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Hosting an Offline iGUIDE on Your Website

Updated

Overview

An Offline iGUIDE can be hosted on your own website, server, or company intranet, so visitors can view the full 3D tour from a link on your domain. The downloaded package is self-contained and includes everything the tour needs to run, including measurements, VR capabilities, and interactive features.

This guide explains what to know before self-hosting an Offline iGUIDE, how to upload it to your website, and how to share, embed, and update the hosted tour.

In This Article

  1. Understanding Self-Hosted Offline iGUIDEs
  2. Hosting an Offline iGUIDE on Your Website
  3. Sharing and Embedding Your Hosted iGUIDE
  4. Updating and Troubleshooting
  5. Related Articles

Understanding Self-Hosted Offline iGUIDEs

A self-hosted Offline iGUIDE is a snapshot of the tour at the moment it was downloaded. Any permissions, views, or hidden elements remain locked to the settings configured at that time. Changes made later on the iGUIDE Portal will not appear on your hosted copy until you download and upload a new version.

Key things to know:

  1. The hosted tour mirrors the online experience, including measurements, VR, and other interactive elements
  2. The package is a folder of files, not a single file, and the index.html file depends on the files around it
  3. Views of a self-hosted copy are not included in iGUIDE analytics
  4. The iGUIDE View you download from determines what visitors see, including branding

Hosting an Offline iGUIDE on Your Website

Before you begin: Make sure your iGUIDE is published on the iGUIDE Portal and that you have access to upload files to your website or server. If your website is managed by a web developer or hosting provider, you can share these steps with them.

Please note: Every website is set up differently, so the exact steps for uploading files will depend on your hosting provider, website platform, or content management system. The steps below describe the general process. The one requirement that applies to everyone is that the Offline iGUIDE folder must be uploaded in full, with all files and subfolders kept together in their original structure.

  1. Open the iGUIDE Report containing the view you wish to host.
  2. Click the Download button to begin generating the Offline iGUIDE.
  3. Wait for the download to finish.
  4. Click the Download button again to access the downloaded file.
  5. Extract all files from the .zip into a single folder. Do not move, rename, or delete any of the files or subfolders inside it.
  6. Rename only the main folder to something short and descriptive without spaces, for example 123-Main-St.
  7. Upload the entire folder to your web server as one unit. The files and subfolders must stay in the same arrangement they were in when extracted.
  8. Open the index.html file in that folder from your browser to confirm the tour loads, for example yourwebsite.com/123-Main-St/index.html.

Why the folder structure matters: The index.html file is only the starting point. The tour loads its images, floor plans, and data from the other files in the folder, and it expects to find them in specific locations. If any files are missing, renamed, or moved into a different folder, the tour will not load correctly. Uploading only the index.html file, or uploading the files individually without their subfolders, will not work.
 

Sharing and Embedding Your Hosted iGUIDE

Once the folder is uploaded, the link to its index.html file is the address of your hosted tour. You can share it in several ways:

  1. Send the link directly to clients or post it on listings and social media
  2. Add it as a button or link on a page of your website
  3. Embed it on a web page using an iframe that points to the index.html link

Tip: To display the tour without the branding banner, download the Offline iGUIDE from an unbranded iGUIDE View, or add ?unbranded to the end of the link, for example index.html?unbranded.
 

Updating and Troubleshooting

Updating a Hosted iGUIDE

  1. Make your changes to the iGUIDE on the iGUIDE Portal
  2. Download a new Offline iGUIDE from the iGUIDE Report
  3. Extract the files and replace the contents of the existing folder on your server
  4. Keep the same folder name so existing links and embeds continue to work

Common Issues

  1. Blank page or missing images: the full folder was not uploaded, or files were moved out of their original subfolders. Re-upload the complete extracted folder.
  2. Changes not showing: the hosted copy is a snapshot. Download a new Offline iGUIDE and replace the files on your server.
  3. Link not loading: confirm the link points to the index.html file inside the uploaded folder, and that the folder name in the link matches the folder on your server.

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