Five things have to be true before MLSImport can put listings on your site. Four of them depend on your MLS and your access to it, and one depends on your hosting. Check them in this order, because the first two are the ones that stop a setup dead.
1. Your MLS offers RESO Web API access
MLSImport reads listings over the RESO Web API, the industry standard feed format. It does not work with the older RETS protocol, and it does not scrape public websites.
Ask your MLS directly whether they provide RESO Web API access to members, and whether your membership type qualifies. Some MLSs offer it to brokers only, some require a broker’s written authorisation for an agent, and some charge for it separately.
2. Your MLS runs on a platform MLSImport supports
RESO Web API access is delivered through a data platform. MLSImport supports the platforms most MLSs use, and each one has its own credential guide here: Trestle, Bridge, Spark, Rapattoni, Paragon and ConnectMLS, MLS Grid, and Realtor.ca. Navica is supported and has no separate guide yet. Several MLSs run their own servers, and those work too.
The list in the plugin is the authority, not this page. In the plugin’s account step there is a search your MLS box: start typing your MLS name and see whether it appears. If it does, MLSImport already knows how to talk to it. If it does not, send us the MLS name before you buy and we will tell you where it stands.
3. You have your own API credentials, or can request them
The credentials are issued to you or your brokerage, never to us. What you receive depends on the platform: a client ID and secret for Trestle, Rapattoni, Paragon, Realtor.ca and similar, a server token for Bridge, a username and password for a few others.
Requesting them takes time. Some MLSs answer in a day and some take several weeks, and many require a signed data licence agreement first. Start that request before you subscribe, not after.
If you already have credentials and want them checked before you pay, send them to us and we will confirm they connect to your MLS. That test takes minutes and removes the most common reason a new setup stalls.
4. A theme MLSImport can write into
Imported listings have to be stored somewhere your site knows how to display. There are two ways to satisfy this.
- A theme with a dedicated adapter. WpResidence, Houzez, Real Homes, and Wpestate each store property data in their own meta keys, and MLSImport maps RESO fields onto them. Property pages, search, and agent pages come from the theme.
- Standalone (any theme) mode. MLSImport supplies its own property templates, search, archives, and design settings, so the listings do not depend on the active theme at all. This is the option when you run a theme that is not on the list, including a general purpose one.
You choose between them during setup, in the theme selector on the account step.
5. Your server can carry the import
The first screen of the setup wizard shows a System Requirements Check, and the plugin repeats the memory and execution time warnings in the admin if either falls short later.
- WordPress 5.2 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. These are the plugin’s declared minimums. The wizard’s requirements table checks the running PHP version and passes from 7.2 up.
- Memory limit of at least 256MB. The wizard flags anything lower, and the plugin repeats that warning on its admin screens, because import runs hold listing batches in memory.
- max_execution_time of 0 for unlimited, or as high as your host allows. The wizard passes at 120 seconds or more. The admin warning is stricter: any positive value under 600 seconds is flagged, because an import that hits the limit stops part way through a batch.
- A supported theme, or Standalone mode. The wizard also reports whether your active theme is one of the four with a dedicated adapter.
Shared hosting is fine for a few hundred listings. Tens of thousands of listings need a VPS or a dedicated server, mostly because of what the import and sync runs do rather than what visitors do.
Check max_execution_time before you buy hosting, not after. Some shared hosts cap it at 30 or 60 seconds and will not raise it at any price, which makes large imports impossible on that plan no matter how much memory you add.
How do I verify that a website provider supports my MLS integration?
Ask them to confirm eight things in writing, before you pay anyone. A provider who genuinely supports your MLS can answer all eight in one email. A provider who answers in brochure language on any of them has told you something.
- Your MLS by name, and the data platform it runs on. Not “we support all major MLSs”. The name of your board, and whether its feed comes through Trestle, Bridge, Spark, Rapattoni, Paragon, ConnectMLS, MLS Grid, Realtor.ca DDF, Navica, or a server the board runs itself.
- The credential type they need from you. A client ID and secret, a server token, or a username and password. If they cannot name it, they have not connected to your board.
- Which data rights the setup relies on. IDX display is not the same permission as a RESO Web API feed, and an MLS can grant one without the other. Ask which one they are building on, and who signs the data licence agreement.
- The update cadence, as a number. How often the feed is pulled and how quickly a price or status change reaches your pages. Then check that number against your own MLS’s rules: boards publish both a maximum pull frequency and a maximum staleness, and the two are not the same limit.
- Who owns the listing pages, and what leaves with you. Whether listings are stored in your own database or rendered from theirs, and what you take away if you leave: the posts, the URLs, the leads, or nothing.
- Whether it works with your theme. Either the product has an adapter for the theme you run, or it supplies its own listing templates. Anything vaguer means a rebuild you have not been quoted for.
- The server requirements, in figures. PHP version, memory limit, and max_execution_time, plus the listing count those figures assume. A provider who will not put numbers on this cannot tell you whether your hosting plan is enough.
- What happens when you cancel. Whether the listings stay, disappear, or become an unrendered post type, and whether your URLs survive. Ask before you buy, not on the way out.
Our own answers to all eight are on this page and the pages it links to. Where we cannot help is the first item: only your MLS can tell you which platform it runs on, so start there.
What it costs
MLSImport is $49 per month with a 30 day free trial and no setup fee. Yearly billing is discounted. You can cancel during the trial and pay nothing.
Anything your MLS or its data platform charges for API access is separate and goes to them, not to us. Those fees vary widely between MLSs, so ask yours what Web API access costs before you plan a budget.
The RESO field on the order form
The order form has a required field asking for your MLS’s RESO Web API connection details. It only checks that the field is not empty. Any text gets you through it, and you do not have to paste real credentials into a checkout form.
The field is required on purpose, to make sure nobody subscribes without knowing that RESO Web API access is what makes the plugin work. Your real credentials go into the plugin on your own site, after installation.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start the trial while I am still waiting for my MLS to approve API access?
You can, but the trial clock starts on subscription, not on approval. If your MLS is likely to take several weeks, you will spend most of the free period unable to import anything. Request access first and subscribe once approval is in sight.
My MLS says they offer IDX. Is that the same as RESO Web API?
Not necessarily. IDX describes what you are permitted to display, while RESO Web API describes how the data is delivered. An MLS can grant IDX rights and still deliver the data by a method MLSImport cannot read. Ask specifically for RESO Web API access.
Do I need a separate subscription for each of my websites?
Yes. One subscription covers one WordPress install connected to one MLS account. A second site, or a second MLS feed, needs its own subscription.
Can you request the MLS credentials on my behalf?
No. MLSs issue credentials only to their own members and to the brokerage those members belong to, so the request has to come from you. We can tell you which platform your MLS uses and what to ask for, and we will test the credentials once you have them.
Related
- What MLSImport is and how it works
- How MLS websites work: import vs live IDX
- Why a compatible theme (or Standalone mode) is needed
- What RESO Web API access is and why you need it
Send us your MLS name and your API platform before you subscribe and we will confirm exactly what you need for that MLS.