phpAdsNew Banner Ads integration (advertisements, classified ads, Adsense, etc.)

OpenAds / phpAdsNew Integration 1.0.4 for vBulletin 3.[56].x
2006-06-08 by mip

Integrates the OpenAds / phpAdsNew ads system by introducing a new template tag <ad ... />.
You can even deliver your Adsense stuff via phpAdsNew using HTML banners.

The features of phpAdsNew combined with the power of vBulletin's templating system gives you the possibility to place ads for specific user groups, forums, and keywords.

PREREQUISITES:
This plugin requires a working installation (local or remote) of a recent version ofOpenAds / phpAdsNew (free software released under the GPL).
When using OpenAds, replace phpAdsNew in this documentation with OpenAds (phpAdsNew is just the predecessor of OpenAds).

INSTALLATION:
When having a previous version of this product installed, see section UPGRADE instead.

Install product "phpadsnew-1.0.4.xml".
Set phpAdsNew path in Server Settings and Optimization Options to point to either your local phpAdsNew installation or a remote server (using XML-RPC).
It is strongly recommended to set $phpAds_config['compatibility_mode'] = true; in phpAdsNew config file, to prevent problems when phpAdsNew uses a database different from the one used by your vBulletin board.

When using XML-RPC, make sure to have lib-xmlrpc-class.inc.php and lib-xmlrpc.inc.php copied from phpAdsNew misc/samples/xmlrpc/php/ to your forum's includes/ directory (not necessary when using a local phpAdsNew installation).

Read the NOTES section below.

Click INSTALL in this thread to mark product as "installed" and receive notifications when a new version comes out.

UPGRADE:

• 1.0.3 --> 1.0.4
  1. Import product as usual, with "Allow Overwrite" set to Yes.
• 1.0.2 --> 1.0.3
  Upgrading is recommended, as this is a bugfix release.
  
  1. Import product as usual, with "Allow Overwrite" set to Yes.
     
  2. Recompile any templates where you experienced problems with the <ad .../> tag (notably those where this tag is used repeatedly on a line).
     
• 1.0.1 --> 1.0.2
  
  1. Import product as usual, with "Allow Overwrite" set to Yes.
     
  2. Set $phpAds_config['compatibility_mode'] = true; in phpAdsNew config file.
     
• 1.0 --> 1.0.1
  There's basically no need to upgrade, as the changes don't affect a working installation, but I recommend to do so, to ease possible upgrades in the future.
  1. Import product as usual, with "Allow Overwrite" set to Yes.
  2. Alter the path to phpAdsNew in vBulletin Server Settings and Optimization Options to point to your phpAdsNew installation.
     As opposed to version 1.0 of this product, a local path is not relative to the DOCUMENT_ROOT.

USAGE:
Use the newly introduced <ad ... /> tag in your templates.
The syntax is similar to phpAdsNew's view_raw() function call - the tag understands what, clientid, target, source, and withtext as arguments.

Please make yourself familiar with phpAdsNew prior to using this product. You can't expect this product to work, if you didn't check if your phpAdsNew is delivering your banners cleanly.

Examples:

• Get banner using keywords:
  <ad what="foo|bar" />
• Get banner for guest usergroup (in this case, "ug1" must be set as a keyword in phpADsNew, see 2nd screenshot):
  <ad what="ug$bbuserinfo['usergroupid']" />
  (same technique can be applied to deliver forum-specific ads)
• Similar invocation using template conditionals:
  <if condition="$bbuserinfo['usergroupid']==1"><ad what="" /></if>

NOTES:

1. Always use the latest stable version of phpAdsNew.
   Old versions had bugs and some even had severe security issues - I'll give no support for installations with an outdated phpAdsNew.
   At the time of writing, latest version is 2.0.8.
2. Templates which make use of the ad-tag might need to get recompiled after product change.
3. Recommendations for heavy-duty servers: Move the plugin code to files; try to avoid using xml-rpc or cache xml-rpc requests (e.g. with memcache).
4. Have an eye on current phpAdsNew security issues
5. This product comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
6. Support is provided at will.
   Don't expect help if you haven't read instructions or phpAdsNew manual, if you're using non-standard vBulletin software or if your problem descriptions are useless.

PS:
This plugin is donationware - it helps you to make some money, so please be fair and honor my work with an adequate pecuniary donation.
Donate via Paypal

[ianwilcox]

Does this work with 3.6.8 ?

[Raffaele]

I have followed the instructions but i do not see the image in the right corner is there a way i can troubleshoot this or maybe one of you folks can help me with this and i'm willing to pay for your services to...

Thank you,
RV

Ohh yahh i forgot i'm using VB3.6.8

Got it fixed with the latest version of Openads 2.3.36-beta Thnak you for the help
RV

[quasan]

after installing the 3.6.8 update my banners were gone

[irishblacknight]

Originally Posted by quasan

after installing the 3.6.8 update my banners were gone

Is the code still in your template? Or did you overwrite it?

[quasan]

ok ok already got it my fault^^

I killed my right column template *blush*

[sapper6fd]

Does this work with the latest version of phpadsnew / openads and vBulletin 3.6.8???

[rpainter]

This is a great hack. Just installed on my 3.6.8 forum, and it is working great.

[heynurse]

I'm wondering if anyone has this working using OpenAds 2.4 the latest stable version of OpenAds? I'd love to hear some feedback on successful implemtations of VB and OA

[dfe]

In the server settings, the path to the openads installation, must this be the full path on the server?

ie my site is install in /var/www/vhosts/domain/httpdocs/forum
OpenAds is installed at the same level as the forum, so not inside the vbulletin directory.

So do I need to put in the entire path, or just ../forum?

[MediaHound]

When I go to edit my template, I cannot get the header template to save the code:

<ad what="zone:1" />

I click save and it takes me to a page that merely reads "Style Manager" and that's basically all there is on the page. If I change the ad code a bit and remove a lessthan or a greaterthan symbol to break the tag, it will save! This is really odd, it seems as if the saving utility is parsing the text and it breaks if it does not like it.

I think pxcmedia had the same problem on page 29 on this thread, post #432. (I have a different vb version than him though)
I want to put it off on the right side of the header, you know, between these tags:

	<td align="$stylevar[right]">
	</td>

Can someone post their header template so I can see where you put it?
Does anyone know why the template editor utility is selective on what it will save and what it chokes on?
This is a real bummer because I got as far as installing both Openads and this mod but cant get my banners on the forum. I can get them to show on a test page though with my invocation code... I just can't edit my header template!
Thanks in advance!