Daft.ie

Technology Blog

  • We have redesigned our property details page!

    We have launched our new redesigned property details page across the site.

    A lot has changed! Aesthetically, it looks fresher with a cleaner layout. Our Developers have been working feverishly over the last few months to achieve a different, functional, contemporary look.

    Here is a snapshot of improvements.

    The first thing you notice is that the property photographs take centre stage on the page. The first image is larger with the introduction of thumbnails beneath. You can take a look inside the property and see if it's the one for you. So, remember photographs are of utmost importance!

    We have made the ‘Contact Advertiser’ details more visible to the right of the photographs. There is also a text box to email the Advertiser.

    Also made more visible are functions 'Save Ad', 'Share with Friends', 'Print this Page' and 'Report this Ad'

    For the many tweeters among us- we have made it more visible on the top right hand side to tweet and share the ad on Facebook

    The introduction of tabs has made it easier to evaluate the property in one fowl swoop. In the property overview tab, you can get the key details of the property at a quick glance and see where it's located. If you want to go in to more detail on the property, clicking "Show more information" will show you all of the description which the advertiser has shared, which could be anything from details of the local area right down to the measurements of the en-suite bathroom! Maneuvering across, there is Map, Street View and Other Properties in the Area. Always a handy feature if the property in question is not suitable.

    We hope this makes life easier for you and you find our new design easier on the eye!

    As always, we welcome all feedback!

  • We're Hiring.. think: PHP, Node.js, MongoDB, Linux, EC2, jQuery, Nginx, MySQL, Solr, Git

    Title grabbed your attention? Then come work code with us..

    We are always on the look out for good talent to join the Distilled Media development team to work on the next generation of Boards, The Journal, BoardsDeals, Daft and Adverts products and services.

    We have a number of job opportunities open from graduate to senior level positions.

    Ask yourself the following questions?

    - Do you want to code for the busiest websites in Ireland?
    - Ask the person beside you if they've used boards.ie, thejournal.iedaft.ie, adverts.ie or boardsdeals.ie?
    - Would you like to work with the latest set of technologies in Ireland's fastest growing technology company?
    - Are you a believer in big ideas and looking to work at a company that can really make a difference?
    - Does it excite you that your code is used by 100,000's of people within seconds of being deployed?
    - Want to work in a modern office in the centre of Dublin using the best of tools?
    - Do you find yourself playing with web APIs and building web apps in your spare time?
    - Do you like developing to screen sizes of 480x320, want to build iOS apps or Android apps?

    We have a very high standard on our engineering team and are looking for smart, passionate developers. The role is an extremely rewarding one for the right candidate!

  • Daft Android App Released

    Daft Android App
    Daft Android App LaunchedThis morning we're delighted to announce the release of our first Android app.

    Over the last 18 months or so we've seen colossal growth in traffic coming from smartphones, primarily iPhone and Android devices. Following on from our previous iPhone and iPad app launches, we're delighted to be the first Irish property portal to launch a dedicated Android app.

    One of our main aims when working with mobile devices is to ensure as consistent an experience as possible for users across different devices. As such, the app should feel very familiar if you've used our iPhone App or touch-optimised version of Daft.

  • Announcing the all new Map Search!

    A common request we've gotten from users in the past has been to enable our Map Search feature for all properties, not just those for sale. So, when we were chosen by Google to be one of the official launch partners for Google Streetview in Ireland, we decided it was finally time to overhaul our current system with something more modern and available to all properties. This overhaul started with the map on each property's page and has now been rolled out to the full map search.

    map_search_new

  • Upwardly Mobile - Introducing touch.daft.ie

    Search ResultsWe're delighted to announce that this week we've released touch.daft.ie, a version of Daft.ie optimised for iPhone and Android-powered mobile phones.

    Over the last year we've seen a huge increase in traffic to Daft.ie from mobile devices. Traffic from smartphones to Daft has increased by over 230% since November of last year! And this figure doesn't include the traffic coming from the Daft iPhone app or iPad app.

    We've had a mobile version of Daft available at http://m.daft.ie for several years now. It was originally aimed at WAP-enabled mobile phones, so it has very few images, and is designed for a fast download over a slow mobile connection. In the last couple of years the launch of the iPhone and Android-powered phones has meant that many mobile phones are now capable of handling a much richer browsing experience.
    With this in mind we set out to build a version of the site which still loads quickly on a mobile connection, but provides a much richer browsing experience than the previous mobile site.

  • QR Codes on Daft

    Just a quick post to let you know that we've enabled QR codes on all our links. In order to create a QR code for a Daft URL all you have to do is replace the 'www' in the URL with a 'qr'.

    So what's a QR code?
    A QR Code is a 2D barcode that is readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera and smartphones (there are loads of free QR apps available for both Android & iPhone phones). The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. There's more info on the history of QR codes over on wikipedia.

    So what's this got to do with Daft?
    We've made it very easy to convert a link on Daft into a QR code that contains the URL, to use this feature just swap out the 'www' part of the URL with 'qr', this will enable you to print a QR code that links directly to your property or your search.

    e.g. http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=557389 -> http://qr.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=557389

    Here's an interesting post that details how different companies are using QR codes.

    Have fun!
    Ciarán
    @ciaranmaher

  • Google Street View launches on Daft.ie - see the street from your seat!

    Daft has just made it easier for you to find your dream home online!

    We've just added an exciting feature to our maps called Google Street View - a 360 degree street-level view of properties, towns, neighbourhoods and streets in Ireland.

    Street View preview

    What does this mean for my property searches?

    If you’re looking for a place to buy or rent, Street View immerses you in the property location, at ground level. You can move up and down streets, or look around you in 360 degree panoramas giving you a feel for the property and the area.

    You can virtually explore neighbourhoods and navigate to individual homes and amenities like shops, schools, dry cleaners and bus stops. You can even check out nearby landmarks to help with driving directions to the property!

  • A picture speaks a thousand words...

    ...or so the saying goes, well now we've made it easier for you to let your pictures do the talking as we've rolled out a new image uploading feature to all our advertisers.

    You no longer have to upload your pictures one at a time - it's now possible to attach multiple images at once. You can also rearrange the order of the pictures, add a caption and we've also added a progress bar, to show you file by file uploading progress. Here are a few screenshots to show how the new process works.

  • Daft.ie iPhone App - Update

    We have just released an update to the widely popular Daft.ie iPhone App which is now available in the app store. Download it here >

    Homescreenphoto-23

    Based on your feedback we have implemented the most commonly requested features:

    • Improved Stability:
      We have worked hard on reducing the memory footprint (ie the main cause of crashes) for photo browsing and users should see a huge improvement in this area. We have also got the app working efficiently on iPhone OS 3.0 and above which should increase the number of people able to download the app.
    • MyDaft Integration:
      Users can now login to their mydaft account directly from their phone. Favourite searches and ads will automatically synch with the website. We are currently working on extending this integration to include renewing ads, deactivating/reactivating ads and adding photos to ads directly from your phone.
    • Advanced Search:
      Users can now click the advanced button in the search form page and get access to more search options to really refine down their search to find their perfect home
    • New Search Categories:
      We have added both parking space search and new homes search



    Over 32,000 people have already downloaded the app since January and we are averaging just over 5 million page views a month which is about 4% the usage of the main Daft.ie website. In addition, we are now generating 4,000 phone calls a month and 2,000 emails for our advertisers from users of the app.

    If you don't already have the app, here's the link to download it from itunes:
    http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/daft-ie/id346547065?mt=8

  • Daft.ie iPhone App - The Stats

    Daft.ie iPhone App

    We've been developing for mobile for many years now. We launched one of the the first WAP sites on the digifone portal back in 1999. In 2005 we launched on i-mode. Despite being backed by huge outdoor ad campaigns, i-mode and WAP never really lived up to their promise. We had more people visting daft.ie via their desktop browser in one minute than an entire month on i-mode/WAP. So by and large, mobile has been a total waste of time for us, that is, until now.

    The Daft.ie iPhone App was launched on Christmas Eve 2009 after a six month development effort. We expected it to be popular but the usage stats have blown through even our wildest expectations.

    To date the app has been downloaded 13,627 times, which is great, but download data doesn't tell us very much about usage behaviour. Luckily, Google launched google analytics for mobile in November, so we've been able to track the app usage in the same way we track usage on the main Daft.ie website.