Statement of Purpose

       The goal of this website...  is to become the best resource possible for anyone who is in  
   search of a place to stay, whether it be for one night, a week’s vacation or for a lifetime, in the
   State of Maine.
  

         About the Listings

     Listings can be created by any property owner or agent who is in search of a way to advertise, sell or rent a property. The various categories of listings (for example, ‘Houses for Rent’)  are self-explanatory. There are two types of Listings:

1. Free Listings - Free Listings include one photo of the property (required) as well as all relevant information about the property and its owner or agent, including a link to a website, a contact email address, mailing address and telephone number. There is never a charge for this service.
    
2. Gallery Listings - Gallery Listings contain more than one photo. They are made in the same way as a Free Listing, except that the additional photos (up to 7) are included in a ‘Gallery’ of the property that will appear on the Listing page.
            Advantages: In addition to the obvious enhancement of the Listing by the additional, larger photos on the ‘Detail’ page, Gallery Listings are given the advantage of appearing first among the Listings for a given town. Also, they are shown on the list pages with the flag ‘Gallery’ prominently displayed next to the listing information. This distinguishes the listing and tells the user that this listing will give them multiple views of the property.
            Cost and Billing: - The cost of a Gallery Listing is $24 per year. Once the Gallery Listing is created (i.e., when Gallery photos are added), a bill for this amount will be sent to the email address used to register the user. This email will contain directions to send payment by Credit Card via our secure webserver or payment may be sent by mail. The user is under no obligation to pay this bill. If payment is not received within 10 days of the date of the bill, the listing will be de-activated..
    

       If you prefer, we can place your Listing for you

     Listings are easy to create and maintain. However, a property owner can also opt to have their Listing created and maintained for them by us. The charge for this service is $20 per Listing (‘Free’ and ‘Gallery’ Listings are charged the same).  Updates of information on existing Listings can be done at any time by email or telephone at a charge of $10 per update.  To initiate this service, please call or email us via our ‘About/Contact’ Page.
 

  Helpful Information     
     How to...

  Create Listings

     To create a listing for your property in any category, follow these simple steps:

1. Click the ‘Create a Listing’ link on any page to be taken to the user area of the site which begins with the ‘Login’ page.
2. Click the ‘Register’ link below the login fields on the page.
3. Register, using your email address and the password of your choice. Use this combination of ‘user name’ and ‘password’ in the future to login.
4. Once registered and logged in, click the category on the menu at the left of the page in which you would like your listing to appear, for example, ‘Vacation Rentals’. Click ‘Add Listing’ to be taken to the form with all the fields that pertain to that category of listings. Fill these fields and submit your listing. It will become immediately visible in the search results for that category.
   Please note: Though many properties may appropriately be listed in 2 categories, no property may appear in more than 2 categories.
    

  Create a Free Listing

• Fill in the form for your Listing, adding one photo in the ‘FreeImage’ Field.
• To add a Map reference to your Listing (not required, but very helpful), follow the instructions for this below.
• Stop there and submit the Listing.
   

  Create a Gallery Listing

• Fill in the form in the same way as a Free Listing described above, only now continue to add images in the ‘GalleryImage’ fields (from 1 to 7) along with descriptions for each image if you like. (The descriptions are not required.)
• Submit the Listing. You will receive a bill by email, but you are under no obligation to pay it. If you choose not to pay, the listing will simply be deactivated. No further reminders will be sent.
   

IMAGE TECH -- Successfully Upload and Display Images

• The ‘FreeImage’ field of each listing is required to contain an image of the property. Listings that are posted without an image will be removed without notice.
• Hints on uploading images:
   1 - Images in ‘Landscape’ (horizontal) layout display generally better than those in ‘Portrait’ (vertical) layout.
   2 - THE IMAGE CANNOT BE OF A SIZE GREATER THAN 300KB.
   3 - While 300 kilobytes is the limit, it’s best to reduce images to around 40 kilobytes or so before uploading. Your photos will load faster and doing so will cause no loss of quality in the displayed image since our software reduces all images to around this size before displaying them anyway.
   4 - NOTE on ‘Dial-up’: To ensure success when uploading from a ‘Dial-up’ connection, images need to be reduced to about 40kb in size so that the system does not ‘time out’ the upload process. Also, it’s recommended in this case, to upload only 2 or 3 images at a time to a Gallery listing so that the ‘timeout’ does not occur.  Further images can be uploaded by ‘Updating’ the Listing until all desired images are uploaded. Again, reducing the size of images does not sacrifice the quality of the image that will appear in the Listing. Our software will automatically reduce the image at the time of display to approximately 40kb anyway and then cache that smaller image. So uploading a smaller image near this size to begin with will not sacrifice quality.
   

  Add a MAP Reference to a Listing

1. By default, the ‘Map’ field in the ‘Add Listing’ and ‘Update Listing’ boxes contains a link to the ‘center’ of the ‘State of Maine’ at ‘Google Maps’. However, much more desirable is to have a link that points to the location of the listed property itself. The following details how to make this link for your property.
2. In a new browser window, open the Google map site at: www.google.com/maps
3. In their map search box, type in the street address of your property in the format:
              4 forest street, fort kent, me
4. Click ‘Search Maps’
5. Verify that the location shown on the map is correct. (You can zoom out with the slider on the left.)
6. Click the ‘Link to this Page’ Link at the Top, Right corner of the Map -- IMPORTANT - This will make the Link in your browser’s address bar change -- See First Screenshot
7. Use your mouse to ‘Select’ (highlight) and ‘Copy’this ENTIRE link in the address bar
   -- See Second Screenshot
8. It’s a good idea to first test this link to be sure it gives the desired results by ‘Pasting’ it into the address bar of a new browser window.
9. Finally, if the above test is successful, ‘Paste’ this text into the ‘Map’ field of the Listing
   -- See Third Screenshot
    

  Make a Listing come to the Top (in search results)

There are three rules of sorting that control the order in which listings appear on the page.

1. Listings are first sorted alphabetically by ‘Town’ to make it easy for the person using the site to navigate the Listings and find Listings in the area that they are interested in.
2. Gallery Listings appear first among the Listings for a given town.
3. Each time a Listing is updated, it will appear FIRST (after Gallery Listings) among the Listings for a particular town. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep Listing information fresh.
   
   ----ALL Listings are shown on the FIRST page of the search results, so being ‘buried on page 12’ is not an issue. All Listings are readily and easily accessible to the person viewing the site.
   ----By far the most important factor in having your Listing stand out on the site is the Photo that you choose to place in the ‘FreeImage’ field. It should be the very best possible.
    

  Update, Upgrade or Delete a Listing

• You can update, change, upgrade (with Gallery Images) or delete Listings at any time. Simply Login, select the Listing in its category and click the ‘Update Listing’ link at the bottom of the Listing Info Box to make changes. Gallery Images can be added this way at any time. Click ‘Delete Listing’ to delete.
   

  Deactivate a Listing   (When an apartment is rented, e.g.)

• Especially with Apartment and House Rentals, there is the need to ‘Deactivate’ a Listing so that it remains in the system for future use, but does not currently show up in search results. To ‘Deactivate’ a Listing, ‘Update’ it as above and check the ‘Inactive’ radio button. This will remove your Listing from search results until you activate it again.
   

  View the Listing Account

• To view all pertinent information about a Listing, including payment information and relevant dates, click the ‘Listing Account’ link at the bottom of the Listing Info Box. 
   

  View or change Registration Information

• To view registration information click the ‘My Registration’ link on the left menu
• To update registration info, click the ‘Update Listing’ link at the bottom of the Registration Info Box
• To view registration account details, including registration type, payment information and all relevant dates, click the ‘Listing Account’ link at the bottom of the Registration info Box. 
   

  Leave the Site

• If for some reason a user would like to leave the site completely, they can do so by simply Logging in to the Registration page and clicking the ‘Delete Listing’ link at the bottom of the Registration Info Box. Once the delete is confirmed, all user information as well as all the Listings associated with this user will be permanently and completely deleted from the system.
   

                   User Agreement - Fine Print - Privacy Policy

• The registered user of this site agrees to be fully responsible for the accuracy of any information or content that is posted in his or her Listings. They will not hold the owners or administrators liable in any way for loss or damage that may result from the presentation of inaccurate information.
   
• According to the Federal Fair Housing Act and Maine Fair Housing laws: It is illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, , ual orientation, disability, familial status, or receipt of public assistance. The user of this site agrees to create Listings only in accordance with these laws. Any Listing that is worded contrary to these guidelines will be removed.
   
• Except in cases where they have explicit instructions from the user to do so, the Administrators will not change or alter the textual information given in a Listing.
   
• Images will be altered in size and quality to meet the requirements of good website design and presentation.
   
• The Administrator also reserves the right to remove Listings without notice under the following conditions:
     Irrelevancy - Any Listing containing content that is in any way irrelevant to the purpose of selling, renting or advertising a particular Lodging or Real Estate property will be removed.
     Spamming Listings- Multiple Listings of the same property in the same category are considered spam and will be removed. Only in the category ‘Apartments for Rent’ can more than one ‘unit’ in the same physical building or complex or at the same street address be posted by a single owner or agent.
     Spamming Categories - No single property may be listed in more than 2 categories.
     Dormancy - Please keep information up to date. A Listing or Registration that has not been updated or used in more than two years will be removed. Prevent this unintended deletion of listings by occasionally logging in to update your information on the site.
     Non-Payment - A Gallery Listing that has been posted for more than 10 days without payment will be removed.
   
•  Privacy Policy
  User information and email addresses will never be sold or made available to any third party for any reason.