Banners Module Introduction

The Banners module manages banner advertising for Vendors of your site. Banners can be either a static or animated image, HTML text, or a script. 

The Banners module displays banners in a rotating fashion; ensuring visitors see different banners each visit. Vendor banners have revenue control features such as expiry dates, and cost per impression. 

Vendor banners are managed on the Admin > Vendors page in the Administrator Role; or on the Host > Vendors page in the Host Role. 

The [BANNER] Skin Object can be enabled or disabled under Admin > Site Settings - Advanced Settings - Other Settings. 

 

Banner Module Functionality

The Banner Module enables the Administrator of a Web Site to use Advertising and Promotional images to direct Users to specific sites and content. 

The Banner Module provides the following features:  

• Display Host Vendor Banners – This enables the display Host Level Banners. 
• Display Site Vendor Banners – This enables the display Site Level Banners. 
• Edit Host Banner Properties – This editing of the Host Level Banner Properties. 
• Edit Site Banner Properties – This editing of the Site Level Banner Properties. 
• Banner Borders – This editing of the Border shown around Banners. 
• Banner Display Direction - Changes the directions multiple Banners will be displayed in. 
• Banner Spacing – This enables and sets the distance (whitespace) between Banners.

 

Overview of Banner Options

The Banners module enables the display of Vendor banners maintained on the Vendors pages (see Admin > Vendors, and Host > Vendors). 

Banner options can be divided into these groups: 

• Banner Selection:  Set which banners are displayed and the number of banners displayed. 
• Banner Layout:  Set the layout of the banners on the page. 

Banner Selection:

• Banner Source:  Sets which Vendor directory the banners are maintained under. Select Host to display banners maintained by the Site Host, or Site (default selection) to select maintained by the Site
  Administrators. 
• Banner Type:  Sets which banner type is displayed, or whether to display all banner types (default
  selection).  (See Banner Types for more details) 
• Banner Group:  A group name can be entered when adding a banner to the Vendor directory.  If the banners
  to be displayed include a group name, enter the name here.  Only banners saved with this group name will be displayed. To display banners with no group name, leave this field blank. (See Vendors for more details)
• Banner Count:  Enter the number of banners to be displayed in this module.

Banner Layout:

• Orientation:  Display the banners in either a Vertical (default selection) or Horizontal layout. 
• Border Width:  Enter a pixel width to display a border around the banners. No border is set by default. E.g. 0 
• Border Color:  Enter a hex number (#FF8C00) or color code (DarkOrange) to set the color of the border.
  Please Note:  Border width must be set for this field to work.
• Cell Padding:  Where a border is set at Border Width, this field will set the space between banners and the
  border.
• Row Height:  Set the height of each banner cell to add spacing between banners. 
• Column Width:  Set the width of each banner cell to add spacing between banners.

Overview of Banner Types

An overview of the available banner types 

Seven sizes of image banners are provided: Banner, Micro Button, Button, Block, Skyscraper, Script Banner, and Text Banner. 

The Banner Type 'Banner' can be displayed either using a Banners module, or by adding the [BANNER] skin object to the skin applied to the site or to a page of the site. The [BANNER] skin object can be enabled or disabled on the Admin > Site Settings page and is a site wide setting. This can be set to either Site or Host. 

Below are examples of the industry standard sizes for banner images.  These are recommendations only. 

Banner: 468 x 60 pixels
 

Micro Button: 120 x 60 pixels
 

Button: 120 x 90 pixels
 

Block: 125 x 125 pixels

Skyscraper: 120 x 600 pixels

Script Banner

The Script type banner allows the Administrator to enter java-script that will be executed when the banner is shown on the site. 

For Example:

alert(“My Own JavaScript Alert Box - message!”)

Text Banner

Banner can be either plain text or HTML. The Style sheet styles are applied.

 

Display Host Vendor Banners

Display banners managed under the Host > Vendors page. Banners must be added to a Vendor before they can be
displayed on this module.

1. Add a Banners module or go to an existing Banners module. 
2. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
3. At Banner Source, select Host. 
4. At Banner Type, select the banner type or types from the drop down box (See Banner Types for more
   details):
   • Banner
     
   • Micro Button
     
   • Button
     
   • Block
     
   • Skyscraper
     
   • Text
     
   • Script
5. At Banner Group (Optional), type in the banner group name. If text is enter at the Banner Group field when
   creating a banner, entering that text here will set this module to only display banners belonging to this group.
6. At Banner Count, enter a number to set the number of banners to be displayed.   E.g. 3
7. At Orientation, select Vertical or Horizontal to set the display of banners in the module. Vertical is the
   default setting. 
8. At Border Width (Optional), enter a number to set the border width in pixels. E.g. 3
9. At Border Color (Optional), enter a color for the border. E.g. DarkOrange. Border Width must be set to enable
   this setting. See Reference > Color Codes for more details. 
10. At Cell Padding (Optional), enter a number to set the space between banners and the border. E.g. 4. Border
    Width must be set to enable this setting.
11. At Row Height (Optional), enter a number to set the height for each banner cell (pixels). 
12. At Column Width (Optional), enter a number to set the width for each banner cell (pixels). 
13. Click Update.

Display Site Vendor Banners

Display banners for Vendors maintained on this site under Admin > Vendors. Banners must first be added to vendors before being displayed in this module. 

1. Add a Banners module or go to an existing Banners module. 
2. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
3. At Banner Source, select Site. 
4. At Banner Type, select the banner type from the drop down box (See Banner Types for more details):
   
   • Banner
     
   • Micro Button
     
   • Button
     
   • Block
     
   • Skyscraper
     
   • Text
     
   • Script
5. At Banner Group (Optional), type in the banner group name chosen when creating the banner to set this module to only display banners belonging to this group. 
6. At Banner Count, enter the number of banners to be displayed. E.g. 5 
7. At Orientation, select Vertical or Horizontal to set how the banners will be displayed in the module. Vertical
   is the default setting. 
8. At Border Width (Optional), enter a number to set the border width (pixels). 
9. At Border Color (Optional), enter a color for the border. E.g. DarkOrange. Border Width must be set to enable
   this setting. See Reference > Color Codes and Names for more details. 
10. At Cell Padding (Optional), enter a number to set the space between banners and the border. E.g. 4.  Border
    Width must be set to enable this setting. 
11. At Row Height (Optional), enter a number to set the height for each banner cell (pixels). 
12. At Column Width (Optional), enter a number to set the width for each banner cell (pixels).  
13. Click Update.

Edit Site Banner Properties

Edit the properties of a banner. E.g. Image, text, or type.

1. Navigate to the Site > Vendors Page. 
2. Locate the required vendor account. 
3. Click the Edit button beside the required Vendor. 
4. At Banner Advertising, click the Maximize button to view options. 
5. Click the Edit button beside the banner to be edited. 
6. Edit the required fields. 
7. Click Update.

Edit Host Banner Properties

Edit the properties of a banner. E.g. Image, text, or type.

1. Navigate to the Host > Vendors Page. 
2. Locate the required vendor account. 
3. Click the Edit button beside the required Vendor. 
4. At Banner Advertising, click the Maximize button to view options. 
5. Click the Edit button beside the banner to be edited. 
6. Edit the required fields. 
7. Click Update.

Edit Banner Options 

Edit the settings applied to the banners module. 

1. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
2. Edit the options as required. See Overview of Banner Options for details. 
3. Click Update.

Set Banner Border

Set the width and color of the border around each banner.

1. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
2. At Border Width, enter the pixel width of the border.   E.g. 3
3. At Border Color, enter a hex number (#C0C0C0) or color code (Gray) to set the color of the border. 
4. Click Update.

Banner Display Direction

Display Banners Vertically

Set the banners to display vertically down the page.

1. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
2. At Orientation, select Vertical (default setting). 
3. Click Update.

Display Banners Horizontally

Set the banners module to display banners horizontally across the page.

1. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
2. At Orientation, select Horizontal. 
3. At Column Width, enter a number to set the column width of each banner cell. Any value of zero or above is
   suitable, however if this field is left blank the banners will display irregularly. E.g. 0 
4. Click Update.

Set Banner Spacing

Set the width and height of the (invisible) table cells, which each banner is displayed within.

1. Select Banner Options from the module menu. 
2. At Cell Padding, enter the pixel height of the row. The default value is 4.
3. At Row Height, enter the pixel height of the row. E.g. 100
4. At Column Width, enter the pixel height of the row. E.g. 100
5. Click Update.