The Transition to Matrix

MLSListings Inc. entered into an agreement to use Tarasoft's Matrix back in early 2009. In June 2009, MLSListing's subscribers were told that we were gaining a free, alternative search tool that we could use in addition to the current ProSearch product. I suspect few, if anyone, used Matrix. Change is often resisted, especially if you're using a tool that works reasonably well. I also suspect that anyone who actually tried to use Matrix would quickly abandon it as it's inferior to ProSearch in any number of ways.

But I'll give MLSListings credit for attempting to find new solutions to help us...

This year we're told that ProSearch will be going away at the end of the year and around midyear the message is that Matrix will become our only search tool after November 15th. Again I'll give MLSListings credit for giving us over a year to transition to this new system, for providing countless tutorials, videos, offering classes and spending countless resources and money on this transition.

Unfortunately, Matrix is just a horrible product. I've never been forced to endure a worse software product in over 30 years of using, owning and programming computers. I've never had to use something that was years worse than what it was replacing. It's been in development for years and it still can't display a complete, full agent property report. The search is awkward at best, and the incorrect on-line help doesn't help. Ordering lists is cumbersome and the lists print in text too small to read. The entire interface is ill-conceived, poorly implemented, and full of bugs.

Yeah, I don't like Matrix.

I'd like to see both systems kept, at least for the time being. If Matrix can be repaired to at least provide the functionality of the old ProSearch then there would be less resistance to the change. If additional functionality can be added above what ProSearch offers then most would probably willingly switch to Matrix.

But if Tarasoft or MLSListings don't have the capabilities or expertize to make Matrix at least as useful as what it's replacing, it should be abandoned at the earliest opportunity.

I'll try to document the issues that I have with Matrix. Hopefully many of them can be addressed and corrected and we'll have a useful system. I'd also like to learn of any ways to work around the Matrix issues, and would especially like to learn of alternative tools that we could use.