Miscellaneous Hacks - Rotating Banner System

With the Rotating Banner System software, you may publish literally anywhere standard banners and advertising, with no restriction but your imagination. Unlike many other products, it allows to show an unlimited amount of banners and advertising, which are randomly shown at the places you choose, and you may refer generically to an Ad by using specific placeholders.

Also the management is straight-forward and simple to use. Forum administrators with maintenance rights may add, edit and delete records from the Administration Control Panel (ACP), one of each representing a banner. After saving the new banner settings, they are immediately visible at your board.

Compatibility: from vBulletin 3.6.5 onwards

By the way, I do also install the hack on your boards, but since I am very, very busy, it may take some time (weeks) until it gets done.


Tutorials:

• How-to create my first banner (Flash).

Updates:

• 2.0.1: Simple click tracker added, HTML help included.
• 2.0.3: Small bug fixes; additional banner list, navigation bar, E-Mail field for banner event notifications and automatic save on scroll setting; absolute URL to rbs_banner.php in order to allow click tracking on non-standard pages; supported languages: English, Italian; Help file clean-up.
• 2.0.5: Small bug fixes; additional details in banner list; email notification for epired banners.
• 2.0.6: vbCMS compatibility bug fix; additional banner lists.
• 2.0.7: Usergroups filter: now it is possible to define a list of usergroups which may show a banner; additional vbCMS compatibility bug fix.
• 2.0.8: Various fixes and most of all, inclusion of the right files: admin_rbs.php, cpnav_rbs.xml
• 2.0.9: Extra comma fix in new record creation.
• 2.1.0: Fix for an occasional banner type selection bug, when the sample banners have been deleted or disabled.
• 2.2.0 (Major upgrade): Up to 10 different banner locations. Requires changes to your existing placeholders in your templates, since a more generic format has been chosen. If you don't need more than 2 different locations, you don't need to upgrade. Changed files: rbs_banner.php, admin_rbs.php
• 2.2.1: Minor bug fix in files: admin_rbs_h_banner_list.php, admin_rbs_v_banner_list.php
• 2.2.1: Hotfix for Max Clicks saving bug.
• 2.2.2: More listings and less files. PDF Help. Separate Italian add-ons and help. Duplicate button.
• 2.2.3: Minor bug fixes. Changed files: product-rbs.xml
• 2.2.4: Flash Banner support (beta). Changed files: product-rbs.xml, rbs_wrapper.swf, admin_rbs.php, English Help.
• 2.2.5: Hotfix for vBulletin 4.0.2 compatibility bug.
• 2.2.6: Checking for installed Flash Wrapper rbs_wrapper.swf; A few English FAQ; Help files. Changed files: product-rbs.xml
• 2.3.0 (Major upgrade): New modules: Delete Expired Banners, Disable Expired Banners; Detail Banner Statistics with unique access key for your customers; Updated help; Changed files: all.
• 2.3.1: Hotfix for missing field in rbs_hist table. Changed files: none, just update product.
• 2.3.2: Added: Unsupported option for setting any number of available positions between 1 and big bang. Fixed: Small bug and speed issues. Removed: Italian translation. Italians may now request support at www.vbulletin.it. Changed files: admin_rbs.php.
• 2.3.3: Fix: Copy selected forum ID's during banner duplication. Changed: start and end hours for new banners are set to 0:00 and 23:59 respectively. Changed files: admin_rbs.php.
• 2.3.4: Option: Send Mail Before. This option allows to schedule expiring banners differently. New variables for emails: $rbs_enddate: This variable holds the formatted banner ending date and time based on the standard formats for date and time in vBulletin settings; $rbs_name: This variable holds the banner name. EMail Notifications option description: Added direct links to the email phrases for quick changes. Changed files: rbs_mail_cron.php.
• 2.4.0 (Major upgrade): Removed: Option to enable or disable mailing. Banners with email addresses to notify are handled. Setting to reset mailing in single banners. Now, if mailing should be repeated, you will have to edit the banner from phpMyAdmin. Added: Order links in lists. The initial state is ordered by ID, as before. By clicking the titles, the other voices can be ordered. Clicking twice inverts the order. This works in all lists. Options to prevent counting and reducing thus a tiny bit of load. A new bunch of demo banners for new installations. Demo banners are locked into database in order to avoid 30% of the questions because of the 'experts' deleting them before trying the product. They can be disabled and modified though. The true experts can delete them after all testing from the database by using phpMyAdmin without side effects. Changes: Phrase for emailing about expiring banners, now also with direct links to the phrases. Demo banners. Our old publisher ID is replaced with the new ones, and old demo banners are updated with the new ones, if found. The functions have been exported to includes/functions_rbs.php. This makes the product code smaller and easier to maintain, and runs faster on sites where caching/acceleration is enabled. Changed Files: all *.php
• 2.4.1: Option Likelihood. This new option adds a weight to banners and allows thus to show one banner more often than another. The default weight is 100%. We also make sure that the final date of the default banners falls into a valid range. Changed files: includes/functions_rbs.php and rbs_stats.php.
• 2.4.2: Workaround for update sequence problems.

Hacks and unsupported add-ons:

• Banner Rotator Widget To CMS
• Rotate banners in-place
• Italian Translation

[bzcomputers]

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

can we duplicate same banner to make it appear more often than other banners on page load. ( i see that out of my 6 banners 1 banner is appearing less often)

Example banner ID is 10,12 and 13 and position is "0" for all of them targeting below navbar

Yes, you can duplicate banners within a position to get them to show more often.

Be aware though that over time if each banner is represented once within a position it will be shown approximately the same amount of times. When you say one is appearing less often it is most likely your sample number of page refreshes was too low to get an accurate display of what would occur over time. If you want the ad to display the same amount of times as the other ads you really should only reference it once under that position.

[drdoc]

Originally Posted by TheLastSuperman

@bzcomputers I'd like all of your posts for helping dr.reddy if it would let me, can only like one for now until I share more "like love" so instead a shout out to you for being super nice and helping him today!



^ Go back in settings and change that BACK to the previous value, it should always read <!--@vbbanners:%d@-->

If you currently have it set to: <!--@vbbanners:0@--> then it will not work, it must have the %d.
To explain the mod knows that the %d represents a # i.e. the banner list ID#.



That is correct, that will now show the banners (all banners you have added to LIST 0) from list 0 in that location. If more than one banner they will randomly rotate in.



Add more banners to List 0 OR manage the other list and add in banners to those list, you only add more code to the template i.e. <!--@vbbanners:0@--> and <!--@vbbanners:1@--> if you are showing the banners from list 0 AND list 1.

Edit: Ahh and this mod rotates the banners on page load/refresh there is currently no timer function.

Originally Posted by bzcomputers

For side by side change banner 4 to this:

<table align="center"><tr><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 4 here</td><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 5 here</td><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 6 here</td></tr></table>

If you want spacing between the banners add this code between each banner code above:

<td style="width: 20px;">&nbsp;<td>

Adjust "20" to any spacing width you would like.

You can then delete Banners 5 & 6.

I have one doubt here about this code <table align="center"><tr><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 4 here</td><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 5 here</td><td>Put what you have currently in Banner 6 here</td></tr></table>

sorry but I have few qs on this

1. I need to place this code in below navbar template beside <!--@vbbanners:0@-->??

2. you said, Put what you have currently in Banner 4...5...6...what i should put there exactly? ..any example

3. why should i delete 5 and 6, how can i redirect to my website URL and image source URL...little bit confused here....example i have banner 4, 5, 6 under 10,11,12 ID at position 0,

I think i need to read pdf little more...yes am thinking of avoiding duplicate banners to show more often...

4. As shown in demo by coder here, http://www.pagerobot.com/pub/rbs/rbs_01.htm where is ad_header_logo in AD templates as shown in demo...i think it is not present in VB 4.2.2...am also thinking of placing banners above logo...

thx

[bzcomputers]

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

1. I need to place this code in below navbar template beside <!--@vbbanners:0@-->??

No. The code belongs in the "Text" field for the banner (I believe your ID10).

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

2. you said, Put what you have currently in Banner 4...5...6...what i should put there exactly? is it...any example

Example:

<table align="center"><tr><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner4.jpg" /></td><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner5.jpg" /></td><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner6.jpg" /></td></tr></table>

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

3. why should i delete 5 and 6, how can i redirect to my website URL and image source URL...little bit confused here....example i have banner 4, 5, 6 under 10,11,12 ID at position 0,

Your confused? I think you're confusing me now! I was referring to deleting the ID positions for the banners that are no longer needed because they will now be combined under the one ID.

[drdoc]

Just now i saw under Add templates 2 similar templates

1. ad_navbar_below ...here i placed <!--@vbbanners:0@--> codes as mentioned in demo and as suggested by you guys

2.ad_global_below_navbar Is this template for This one is meant for default VB Ad locations?

Both looks similar, so i raised this question....i hope for this rbs mod i should stick to ad_navbar_below

[drdoc]

Originally Posted by bzcomputers

No. The code belongs in the "Text" field for the banner (I believe your ID10).

Actually i have nothing in my TEXT field but have just image banner with destination URL (http://example dot com) and image/flash (http://.tinypic dot 4.jpg)

my text field is empty...i have HTML codes but simply using URL for destination site and image/flash




Example:

<table align="center"><tr><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner4.jpg" /></td><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner5.jpg" /></td><td><img src="http://www.yoursitename.com/ad-banners/banner6.jpg" /></td></tr></table>

Originally Posted by bzcomputers

Your confused? I think you're confusing me now! I was referring to deleting the ID positions for the banners that are no longer needed because they will now be combined under the one ID.

I got it, but am not using text filed....i understood your intention of using all 3 banners under same ID, so asking me to delete other ID's

[bzcomputers]

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

Actually i have nothing in my TEXT field but have just image banner with destination URL (http://example dot com) and image/flash (http://.tinypic dot 4.jpg)

my text field is empty...i have HTML codes but simply using URL for destination site and image/flash

To combine those 3 ads into one position you would need to pull the info out of URL and IMAGE/FLASH and combine it in the single Text field.

Example of what would go in Text:

<table align="center"><tr><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 1" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 1" /></a></td><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 2" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 2" /></a></td><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 3" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 3" /></a></td></tr></table>

[drdoc]

Originally Posted by bzcomputers

To combine those 3 ads into one position you would need to pull the info out of URL and IMAGE/FLASH and combine it in the single Text field.

Example of what would go in Text:

<table align="center"><tr><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 1" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 1" /></a></td><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 2" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 2" /></a></td><td><a href="WHAT YOU HAVE IN URL 3" /><img src="WHAT YOU HAVE IN IMAGE/FLASH 3" /></a></td></tr></table>

you are simple superb...i have added few banners which are small side by side and just added space between them like you mentioned before with <td style="width: 20px;">&nbsp;<td>

apart from above, i just added target="_blank", to make target website of banner to appear in new window.

overall am really happy with your help....

For the 3 banners i placed ( example 4,5,6) , i think impressions and clicks will be shown under banner 4 only...so i just miss individual clicks in results, if i place banner side by side

anyway am satisfied with this experiment....thanks

[drdoc]

I observerd that these banners are appearing randomly and one or two banners some time appear more often than other.

1. Is there any way to make banners appear in a serial way like banner 1, next 2, next 3 etc...instead of current random rbs

2. Next thing as already discussed we don't have settings of time gap control between rotating banners

[bzcomputers]

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

1. Is there any way to make banners appear in a serial way like banner 1, next 2, next 3 etc...instead of current random rbs

Not unless you are into writing code to change this mod. It is currently hardcoded to show the ads randomly. Trust me over time they will appear approximately the same number of times. If this wasn't true there would have been more people complaining about over the last 5 years this mod has been available.

Originally Posted by dr.reddy

2. Next thing as already discussed we don't have settings of time gap control between rotating banners

Again, not unless you are into writing code to change this mod. It is currently hardcoded to rotate banners on pageload, not on a specific time.

Just remember to consider how long a visitor is on your page and then how long that ad will be viewable. Average page visits are less than a minute and during that time a user is probably scrolling at some point moving the initial ad(s) at the top of your page out of view and ad(s) further down the page into view. On top of that, the visitor came to your page for a reason and it wasn't initially for that ad. They will typically want to check out the page for the information they seek prior to clicking on an ad. Then when they're ready to click, you may have changed the ad on them already. There is a reason this option doesn't exist, because under most circumstances it isn't a benefit.

[nxtgen]

Any idea what causes the banners to move around? If I resize the window, the banner moves? It doesn't seem to matter where I place it. Is there anyway to make it static...

This could even be style related or my tags? I am not sure.. This mod is awesome that is for sure. thanks for it

I am trying to place two ads under the "Welcome username, Settings, Profile, Log out" in the header.
They are 468 x 60 in size


** CSS EDIT::
#ad_global_below_navbar {
width:100%;
padding:{vb:stylevar ad_padding};
margin:{vb:stylevar ad_margin};
display: inline-block;
overflow-x:auto;
white-space: nowrap;
}