This section will help you learn to use the iProduction Ad Server administration system. Since The Internet Publishing System™ is a customized set of applications, no two sites or administration systems are the same. As a result, the references and language included in this Editor Help section may appear somewhat generalized.
iProduction wants to do everything possible to assist you in learning about your new publishing system. If you cannot find the answers you seek from these Editor Help sections, click the Contact Developer link on your Admin site, complete the appropriate form, and submit your contact request. Your request will be sent directly to the appropriate developer, and you will receive the support you need as quickly as possible.
Below is the table of contents for Ad Server Editor Help. Click on any text link to view editor help on that specific topic.
Overview of
The iProduction Ad Server
The Web
Advertising Vocabulary
How to Load Banner and Rich Media
Files
The iProduction Ad Server is a component of the Internet Publishing System™ that enables you, the web editor or advertising manager, to control your publication’s advertisements site-wide. The iProduction Ad Server helps you upload and implement all popular forms of Internet advertising, including animated .gif files and Macromedia Flash animations. The Ad Server automates the process of managing advertising and enables you to make advertising changes without having to regenerate any of your web pages.
The Ad Server is an administration system unto itself. It works as an independent element of the Internet Publishing System™. The Ad Server creates and places special code, referred to as a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program, into a specific directory designated for use by the Ad Server. During the initial set-up of your site, iProduction developers will configure your publishing system templates to look in this directory and locate the correct CGI program. The program then places the specified advertising within your site pages for your readers to view. The Ad Server also provides reports that show how many readers viewed or clicked on any of the ads you run on your site. These reports help your advertisers calculate the effectiveness of the ads they create and the space they buy from your publication.
The Ad Server can be a difficult system to learn. This is true because today’s web advertisers demand enormous flexibility from the publishers they advertise with. Advertisers are now very specific about the positions, the timing and frequency of exposures, and the reporting capabilities associated with their web advertising campaigns. The systems publishers employ to manage ad campaigns must be able to meet almost any demand an advertiser may make, else they risk losing advertising accounts.
In response to these demands, iProduction has continued to add new capabilities to the Ad Server. As a result, the modern version of the iProduction Ad Server presents quite a large array of options that may seem confusing to new users. Developers at iProduction are constantly engineering new ways to make the system simpler to use. However, patience and practice are required of editors and ad managers who hope to use the Ad Server system effectively.
One of the best ways to become familiar with the iProduction Ad Server is to learn the taxonomy, or nomenclature, of the system and the process of running ads on a web site. Below are definitions and functional descriptions of the key elements of the Ad Server system.
A Pool is any number of web pages on your site that are grouped together for advertising purposes according to a similarity or commonality. Pools help your publication’s advertising salespeople present a more appealing variety of options to potential advertisers. For instance, you could create a separate Pool for each section of your web publication. Or, you might create pools based on high or low web page traffic so that your publication can price ads according to expectations of high or low exposure. Pools are determined and encoded into the site templates during the site set-up process. And while the administrative system provides you with a means to add and delete Pools, you can only do so when the template has been modified to accommodate your new Pool. Generally, it is advisable to contact your iProduction representative to help you add a new Pool to your system.
Spots are the positions, or locations, on your page templates that are available for placement of an ad. Spots are built-in to your site templates by the site designer and are activated during the system set-up process. As with Pools, Spots are determined and encoded into the site templates during the site set-up process. Changes to Spots involve changing site templates. Generally, it is advisable to contact your iProduction representative to help you add a new Spot to your system.
An Ad is an image file or a block of code that will be placed in a spot within an ad pool. Ad images can be any standard graphic file, such as the .gif or jpg files web developers have been creating for years. More recently, big-budget advertisers have begun to use “rich media” ads. Rich media is a self-contained block of HTML or other code that is delivered to the spot instead of an image file. Rich media ads display far more animation and sound than traditional file types. Advertisers who use rich media believe the impact of the ad is greater and that the results will justify the higher costs of producing rich media ads. The iProduction Ad Server can accommodate both traditional and leading-edge advertising formats. Ads can be added to or deleted using the system’s administration pages.
Banners are the most popular form of Ads. The term “banner” is also broadly used by the advertising industry, often inaccurately, to generalize about Internet advertising. A Banner is actually an image file, usually a .gif file, that contains the actual content (the message, visuals, and animations) seen by your readers. When used within the iProduction Ad Server, a banner becomes and Ad (see above).
When using the iProduction Ad Server, it is your job as editor or advertising manager to determine which ads appear in which spots. You do this by creating an insertion for each spot on your site. As with a traditional insertion order for a print publication, an insertion created on the Ad Server defines when and where each ad will run on your site. In real terms, an insertion is a set of encoded instructions that are created and stored within the system. The purpose of the Ad Server administration interface is to enable you to create these instructions without having to learn a programming language. Insertions can be added to or deleted using the system’s administration pages.
A Rotation Group is a collection of Insertions, dedicated to one or more Spots, that is controlled by the web server’s internal time measurement program, or Chron. When the Chron notifies the Ad Server that another hour has passed, the Ad Server responds by rotating the Insertions within the specified Spots. Advertisers sometimes use Rotation Groups when they are unsure about their Ads or Spots and wish to test them in a randomized, automated way to determine which is providing the best performance.
When your readers view your site, they are actually “requesting” your web server to deliver code that their browsers then translate into readable content. As each web page is requested, the Ad Server needs to know what Ads are supposed to run within the Spots on that page. The Ad Server looks to a separate file called the Runfile for this information. The Runfile contains a compilation of all the Ads currently entered into your system. It must be updated each time you make a change to any of the Ads running on your system, or when you create or delete an Ad. Although the Runfile is updated automatically at the top of each hour, you can update the Runfile after you make system changes using the system’s administration pages.
This how-to section will help you implement the functions of the iProduction Ad Server.
Managing Ad Pools involves the ability to list, add, edit, and delete Pools site-wide. To view the list of Pools within your system, click on “List Pools” in the Ad Server Management section of your system’s Administration home page. The Pools are then displayed in table form, giving you descriptions of each Pool and options to edit or delete each.
To create a new pool, click on “Add New Pools”. Enter the name of the new Pool and a corresponding Spot. Click the “Save Changes” button to add the new Pool/Spot to the system. Generally, it is advisable to contact your iProduction representative to help you add a new Pool to your system.
Managing Ads involves the ability to list, add, edit, and delete the Ads within your system. To view the list of Ads in your system, click “List Ads” in the Ad Server Management section of your system’s Administration home page. A listing of all the Ads being used on your system is then displayed. Click “Edit” next to any listed Ad to view the properties for that Ad.
First, your Ad must be assigned a name. Try to choose a name that is both meaningful and memorable to you. There are no character limits, but try to keep your names as short as possible. Ad names that exceed 20 characters or so can cause formatting problems on site activity reports.
Next, determine whether your Ad is a standard “banner” ad or a “rich media” ad. Select “banner” if you don’t need to do anything special, like format the ad using HTML tables. Then enter the url link of the banner, leave the HTML field blank and fill in the image name, height, width, and border. For “rich media” ads, you can leave the Link (URL), Image Name, Height, Width, and Border fields blank. Just paste the code into the HTML field.
Managing Insertions involves the ability to list, add, edit, and delete the Insertions within your system. To view the list of Insertions in your system, click “List Insertions” in the Ad Server Management section of your system’s Administration home page. A listing of all the Ads being used on your system is then displayed. Click “Edit” next to any listed Insertion to view its properties.
Click on “List Insertions” to see the complete list of Insertions within your system. Click the “Edit” link for any Insertion to view its properties. It is best to name the insertion something that corresponds to where it will be located. Set the status to “active,” and enter the Advertiser name, ID, and e-mail address. The Advertiser name assists with the “Advanced Listing Options” on the main “List Insertions” page.
To change all of one advertisers’ Ads to a different advertisers’ Ads, enter the name of the advertiser in the “Advertiser” field under “Advanced Listing Options.” A list showing all the insertions for that advertiser will be displayed, allowing you to edit any or all, change which Ads appear in those Spots, and enter the new advertiser’s information. The Advertiser Name, ID and email address are required because this information enables more precise system activity reporting.
Next, specify the lifespan of the Ad by entering a start and end date. Then, enter the Pool and Spot of the ad. Finally, from the “Advertisement” pull-down menu, select the Ad you want to appear in that Spot.
Any time you make any changes to the Ad Server, remember to click “Update Runfile” to apply your changes. Since the Runfile is automatically updated at the top of each hour, the only time you need to manually update the Runfile is when you make changes and wish to implement your changes right away.
From the Ad Server Admin home page, click “Load Banner.” An upload window will appear. To upload a banner or “Rich Media” file, click the “Browse” button, search the drive(s) on your computer, and highlight the file you wish to upload. Only one file can be uploaded at a time. Assign a meaningful and memorable name to the file, and click “Upload.” Remember to include the file extension, such as .gif, to the name you assign. The name you choose does not have to be the same as the file name that appears on your computer. However, if you enter the exact name of a file that already exists within the Ad Server system, the existing file will be overwritten. After you click “Upload”, the file will be copied from your computer to the system and given the name and extension you assigned. Use the “List Banners” link to display a list of the Banners which already exist on your system.
To view a list of all the banners within your site, click “List Banners” on the Ad Server Admin home page. The List Banners page will be displayed, showing you all the Banners within your system. This page also allows you to upload or delete any Banner within your publishing system.
To upload a banner or “Rich Media” file, click the “Browse” button, search the drive(s) on your computer, and highlight the file you wish to upload. Only one file can be uploaded at a time. Assign a meaningful and memorable name to the file, and click “Upload.” Remember to include the file extension, such as .gif, to the name you assign. The name you choose does not have to be the same as the file name that appears on your computer. However, if you enter the exact name of a file that already exists within the Ad Server system, the existing file will be overwritten. After you click “Upload”, the file will be copied from your computer to the system and given the name and extension you assigned.
To delete any Banner, clicking the “Delete” link to the right of the image name.