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

[stardotstar]

Originally Posted by baerwurz

I use vbadvanced on every threadpage on the right sidebar. I will setup a module in the right sidebar which shows a large Rectangle Ad.

I have about 17.000 Threads in the most of them i want to show the same banner. But in around 100 Threads i want to show 100 different Banners.

Say for the Nokia E71 Thread, i want to show a Nokia E71 banner which links into the right place on our shop.
In the Iphone 3 GS Thread i want to show a banner with Iphone 3 Gs which links in the Iphone Section in our shop etc...

Is this possible with this mod?

I don't know how you would do this but in essence it is simple - use some script that determines which browser interface the user is using (or get them to put their interface/phone type in a custom userfield) and then do a test in the template and use it to call a specific "Zone" from OpenX as per the handset they are using... I do the same thing for setting particular ads to particular forums based on group or custom user profile fields.

[stardotstar]

The flash display issue that was identified from an OpenX thread by TenPercenter is this

1. Open your headerinclude template.
2. Add this line to the top. (correct it for your site's openx path)
<script type='text/javascript' src='/ads/www/delivery/fl.js'></script>

This has solved flash banner delivery for me.

[bertwrld]

Anyone have this working with vb4 yet by any chance.

I will pay for this to be converted or a completely new mod written, if someone with the proven experience would be able to get openx and the options working with vb4.

thanks

[TheMic]

an update for VB4?!? pleeeeeaseeeeee help!

[bada_bing]

Originally Posted by TheMic

an update for VB4?!? pleeeeeaseeeeee help!

YES PLEASE

[bertwrld]

Still willing to pay for this mod to be ported over to work with vb4, or a new mod created.

[bada_bing]

Any updates to 4.0 version ?

[Dennis B]

I've been using OpenX with vB4 without any problems, calling the ads directly with javascript.

[bada_bing]

Originally Posted by Dennis B

I've been using OpenX with vB4 without any problems, calling the ads directly with javascript.

Can you provide more details

[Dennis B]

Sure.

Please remember that calling several ads using this method might load your server significantly.

All you have to do is go into your OpenX control panel, choose 'Direct Selection' from the left menu, next select javascript invocation from the options and adjust the script according to your needs.

All my banners have unique identifiers so it's pretty easy to target them with a simple '?what=' condition in the script.

The final script version is copied to where ever you want the banner to show, usually placing it inside one of the ad templates is a good idea.