Random Adverts

Random advert functionality can be used to add rotating adverts, or graphics, to a webpage. Each time a new page is viewed, or the current page refreshed, the advert is changed. Instead of showing one or more static adverts you can use the random adverts functionality to cycle through a group of adverts or images. As an example, we use this functionality on our website to cycle through a selection of advert and message blocks, increasing the information we are able to deliver to visitors.

Random adverts using images are created by adding the advert's image file to an Author-it topic, then publishing and uploading the files to the webserver. When the book is published the image file and HTML file (used to call the advert) are uploaded to the Content folder (if you have translated your website the files are uploaded to the language sub folder).

To display the advert you must create a sub folder for each advert block within the language folder. Move the HTML files for the adverts to the new sub folder, while leaving the image files with the main content. The random advert code uses the files in the sub folder to call and display the advert in your webpage.

You can display several advert blocks on the same page. To do this, add a placeholder for each block in the template (identifying each block by naming it, for example, ads1, ads2, etc), create a folder for each block, and reference the appropriate block in the placeholder value.

Tip: Create advert blocks for different types of adverts, for example, image-based ads, comments, etc.

In Website Manager define the placeholder value at global, experience, or content level using the following format:

Note: The parameters for the number of adverts displayed from a folder and the orientation are optional.

To Add Random Advert Functionality:

1. Add the placeholder to the template at the appropriate location.
2. Define the placeholder value in Website Manager at global, experience, or content level.

To Call the Advert Files:

1. Create the advert topic in Author-it and publish the book. After publishing, the images and HTML pages are uploaded to the content folder on the webserver.
2. Create a sub folder in the content folder for each block of adverts. Move the HTML pages for the advert block to the appropriate sub folder. Leave the image files with the content uploaded from Author-it.