settings
The following settings are shown in the Buying Buddy Plugin Settings tab.
See instructions below:
Required Settings
- Activation Key
This field is required. - Google Map API key
A Google Map API Key is required for any widget that uses a map. Widget features that do not use the map will function normally without a map key.
Note: If this is a production or live website, you should obtain a Map Key.
Even if the Google Maps JavaScript library is being loaded (including a valid API Key) by third party code in you website, you must STILL add your Google Map API Key here.
If your WordPress theme loads Google Maps (e.g. DIVI Theme, Real Spaces etc) you must still add a Google Map API key to the Buying Buddy plugin.
Optional Settings
- Buying Buddy Loads Google Maps Library?
You may adjust this to avoid duplication errors if your WordPress site or another plugin already loads Google maps with an API key.
For example, the DIVI Theme will also load Google Maps API. In the specific case of DIVI, the prescribed solution is to actually to allow Buying Buddy plugin to load the Google Maps API and stop DIVI from loading it a second time. See our support article to read how to remove the conflict with DIVI.) - Load the Buying Buddy Plugin
You may set this to "No" to temporarily turn off the plugin on all pages, which can be handy for troubleshooting. - Only load plugin on these page/post IDs:
This option allows you to load the Buying Buddy Plugin on specified Pages. Specify a comma separated list of WordPress page/post IDs.
e.g. "123,45,67,789" - Enable auto updates?
This should be set to "Yes" to automatically receive the latest updates and features for the plugin. - Enable Agent / Office Index Widget?
This widget uses rewrite rules to create multiple SEO friendly pages for Agent, and so it needs to be added to the designated slug "/team". However, if this slug is in use by a non-Buying Buddy function then turn this off to avoid conflicts.
Adding Foundation Pages Manually
Step 1: Create pages
Create two (2) new pages that are required for the correct operations of the Buying Buddy plugin.
A third foundation page is added by the plugin for future use, but if you are creating these manually then only 2 are currently required
- Results Page
- Property Details Page
These pages should NOT be added to your main navigation menu - i.e. these are "utility" pages.
(You will use other widgets to display properties on other pages such as featured listings, or community pages and so on).
- Go back to your WordPress dashboard account and create two BLANK PAGES.
We suggest you give them appropriate titles, such as "Results" and "Details".
To match the default slugs we use in your Buying Buddy account, give these pages slugs of "/listing-results" and "/listing-details".
However these slugs can be anything you like as long as they match the Website Settings (see 3c. below).
Step 2: Add Widgets to the 2 Foundation Pages you just created
TIP!
The "results" and "details" look best when they are placed in a container that can be the full width of the browser.
- Next, edit the new "results" page.
- Paste the following short code for the Buying Buddy "Results" widget.
For example – in the image below this is the Results widget added using the block editor.
If you are using a standard text editor, just add the short code as regular text.[mbb_widget id="MBBv3_ListingResults"]
- SAVE your page.
- VERIFY. Once you have SAVED this page, preview it to see Buying Buddy results widget being displayed on the authorized domain.
If you are viewing a staging domain and you don't see widgets, make sure this has been added to your Buying Buddy account (submit a help ticket if you need this added).
Excellent! You have set up the Results Foundation Page. - NOW REPEAT the above steps to setup your Details page ** Do not forget to do this! **
The Widget short code to use is:[mbb_widget id="MBBv3_SearchDetails"]
Note: The details widget may display a SQL error if you preview it - ignore this.
Excellent! You have now set up the Details Foundation Page. - Finally, paste the Search Form widget to any other page (must be a separate page) using the process described above (this is for testing the search - this is not a foundation page).
(Do not add the search widget to your "results" or "details" pages as this will break the widgets.)
The Search form short code is:[mbb_widget id="MBBv3_SearchForm"]
Before testing - complete the next step!
Step 3: Configure your Buying Buddy account so that page names match
It's important that the Buying Buddy system knows the page address you used for your Foundation Pages.
Buying Buddy needs to know where to go to show search results, and where to direct your leads (via emails etc.) to see search results and details of a specific property.
So in this step, you will update the Foundation Page settings in your Buying Buddy dashboard, to match the actual page addresses you created.
- In your Buying Buddy dashboard, navigate to Plugin Installation and Settings.
Then select the domain. - Click the "Foundation Pages" tab to review the page addresses of the Foundation pages.
- Check the page names shown and update them if needed.
- You will see that they are probably shown as /listing-results and /listing-details. If the details and results pages are using different slugs, then you need to change these to say the actual names of the pages you created. When viewing these pages in your browser you will see the full address.
NOTE: Use the actual page names for YOUR site - don't assume that they are the same as shown in this example!
Troubleshooting
"SQL Error" on Details Page
If you see this message then this is because you are attempting to view the Property Details widget on a page on its own without a reference to a property! Ignore this, the widget is installed correctly and this error is never seen.
"Sorry this domain is not authorized"
If you see a message that says "Sorry this domain is not authorized", then this means that the Widgets and Plugin are indeed working correctly, BUT that your page address is a domain that is not authorized to display Buying Buddy Widgets. It is probably a staging / development domain.
There are two options for dealing with this:
- Make sure your actual domain name is applied and working - and then view the "live" site in which case widgets will be displayed correctly. You can then choose to ignore this message while in development.
- If you need to do more extensive development then you can request (via Help Desk) to add your staging / development domain as an extra (free) "authorized" domain on your account.
We call this a 'sandbox' development URL and it would be authorized temporarily while you do development.
Widget Layout Is Jumbled and Unorganized?
See Troubleshooting WordPress Plugin Issues.
Enable Automatic Updates
The Buying Buddy plugin is regularly updated with new features and improvements. You should enable Automatic Updates.
Doing More
Your WordPress site editor will allow you to create custom search forms and use all the capabilities of the Buying Buddy widgets.
Some example that you may like to consider include;
- Adding a Featured Listings page to display your own listings
- Showing your Sold properties
- Creating neighborhood pages with properties for neighborhoods
- Adding lead capture forms that send leads directly to the Buying Buddy CRM
- Adding a general contact form widget
- and a lot more!
You can now use Widget Themes to style widgets - or even add custom CSS too if you wish to.
See our demonstration websites for ideas and inspiration
- https://charliesmithrealty.com (WordPress)
- https://charliesmithrealty.net (HTML / php)
Additional Support Articles
- WordPress Compatibility and Technical Notes
- Troubleshooting WordPress Plugin Issues
- How to Display Properties on Web Pages and Blog Articles. Learn how to use the Widget Wizard to easily get code snippets to display any properties on any pages.
- How to setup IDX widgets to be super search engine friendly! Get SEO friendly Long Tails and Indexable Listings
Older Versions of Plugin
Older Versions
IMPORTANT: Your should update your Buying Buddy Plugin.
See how to Update Your WordPress Buying Buddy plugin.