What To Do When You Cannot View A Tour

[rmoss]

From time to time, usually as a result of a problem with Java or a pop up blocker, someone will have trouble viewing a tour. Although those problems are rare, it is important to know how to get past them when they do arise. This memo is designed for just that reason. Just choose the most appropriate answer to the following question.

What happens when you try to view the tour?

I click the tour link (or button), but nothing happens.

If nothing happens when you click a tour link, you probably have a pop up blocker that is mistaking the tour for a pop up advertisement. Many pop up blockers allow you to temporarily bypass the blocking by pressing the CTRL key on your keyboard while clicking the link. If using CTRL does not allow the tour to come up, try the following test to see if the problem is related to a pop up blocker. Click each of the following links. If the first one fails, but the second one works, then the problem is pop up related.

LINK 1 - This link can be blocked by pop up blockers:
http://www.VisualTour.com/show.asp?t=3649

LINK 2 - This link is not blocked by pop up blockers:
http://www.VisualTour.com/shownp.asp?t=3649

If you are shopping for a home and your real estate agent has used a link that is being blocked, you can type a non pop up link directly into your browser.
Just type http://www.VisualTour.com/shownp.asp?t=XXXXXX but replace XXXXXX with the tour number, which you can get by looking in the lower left corner of the browser when you pass your mouse over the existing link. If you are a real estate agent, just change your link from saying show.asp to say shownp.asp so buyers will not encounter any potential trouble. If you use a link that contains the words window.open then you need to make more drastic changes to your link. Call VisualTour support for help.

I click the tour link (or button), and something flashes but then nothing happens.

The thing that flashed was probably your pop up blocker alerting you that it blocked the tour.  See "I click the tour link (or button), but nothing happens" above.

All I get is a white window with nothing in it.

This is another symptom of an overly protective pop up blocker.  See "I click the tour link (or button), but nothing happens" above.

The tour window comes up, but there is a message saying that there are no photos.

If it actually has a message telling you that there are no photos, then the tour did not upload to the Internet successfully.  If you are shopping for a home, contact the real estate agent and let him or her know that the tour has no photos. You can use the CONTACT option toward the lower right of most tours to see the agent's name and phone number or the EMAIL ME option to send the agent an email.  Some tours do not have these options, so you will have to find the agent's contact information elsewhere on the web page.  If you are a real estate agent, contact VisualTour support for help in re-uploading the tour without having to retype the tour info or change the tour number or links. The basic process (in case VisualTour support is closed and you need to make it work NOW) is to begin your upload again as though you never uploaded it. When you get to the screen that asks for the tour title, bedrooms, baths, price, etc., do NOT type that information. Instead, click My Tours in the upper left, then click the PHOTOS button next to the existing tour. Click ADD PHOTOS in the upper right, and choose the second option to reupload-overwrite. Now, when you click Next and upload the tour, it will completely replace the existing version that is missing its photos.

The tour window comes up with no photos but I do not actually see a message saying that there are no photos.

If you do not see any photos, but there is no specific message telling you that there are no photos, then you likely have a Java problem. Java is either not installed or not working properly.  You can reinstall it from the following website. Windows users should download the Offline Installation and run it. Mac users will see a link to the appropriate place on Apple's website. It is often advantageous for Windows users to first uninstall the current version of Java (from Add/Remove Programs) before installing the new one.

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

The tour window comes up with a message saying a Java enabled browser is required.

Java is a popular technology that was built into browsers for years. Microsoft stopped distributing it with Windows, so its popularity could fade in coming years. VisualTour will not wait for it to fade before replacing it with alternate technology, but it is currently in use, so if you do not have Java installed or if it is not working, you can install it with relative ease. See the instructions above for "The tour window comes up with no photos but I do not actually see a message saying that there are no photos."

The tour window comes up, but I cannot advance through the photos.

This situation is another symptom of a problem with Java. See the instructions above for "The tour window comes up with no photos but I do not actually see a message saying that there are no photos."

None of the above

If all else fails, call VisualTour support at 800-873-0700.