Location Hierarchy
The location tree of the areas in which you sell properties allows you to create a consistent hierarchy of areas and locations when your properties are synchronised to your website.
Reliance on Google maps for addresses has disadvantages for many estate agents for a number of reasons:
- Addresses are not consistent and often not complete which makes drop down area menus on websites unreliable
- Local areas are often best known by names that not listed in Google. This is particularly important for foreign buyers who may not even be aware of the official names.
- Buildings, new developments and complexes are not mapped by Google.
- Agents in many areas do not wish to give exact mapping addresses of a property to avoid buyers contacting owners directly having located the property on a website map.
For these reasons the Respacio system is not completely reliant on Google to map and provide the address details from a map location.
In order to ensure that your property addresses are mapped in a consistent way, customised to your preferences, the location hierarchy is added to the master module.
Adding the Location Hierarchy
The easiest way to add your location hierarchy is by exporting the Others section of the Master Module. The spreadsheet has a number of tabs, and locations cover 6 of the tabs:
- Countries
- States
- Provinces
- Municipalities
- Cities
- Complex Name
Countries
This tab contains the country and the language that is spoken. Each country / Language name is translated in the system language. If you add additional languages to the system, then you should add the translation of each country to the new language column. The country list is a complete list of countries so it is unlikely that you will need to add a new one.
Beside the country list is a list of corresponding nationalities. For example, someone from the United Kingdom would have nationality British and a person from France would have a nationality of French.
States and Provinces
States are the largest geographical area within a country. You should add the states that you sell properties in so they can be selected in the address hierarchy. In some countries these are not called states, but other terms may be used.
Provinces is the term used in the system for the next tier of area. In smaller countries, this may not exist as a tier, in which case simply repeat the State.
Municipalities and Cities
The next two tiers of Municipality and City (or town) are common to most countries, although the terminology may be different
Complexes
Complexes or buildings with multiple units is the smallest unit in Respacio. These also allow you to add a map reference (Longitude/Latitude) so that when a property is added, the mapping is automatic.
Methodology
When you add a record to the state tab of the sheet, you also need to add the Country in which it is located and then add the State. The subsequent columns are for translations of that State. eg
| Country | State | German | French | Dutch | Spanish | Portuguese | Russian | Greek | Arabic |
| Spain | Canary Islands | Kanarische Inseln | Iles Canaries | Canarische eilanden | Canarias | Canarias | Канарские острова | Κανάριοι Νήσοι | جزر الكناري |
As you add the next tier in the Province tab, the first two columns will contain the Country and State in English, followed by the Province that you are adding and the translations.
| Country | State | Province | German | French | Dutch | Spanish | Portuguese | Russian | Greek | Arabic |
| Spain | Canary Islands | Tenerife | Teneriffa | Tenerife | Tenerife | Tenerife | Tenerife | Тенерифе | Τενερίφη | تينيريفي |
The next level in the Municipality tab therefore will show the Country, State, Province followed by the Municipality and its translations. The same methodology works for all levels.
Deleting Locations
To remove a location completely from the database, type the word "delete" in the action column and upload the sheet. This will delete the row.
