BRD Client Documentation

Overview

BRD Client is the official WordPress plugin for BuyRealEstateData subscribers. Install it on any WordPress site, connect your account, and the data you're subscribed to — for-sale listings, rentals, FSBO, and agent contacts — renders directly on your pages.

• Shortcode-driven: drop a shortcode on a page and it becomes a property archive, agent directory, search hero, or carousel.
• Always current: data is fetched live from BuyRealEstateData (with smart caching), so your site shows what's in the feed — no imports, no stale listings filling your database.
• Your branding: pick your colors once and every button, badge, and link follows.
• Lead capture built in: contact forms on property and agent pages email inquiries to the agent, to you, or both — and store every lead for search and export.
• Accounts & saved homes Pro: visitors can register, sign in, save favorite listings, and manage everything from a My Account page, with a header profile menu for signing in and out.
• Buyer engagement Pro: saved searches with email alerts, compare, recently viewed, and a mortgage calculator.
• Works before you subscribe: in preview mode the plugin shows up to 100 sample properties so you can build and style your pages first.

Requirements

• A WordPress website where you can install plugins (administrator access).
• An active BuyRealEstateData subscription — or none yet, if you just want to explore in preview mode.
• Your site should be able to make outgoing HTTPS requests (virtually all hosts allow this).
• Your API key is bound to your site's domain. Decide which domain the plugin will run on — staging and production count as different domains. See Troubleshooting if you're moving sites.

Installation

1. Download pdm-client.zip from your BuyRealEstateData dashboard.
2. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip, and click Install Now.
3. Click Activate. A new BRD Client menu appears in your admin sidebar with Dashboard, Leads, Settings, and Connection (plus the Setup Wizard until setup is complete).

Updating to a new version

Upload the new zip the same way (WordPress will offer to "Replace current with uploaded") — or deactivate, delete, and reinstall. Either way your connection, settings, and page mappings are preserved; they live in your site's database, not in the plugin files.

Connect your account

Connecting links your site to your subscription so the plugin can fetch your data. There are two ways — the wizard is the easy one.

Option A — Setup Wizard (recommended)

1. Go to BRD Client → Setup Wizard.
2. Click Connect with BuyRealEstateData. You'll be sent to buyrealestatedata.com to log in (if needed) and approve the connection for your domain.
3. You're returned to your site automatically with the connection active — no copying keys.

Option B — Paste your API key

1. In your BuyRealEstateData dashboard, copy your API key.
2. On your site, go to BRD Client → Connection, paste the key into the API Key field, and save.
3. The plugin verifies the key immediately. When the status shows Connected, you're done — and the Pro entitlements panel lists what your key unlocks.

Disconnecting

Use the Disconnect button on the Connection page. This removes the key from your site and releases the connection on our side. Your pages fall back to preview mode until you reconnect.

Create your pages

The fastest way is the Setup Wizard — it creates every page your site needs and maps them automatically, so you can skip building them by hand. Run it from BRD Client → Settings → Pages → Launch setup wizard (or during first-time setup).

The wizard is tier-aware: a free site creates only the core listing pages, while a Pro site also creates and cross-links the account and engagement pages — the Login form automatically points at Register and Forgot Password, and so on. The Settings → Pages mapping mirrors this: the Accounts & Saved Homes selectors only appear on Pro. Existing pages with the same names are reused, never duplicated, so it's safe to re-run.

Prefer to do it by hand?

You can build the pages yourself instead — create a page for each shortcode you want and set its content. At minimum, most sites want:

1. A Properties page with [pdm_properties].
2. A Property Details page with [pdm_single_property] (cards link here; visitors don't browse to it directly).
3. An Agents page with [pdm_agents] and an Agent Details page with [pdm_single_agent].
4. Map the detail pages under Settings → Pages (see Detail page mapping).
5. Optional: [pdm_hero_search] and [pdm_properties_carousel] on your homepage, and a Saved Homes page with [pdm_favorites].

Shortcode reference

Every shortcode can be built visually under Settings → Shortcodes, or copied from here.

[pdm_properties]

The main archive. Visitors filter by state, city, ZIP, price range, beds, baths, and square footage; results load instantly without a page reload, and filters are reflected in the URL so searches can be shared and bookmarked.

It accepts one attribute, type, which selects the data category. It defaults to for-sale listings; if your subscription includes other categories you can build a page per category:

[pdm_properties]                    Shows for-sale listings (default)
[pdm_properties type="for_rent"]   Shows rental listings
[pdm_properties type="fsbo"]       Shows For Sale By Owner listings

[pdm_single_property]

Renders whichever property the visitor arrived for (cards pass the listing automatically). You control which sections appear — gallery, description, features, estimates, price history, mortgage calculator, map, and the contact/inquiry form — under Display & content. Switching the contact form off removes it entirely.

[pdm_agents] and [pdm_single_agent]

The directory lists agent cards (photo, name, brokerage, location) with filters for state, city, ZIP, and name. Clicking a card opens the agent's profile on your mapped Agent Details page, including their contact form.

[pdm_hero_search]

A prominent search field with type-ahead suggestions for cities and addresses. Submitting sends the visitor to your Properties page with the search applied.

[pdm_properties_carousel]

A self-loading, swipeable strip of featured listings — ideal under a homepage hero. It takes no attributes; configure it under Settings → Carousel, where you can pick one or more listing types to mix (e.g. For Sale + For Rent) and one or more states. States that aren't part of your subscription are shown disabled. It uses your branding colors automatically.

Detail page mapping

Property and agent cards need to know where your detail pages live. That's the mapping under BRD Client → Settings → Pages:

1. Open Settings → Pages and find the page-mapping selectors.
2. Set Property details page to the page containing [pdm_single_property].
3. Set Agent details page to the page containing [pdm_single_agent].
4. Save. Cards across the site now link to the right places.

Accounts & My Account Pro

On Pro plans, the plugin includes a complete front-end account system built on WordPress users — visitors can register, sign in, reset their password, and manage everything from a My Account page. The Setup Wizard creates and cross-links all of these pages for you. (On the free tier these shortcodes render nothing and the account pages aren't created.)

Every form validates both in the browser (instant feedback) and on the server, with spam protection and safeguards against account enumeration and password-guessing. Registration signs the new user in automatically.

The My Account hub

[pdm_my_account] gives a signed-in visitor a tabbed dashboard: Overview (with saved-homes and saved-search counts), Favorites, Saved searches and Recently viewed (when your plan includes them), and Profile — where they edit their name and email and change their password (the current password is required). Tabs are deep-linkable via #favorites, #saved, #recent, and #profile.

Header account menu

[pdm_user_menu] is a compact profile menu built for your site header, a menu item, or a widget. Signed in, it shows the visitor's avatar and name with a dropdown linking to their account pages (deep-linking the My Account tabs) plus Sign out. Signed out, it shows a Log in button (with an optional Sign up link). It's self-contained, so it works anywhere — not just in page content — and its URLs default to your Page Mapping, so usually just [pdm_user_menu] is enough.

Linking the pages by hand

If you build the account pages yourself rather than with the wizard, pass the URLs so the forms link to one another:

[pdm_login register_url="/register/" lost_url="/forgot-password/"]
[pdm_forgot_password reset_url="/reset-password/"]

Favorites — Saved Homes Pro

On Pro plans, every listing card carries a heart button so visitors can save homes for later.

• Works for guests and members. A guest's saved homes are kept in their browser, so they're still there on their next visit.
• Syncs to the account. When a visitor is signed in, favorites save to their account and follow them across devices. Homes they saved as a guest merge in when they sign in — nothing is lost.
• Shows anywhere. Add [pdm_favorites] to a page for a dedicated Saved Homes screen, or let visitors browse them under My Account → Favorites.

[pdm_favorites]
[pdm_favorites title="My Saved Homes"]

Buyer engagement Pro

Pro plans add tools that keep buyers coming back. Each is a shortcode you place on its own page — the Setup Wizard creates these automatically on Pro.

These also surface inside My Account for signed-in visitors, alongside their favorites and profile. Advanced search filters are part of the Pro tier too.

Branding & colors

Under Settings → Appearance you'll find two color pickers:

• Primary color — used for buttons, links, badges, active filters, and accents throughout every widget. A slightly darker hover shade is generated automatically.
• Button text color — the text color on primary buttons, so you can keep contrast right whether your primary is light or dark.

Save and the entire front end follows — no CSS required. If you don't see the change immediately, your caching plugin or CDN may be serving an old copy of the page; purge it once.

Fonts

The same Settings → Appearance screen has a Typography section with searchable pickers for a Body font and an optional Heading font, drawn from Google Fonts. Pick a font and it loads automatically on the front end and applies across the plugin's listings, agents, account pages, and headings. Leave them on "Theme default" to inherit your theme's fonts.

Display & content

Under Settings → Display (with accent colors and fonts on Settings → Appearance) you control how listings look and behave — set separately for properties and agents where it makes sense:

Leads & inquiries

Property and agent pages include contact forms. When a visitor submits one, the inquiry is captured as a lead and emailed according to your routing settings under Settings → Leads.

Set a dedicated notification email (leave it blank to use your site's admin address), and choose a spam-protection provider on the same tab: none, Google reCAPTCHA (v2 or v3), or Cloudflare Turnstile. Pick a provider, paste its site and secret keys, and the matching widget is added to every inquiry form and verified on submit. Replies go straight to the visitor — their address is set as the Reply-To.

The Leads inbox

Every inquiry is also stored so nothing is lost if an email goes astray. Open BRD Client → Leads to see them all:

• Search by name, email, phone, or property.
• Mark leads read and delete ones you've handled; new leads are highlighted.
• Export CSV to move leads into a CRM or spreadsheet.
• Each lead links back to the exact page the inquiry came from.

Caching & performance

To keep your pages fast and your request quota low, the plugin caches API responses on your server. A search that was just performed is served from cache instead of hitting the API again.

• Cache duration — default 60 minutes, adjustable under Settings → Maintenance. Shorter = fresher data, more API requests. Longer = fewer requests, slightly older data.
• Clear cache — clear it instantly from Settings → Maintenance or the Dashboard's Quick actions. Use it when you want changes (new subscription scope, fresh listings) to show right away.

Dashboard — plans & usage

BRD Client → Dashboard is your monitoring home. It shows your connection status, the requests you've used, recent leads, and an Active Plans grid — each plan you're subscribed to, its scope, and how much of its monthly request quota you've used. When your subscription includes the Pro add-on, a Pro badge appears next to the plugin name.

• Quick actions let you Clear cache and Test connection in one click.
• A Quota usage chart shows how much of your monthly request allowance you've used versus what remains, with a per-plan breakdown that turns red as a plan approaches its limit.
• Quotas reset on your billing cycle. If a plan is exhausted, requests for that data type are declined until reset or upgrade — the archive shows the "no results" message rather than an error.
• The Connection screen lists your live Pro entitlements — the active features and plans your API key unlocks. Refresh re-checks them with the server without leaving the page.

API performance

The Dashboard charts how the plugin is talking to BuyRealEstateData so you can spot slowdowns and track usage. Choose a 7-day or 30-day window to see:

• Response time — average round-trip latency per day. Occasional taller bars are the first (uncached) request after your cache expires.
• Requests — how many calls your site made each day, so you can see how much of your plan you're using over time.

Headline figures — average latency, 95th-percentile latency, success rate, and total requests — sit above the charts. Everything is measured from your own server, so it reflects exactly what your visitors experience.

Test Connection

The Test Connection button on the Dashboard runs a live, three-part check and shows the results inline:

Diagnostics

Below the plans grid, the Diagnostics card summarizes the technical state of the integration: the API endpoint in use, connection status, the time of the last successful call, your cache duration, the plugin version, and — when something has gone wrong — the last error with its message, code, and endpoint.

Preview mode

Before a key is connected, the plugin runs in preview mode: every widget works, using a live sample of up to 100 properties, and a banner on archive pages explains that sample data is shown (you can customize the wording).

• Use it to build and style your entire site before subscribing — pages, colors, layouts all carry over unchanged when you connect.
• Preview browsing is capped (a few pages of results); full data, all filters at full depth, and agents unlock on connection.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

Is my API key exposed to visitors?

No. The key is stored in your WordPress database and used only in server-to-server requests. It never appears in your pages' HTML or JavaScript.

Will the plugin slow my site down?

No — responses are cached on your server, so most page views involve zero external requests. Listings also aren't imported into your database, so your site stays lean no matter how large the feed is.

Can I show rentals and for-sale listings on different pages?

Yes — create one page per category using the type attribute: [pdm_properties] for sale, [pdm_properties type="for_rent"] for rentals, [pdm_properties type="fsbo"] for FSBO. Each category must be part of your subscription.

Why don't results re-order when I choose a sort option?

Server-side sorting isn't currently supported by the data feed, so results come in the feed's default order. It's on the roadmap; this page will be updated when it ships.

How fresh is the data?

Two factors: how recently the feed itself updated, and your cache duration (default 60 minutes). For the freshest view at any moment, clear the cache.

Can I limit the site to one state?

Set a Default state under Display & Content — every archive pre-filters to it on first load. Note this is a convenience filter; what's actually available is governed by your subscription's coverage.

Where do contact-form leads go?

Wherever your Lead Routing says: the listing's agent, your admin email, or both. The visitor's address is the Reply-To, so you can answer directly from your inbox.

Do I lose settings if I deactivate or update the plugin?

No. Settings, the connection, and page mappings persist through deactivation and updates. Only the explicit Disconnect button removes your key.

Can I use it with Elementor / Divi / my page builder?

Yes — anywhere your builder renders shortcodes. Drop the shortcode in a text/shortcode widget and style the surrounding section however you like.

Does it work on more than one of my websites?

Each connection is bound to one domain. Contact us about licensing additional domains for your subscription.

How far can visitors paginate?

Up to 100 pages per search. For huge result sets, encourage narrower filters — that's a better experience than deep pagination anyway.

Something else?

Include your Diagnostics card contents and contact support — we answer quickly.

Do visitors need an account to browse?

No. Browsing and searching always work without an account. Accounts and saved homes (favorites) are part of the Pro add-on — on Pro, visitors can save favorites (kept in the browser as a guest, synced across devices once signed in) and manage saved-search alerts from a My Account page.

Can visitors save homes they like?

Yes, on Pro — every listing card gets a heart button. Saved homes are kept in the visitor's browser, and sync to their account when they sign in so they carry across devices. See Favorites.

Where do my leads live?

Every inquiry is emailed and stored under BRD Client → Leads, where you can search, mark them read, and export to CSV. See Leads & inquiries.

BRD Client documentation · Updated July 2026 · Looking for the developer REST API instead? See the API Documentation.