ExchangeHomes.com™

Managing Listings

ADDING YOUR OWN LISTING— To add a listing of your own, you need to be in your own Admin Area, which means you first have to click the "Join Now" link on the left side of the home page, provide us with your personal details and set up a password of your choice.

In the right hand of your Admin Area under the heading "My Home Exchange Listings", you will see a link to Create A New Listing. Click this link to begin the process.

Only ONE home per listing please. Don't include descriptions of multiple homes in one listing. Additional homes are very inexpensive and all listings under the same membership will be linked by programming and when one listing is viewed/displayed, the all additional listings will appear underneath.

When you are satisfied with how your listing looks and you're ready to publish it / make it live, select "Pay To Display", an option you will find at the bottom of the Membership Form and also in your Admin Area. At almost any point you can save your work and return to continue later.

The Listing Number and Title will then display under My Home Exchange Listings with the option to View—see how it will display, Edit—add or make changes, Photos—add photos - see below, Delete—remove the listing permanently, Pay to Display— (if you have not yet done so), pay to make the listing instantly live! Remember, no fee is charged until you've created a listing and are ready to publish / pay for it, but until you pay and become a member you will not be able to contact other members.

EDITING YOUR LISTING— Your listing(s) can be edited 24/7 from your Admin Area. Just log on and select the listing you wish to work with. Remember to click "Save" when you're finished.
VERY IMPORTANT!— Due to the enormous amount of space taken up on our server by unactivated (unpaid) listings, we regret we must enforce a time limit of 7 days that unpaid listings can remain in an Admin Area before being removed. A reminder will be emailed to the owner at least 24 hours before their unpaid listing is deleted.
REMOVING A LISTING— Should you ever wish to remove a Home Exchange listing, you will find a "Delete" option below where it's listed in your Admin Area. Be absolutely certain you wish to take this action because the action is permanent!

ADDING PHOTOS & CAPTIONS— You have the option to add an unlimited number of photographs to your listing. Make sure they are bright and clear and a low resolution so that they load quickly when people are viewing them.

Start by taking some pictures of your home. Make sure it is well lit, preferably take pictures in the middle of a sunny day using a flash or the night setting on your camera. Ideally your camera will be digital, otherwise borrow a teenager with a camera in their phone or consider scanning in your photos once developed. We will always upload old-fashioned paper photos for you, just contact us for how to mail them to us.

Look at other listings, which ones appeal to you? Aim for a photo mix as attractive or better than ones that appeal to you, as after all the homes, families and locations that you like the look of are the people who’s attention you need to grab. Remember, you can "sell" your offer more effectively with your front-page (default) photo.

In your Admin Area click the "Photos" link of the home whose photos you wish to add / edit. Under 'File Name' click "Browse" and locate the image file on your computer, then click 'Upload Photo'. You will also have the opportunity to add a short, descriptive caption for each photo.

Make sure you 'Mark As Default' the photo you want to display on the front page of your listing. A hint about location works more effectively than a picture of the house, of course they should also be put on the site but not as the lead photo. What is it that is the most attractive feature of your area? is it the big city culture, the small town atmosphere, rural tranquillity, mountain views or beautiful beaches. Try for a photo that summarises what your area has to offer. If you have no idea, take a look at your local area tourist board website: what pictures have they got on their front page?

DIFFICULTIES UPLOADING— If you are encountering difficulties uploading your photographs, it's usually because of one of two things:

Your photo files are not in the necessary JPG, JPEG or GIF format. This needs to be set up in a proper graphic editing program, just changing the extension doesn't work.

Your photo files are too big. A lot of people try to upload photographs that are 24, 30, 35, even 40 inches wide with resolutions of 500 or 600 dpi. These huge files are automatically blocked by progamming on our servers from uploading because huge files are sometimes infected with viruses. Also, overly large photographs take far too long to load when viedwed in your listing by fellow members, causing them to abandon your listing and move on to another one that's more 'User Friendly'.

If you have no means of editing your photographs youself, just conact us for directions on how to email them to us. We will then edit and upload them for you.
DELETING PHOTOS & CAPTIONS— Should you ever wish to delete a photo, you will find a 'Delete' button at its base.

My Admin Area

SAVING SEARCHES— Whenever you perform any searches, at the foot of the listings displayed you will see the option to "Name and Save the Search". This name will then display under Searches »» Saved Searches in the left column of your Admin Area.

MAKING CONTACTS— As you search and view the listings of our Members, you will see a link at the top right of the screen to "Contact this Listing". Click and you will open the Email screen. At the foot of the page you will see two options: 1. Save this message body so that I can use it in future again 2. Save this message body as my default message. Option 1. will save the text you entered and automatically enter it in the next email you prepare to send (you will have the opportunity to edit it first). Option 2. will save the body to your Mailbox in your Admin Area where you will also have the opportunity to edit it. Associate Members are limited to sending a maximum of 5 emails during a 24 hour period.

NOTE: Remember, all contacts are between listing (paid) members. You will not be able to make contact with other members until you add your own exchange offer and pay to activate / display it.

NOTE: A number of years ago, to prevent spamming of our Members, it became necessary to safeguard both ourselves and our paid Members by blocking any outgoing emails that contained URLs or references to web sites other than our own. Please remember this, otherwise your email will be blocked and you will receive an error message.

MY MAILBOX— When logged in to your Admin Area, you will see "My Mailbox" in the left hand column. Clickable links then take you to Mail You've Sent, Your Stored Email Templates, and Mail You've Received.