Smart tip: This handbook is also designed to be printed... set your printer's page orientation to landscape format, so there is enough space to place hand-written notes on the left and right margin easily.
 

In a common environment, we recommend to create a new sub-directory within the existing "cgi-bin" folder to separate the software from other already installed products.

Required "template.en" directory:

Inside the directory you desired for installation, please create a new sub-directory called "template.en". It's used to hold the content of "template.en" directory delivered with your software package.

Required "data" directory:

Inside the directory you desired for installation, please create a new sub-directory called "data". It's used to hold the content of "data" directory delivered with your software package.

Adjust path to Perl:

Open all program files (*.pl and *.cgi) in a text editor and change the first line "#!/usr/bin/perl" that it reflects the correct path to Perl 5 (or higher version) on your system. This is required to let your server know where the Perl interpreter is located.

Usage note: On most systems, /usr/bin/perl is already the default path to Perl and so no modifications are required.
 

Detailed file table: Scheme: [filename | suggested place to upload (short description); file permission]:
 

Filename...	Description...	Filename...	Description...
*	cgi-bin (program & data files); 755	template.en/*	template.en (templates); 666
		data/*	data (basic data files); 666

Important notes: Please double-check file permissions and transfer mode, otherwise the software may not work as intended. Depending upon the server configuration, different file permissions than the ones stated above may be necessary.

Smart tip: Our installation helper install.cgi makes it easier... just call it from your web browsing software (requires correct installation of this script) and it automatically checks your entire installation, adjusts permissions and fixes typical errors.
 

Before you proceed, it is highly recommended to set an administration password. After this is done, access to the admin panel is granted only by using "admin" as login together with the chosen password.

Now click on the button "Edit system parameters" and configure the shown parameters according your needs.

Usage note: Since all parameters are automatically filled with correct values, modifications on your side may not be required.

Directories and files:
 

Name of parameter to set...	Description...
CGI files directory Example: /usr/www/cgi-bin/as	Absolute path to the location of AdvertisingSuite on your server.
"binarydata" directory * Example: /usr/www/cgi-bin/as/bindata	Absolute path to the location that holds binary database content (ads).

* Technical note: The software tries to create this directory at a web-accessible place (certain cgi-bin locations doesn't allow to deliver multimedia content). If you experience problems in content delivery, please move it manually to a suited location.

Platform specific settings:
 

Name of parameter to set...	Description...
Mailing program (for Unix only) Example: /usr/bin/sendmail	Absolute path to Sendmail (or compatible) application on your server.
SMTP server Example: smtp.sunnyscript.com	SMTP server for handling mails; when left blank, the default mail application is used. This setting is required for non-Unix systems, otherwise optional.
Don't use flock Example: Unchecked	"flock" is normally supported directly by the operating system; should it be unavailable for any reason (e.g. on Win9x, WinMe), mark this checkbox.
Don't use fork Example: Unchecked	"fork" is normally supported directly by the operating system; should it be unavailable for any reason, mark this checkbox.
Forked process respawn interval (seconds) Example: 60	Respawn interval for processes; recommended range: 30 to 60 seconds.
Admin e-mail address Example: admin@sunnycript.com	E-mail address of the system administrator (e.g. webmaster).

URLs:
 

Name of parameter to set...	Description...
Binary directory URL Example: http://www.sunnyscript.com/cgi-bin/as/bindata	URL to the location that holds binary database content.
URL of CGI files directory Example: http://www.sunnyscript.com/cgi-bin/as	URL to the location of AdvertisingSuite on your server.
URL of checkout script (should be secure) Ex.: https://www.sunnyscript.com/cgi-bin/as/checkout.cgi	URL pointing to the checkout part of AdvertisingSuite. In order to enable SSL encryption, change the transfer protocol to HTTPS.
URL of user's help document (optional) Example: http://www.sunnyscript.com/myhelp.htm	URL to an optional help document (not included); may also consist of an e-mail link (e.g. "mailto:support@sunnyscript.com"). Usage note: Should contain a link to your company's terms of business, customer service details or any other related document.

Compression settings:
 

Name of parameter to set...	Description...
Use internal gzip compression Example: Checked	Use the internal compression utility (to pack statistical reports) or unmark this checkbox and specify external utility as followed.
External compression utility command Example 1: gzip -fq $file_from Example 2: c:\winrar.exe a $file_to $file_from	Absolute path to a file compression application on your server. Technical note: In some cases, the variables $file_to and $file_from are required to determine source and target files (see available literature).
External compressed file extension Example: gz	File extension used by the external compression utility.

Various parameters:
 

Name of parameter to set...	Description...
Authentication time (in seconds) Example: 10800	Time frame keeping user authentications active (after expiration, people must log in again); recommended range: 1 to 12 hours.

After you have verified all settings carefully, click on the button "Save parameters" to take over modifications to the system. It is also possible to bring back previous values with the "Let the script restore defaults" button.
 

Image based ads:

This is the most popular type of ad banners, consisting of one (animated) graphical element holding the whole ad information. Dozens of different file types are available, but GIF, JPG, PNG and BMP formats are the suited ones for advertisements.

Text based ads:

The opposite to image banners are text based ones. Although they are considered as being not very eye-catching, a well-done text ad can lead to the same attention, but with a widely reduced transmission time (no large binary content).

Multimedia banners:

Also known as "JavaScript banners", "rich-text banners" or "interactive banners", combining graphical and text based elements mostly together with any kind of interactive content (like miniature forms or "mouse over" actions).

3rd-party banners:

AdvertisingSuite manages the ad space as well as the content delivery - but in some cases you may wish to show ad banners from other sources, like link exchanges or commercial services.

Which banner types / dimensions are the right for my website ?

This decision is fully up to yours: AdvertisingSuite is not limited to a particular banner type for a specific slot (ad space); so if it is requested by your advertisers, a multimedia banner can be placed in the same slot a text based one was shown before.

Where on my website should I place ad banners ?

On smaller websites, banner slots placed at the pages' top and bottom can do the job fine. Larger or complex sites may make it recommended to create different site zones seen on popularity, visibility and content perspectives.

Each site zone comes with its own preferences regarding banner placement and charging methods (e.g. ads on the index page are generally more expensive than such on sub-pages).

Tip: You achieve higher click-through rates (and satisfied clients) when placing not more than two to five banners per webpage; otherwise it becomes too overloaded and visitors will pay less attention to each single advertisement.

Can I serve different websites (located on different servers) ?

Yes, AdvertisingSuite is able to deliver banners to multiple websites, even if they are not located on the same server. So this entitles our software also to work as an ad server for smaller networks.
 

Banner slots are easily added by placing some HTML tags to your documents; a HTML generator tool can create these codes automatically to make the entire task convenient and to avoid spelling errors.

What is the advertiser lounge ?

The advertiser lounge is used to allow your clients managing their ad campaigns (including payment handling).

However if you desire to manage the ad space by yourself, you can also disable the usage of the advertiser lounge. For more information about all features, please refer to the chapter "Advertiser lounge and template management".

Can I also rotate images / content ?

Of course, you can rotate images as well as any multimedia content, like product spots (e.g. to point out a particular highlighted article or service) and clickable headlines (e.g. on news services).
 

How to access the advertiser lounge (registered clients area, advertiser registrations):
 

The top menu line provides additional selections (depending on the current system status):
 

General settings:
 

Security settings:
 

"Welcome new advertiser" message:
 

Currency settings:
 

Admin's notification:
 

Order logging settings:
 

Order security settings:
 

Order restrictions:
 

Payment methods: See next part of this chapter.

Advertiser control panel layout:
 

Banner rotation settings:
 

* Requires that you have different site zones specified (see below within this chapter).
** Works only with compatible software; please refer to the chapter "Ad space management & advanced features".

Technical note: The admin is allowed to set all targeting methods regardless of these preference settings.

Important note: Please be careful when allowing advertisers selecting targeting methods; on low-traffic websites (about 2500 requests per day) you should enable only "weekdays" or "days of month" targeting to get satisfying results.

Surcharges for banner impressions targeting:

For each targeting method you can set a percentage surcharge which applies as soon as the advertiser will use it.
 

Mailings:
 

* Technical note: In order to avoid receiving too many alerts, you will only get one alert related to the same-typed error within 24 hours. However each single alert is logged for later referencing purposes.

Emergency situation handling:

In the case that a banner impression or click-through is not able to be processed for any reason (e.g. banner was deleted in the meantime), an emergency banner with a special URL is called instead of.
 

Usage notes: Do not remove the banner used as emergency graphical banner; the banner record should be marked as "owned by admin". Emergency banner impressions and click-throughs are not counted or charged to the advertiser.

Data maintenance:

Each time data maintenance runs, the following actions are performed:
 

* Process collected statistical data (will be stored in the daily statistics table). * Clean the daily statistics table. * Remove outdated accounts and banners.

Important note: Executing data maintenance is required and needs "fork" function to be enabled (see "System parameters"). If it is disabled due to technical limitations of the server, please follow instructions below.
 

Data maintenance with disabled "fork" function:

Schedule the file cron_run.pl (the file is located in the software directory of AdvertisingSuite) to be ran regularly by your server (recommended scheduling: each hour). You may use Cron or your server's scheduling tool in order to manage this task.

Technical note: Even when starting data maintenance in this way, ensure to fill in the parameters above.

By the way: If you are new at scheduling server actions, please contact your webhoster for details or refer to available literature. Alternatively you may use the Cron editor we provide (call cron_edt.pl from the command line, e.g. "perl5 cron_edt.pl").

Site zones and banner formats:

Please refer to the after part after next of this chapter for more details about site zones and banner formats.
 

These payment methods are accepted when allowing advertisers adding funds into their accounts via the advertiser lounge.

Offline payment:

This payment option applies, when you handle payment processing outside (orders are only taken, no invoices generated).
 

Send invoice:

This payment option will create a customizable invoice for each order.
 

Credit card real-time processing:

This payment option requires a "merchant account" registered at a payment processor. In this way, you can handle credit card payments electronically through an online payment system.

Usage note: If you process credit cards by yourself (e.g. via terminal or an electronic cash register), please refer to the payment option "Credit card manual processing" as described later.

Passing back order details from the credit card processor to AdvertisingSuite:

After a payment has been processed (no matter, if accepted or declined), the payment processor must hand over the results back to AdvertisingSuite. For this application, the program passback.cgi is intended.

Instruct your credit card processor to transfer all data to passback.cgi of your AdvertisingSuite installation:
 

And here you can see how to configure AdvertisingSuite to work together with a payment processor...
 

Credit card manual processing:

This payment option is suited to accept credit cards for manual processing (e.g. via terminal or an electronic cash register).
 

Payment details by phone or fax:

This payment option is suited when using a 3rd-party payment system working with reference IDs or when you desire to get credit card details sent by fax. Following applications may be handled with this payment method:

* 3rd-party payment systems where customer receives (after successful payment) a confirmation ID that needs to be submitted by the customer to you (either by phone or fax). For example, paying by phone bill or credit card acceptance via call center.

* 3rd-party payment systems where customer pays cash and receives a confirmation ID that needs to be submitted by the customer to you for collecting payment. For example, money transfer companies or special banking transfer services.

* High-risk environments (e.g. blacklisted countries with high rates of credit card abuse) requiring you to take credit cards only by fax, perhaps together with a photocopy of the original credit card for verification purposes.
 

Prepaid code:

With this payment option you can allow customers to pay with a special code (e.g. issued by a telephone payment system or by yourself, like gift certificates or as activation code after arrival of cheques).

Technical note: Prepaid codes are kept in the system unless their balances reaches zero. This is done to allow your members buying prepaid codes in advance and then spend them for different subscriptions from time to time.
 

What is a site zone ?

Site zones divide your website (or the documents intended to place advertisements on) into different categories, each having its own preferences, like ad charges or targeting methods.

Sample applications: Site zones for top and bottom (general: high attractive, less attractive) banners, website themes and areas, site locations (index page, sub-pages).

Are site zones required in all cases ?

As you may have noticed, there is one site zone ("*") pre-defined. It is mandatory for the system, because the software must need to know what you charge for advertisements - and since this is set in site zones, you need at least one of them.

How to create a new site zone entry ?

Type in the name of the new site zone (keep it short; use alphanumerical chars only) and click on the button "Create new".

How to edit / remove a site zone entry ?

Select the site zone from the list, click on "Delete" or "Edit" and follow the provided instructions.

Usage note: Temporarily unused site zones should be limited to the admin only (see below), instead of being removed.

How to change the sorting of site zones ?

Select the one you wish to move around and click on either "Move up" or "Move down" button to change its position (this affects the site zone's position within the advertiser lounge).
 

Charging method:

Specify the details for charging advertisements at this site zone.
 

Technical note: If you wish to keep a site zone free of charge (e.g. for internal usage), then leave the pricing fields empty.

Keyword targeting:

Keyword targeting will search the URL line for specified keywords and then selects appropriate advertisements based on them. Please refer to the chapter "Ad space management & advanced features" for more information.
 

What is a banner format ?

AdvertisingSuite can handle different banner types, each with individual preference settings. So a banner format not just reflects the physical dimensions, but also format related behavior parameters.

How to create a new banner format entry ?

Type in a new banner format code (keep it as short as possible containing only alphanumerical characters) and click on the button "Create new". Now simply follow the provided instructions.

Helpful hint: We have prepared some pre-defined banner formats you may use as basis for your own ones.

How to edit / remove a banner format entry ?

Select the banner format from the list, click on "Delete" or "Edit" and follow the provided instructions.

Usage note: Temporarily unused banner formats should be limited to the admin only (see below), instead of being removed.

How to change the sorting of banner formats ?

Select the one you wish to move around and click on either "Move up" or "Move down" button to change its position (this affects the banner format's position within the advertiser lounge). Often used formats should appear first.
 

Banner format parameters:
 

Advanced banner features:
 

Format-specific moderation settings:
 

Technical note: If you wish to modify records that are currently in moderation queue, mark the button "Remind to update" when approving these records. On the moderation result screen, you can edit them right away (new browser window opens).
 

Banner slots consist of a HTML command series implemented to websites or other documents (e.g. mail messages) showing the advertisements. There are two kinds of banner slots available: "Image-only" and "Universal" slots.

"Image-only" slots are limited to the banner type "Image", while "Universal" slots can handle any banner type.

Usage notes: AdvertisingSuite requires no SSI tags and doesn't need cookies; so displaying ad content is very convenient. "Universal" slots should be preferred, but please note that they require a JavaScript-enabled web browser.

The slot HTML code generator:

Instead of creating banner slot codes manually, you can use our convenient HTML code generator to create banner slots easily. In order to do so, click on "Slot HTML code generator" located on the main admin menu (see section "Additional services").

All you have to do is to select the desired settings and then click on the button "Refresh" to see the generated HTML block. Now copy&paste the generated HTML codes to the desired location on your website.
 

Important note: If the HTML generator does not work, please enable JavaScript in your web browser's preference settings.

Desire to create banner slots by yourself ? Please have a look at the technical references below. After implementing a banner slot to your website, please give it a try to ensure that all works as desired.

Technical reference... "Universal" banner slots:

"Universal" banner slots have the following structure:
 

<SCRIPT language="JavaScript" src="<URL>show.cgi?format=<FORMAT>&zone=<ZONE>"></SCRIPT>

<URL>: URL to the location of the AdvertisingSuite.
<FORMAT>: Code of the banner format.
<ZONE>: Code of the site zone.

Technical note: Slots with undefined or non-existing site zone codes are considered as slots for the pre-defined site zone "*".

Limitations of "universal" banner slots: JavaScript must be enabled at visitors' web browsers.

Technical reference... "Image-only" banner slots:

"Image-only" banner slots have the following structure:
 

<SCRIPT language="JavaScript"><!-- code = Math.round((Math.random() * (1000000000))); document.write("<a href='<URL>click.cgi?code="+code+"&zone=<ZONE>'><img src='<URL>image.cgi?format=<FORMAT>&code="+code+"&zone=<ZONE>' border=0></a>"); //--></SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <a href="<URL>click.cgi?slot=<RAND_NR>&zone=<ZONE>"><img src="<URL>image.cgi?format=<FORMAT>&slot=<RAND_NR>&zone=<ZONE>" border=0></A> </NOSCRIPT>

<URL>: URL to the location of AdvertisingSuite.
<FORMAT>: Code of the banner format.
<ZONE>: Code of the site zone.
<RAND_NR>: Random slot number (used for disabled JavaScript); should be unique for each banner.

Each slot consists of two parts: The first part is used for JavaScript enabled environments; if JavaScript is disabled, the second part takes effect (starts at <NOSCRIPT>). You may also leave the first part completely and just use the second one...
 

<a href="<URL>click.cgi?slot=<RAND_NR>&zone=<ZONE>"><img src="<URL>image.cgi?format=<FORMAT>&slot=<RAND_NR>&zone=<ZONE>" border=0></A>

Technical note: It is possible to add surrounding HTML tags and attributes (e.g. height and width arguments, "alt" attribute).

Limitations of "image-only" banner slots: Displays only banners of the "Image" type; most banner format layout settings are not considered automatically (but can be added manually, see previous technical note).
 

This system table holds all banners currently available on the system.

You can use it to add, update or delete banners by using the admin panel or (as advertiser) the advertiser lounge.

The system table of banners / advertiser lounge - manage banners:

Admin panel: When browsing the table, click on "Add" in the upper right corner of the screen to create a new banner record.
Advertiser lounge: Click on "Add banner" in the upper left corner of the screen to create a new banner record.

Usage note: Since both screens are just slightly different in appearance, we used the admin panel's "new banner entry" screen (parameters with different meanings have been pointed out; some parameters may not be available at the advertiser lounge).
 

* These fields are ignored when using "image-only" banner slots.

The system table of banners - permissions:

On the screen "Edit table parameters and layout" you find a section called "Permission". By using these parameters, you can modify the behavior of the system regarding banner management.
 

Usage note: Disabling permissions limits the concerned task to be done by the admin panel only.
 

This system table holds all advertisers currently having profiles on your system. You can create own profiles by using the admin panel as well as the advertiser lounge (creation of such profiles may be moderated, see below).

Important note: Also when handling banner space by yourself (banners are owned by admin), you need to create at least one profile: Give this account a balance greater than zero. This saves it from being removed after a given time by the system.

The system table of advertisers - manage profiles:

Admin panel: See the section of "table of advertisers" on the admin panel's main menu (click on "View/Add/Update/Delete" to browse the entire table and manage profiles).

Advertiser lounge: Click on "Become an advertiser now" in the upper left corner of the screen to create a new profile or log in as advertiser to update or delete the concerned profile's information.

Send out mailings:

Please refer to the chapter "Office tools management" for details about how to send out mailings.

The system table of advertisers - permissions:

On the screen "Edit table parameters and layout" you find a section called "Permission". By using these parameters, you can modify the behavior of the system regarding advertiser management.
 

Usage note: Disabling permissions limits the concerned task to be done by the admin panel only.

Technical note: If you wish to modify records that are currently in moderation queue, mark the button "Remind to update" when approving these records. On the moderation result screen, you can edit them right away (new browser window opens).
 

Block additions, updates and removements of banners:

Go to the table of banners, screen "Edit table parameters and layout", part "Permissions" and modify the permissions for the desired tasks accordingly ("Add", "Update" and "Delete").

Even when removing all permissions, advertisers can still log in, manage their profiles and check banner statistics.

Block creations, updates and removements of advertisers:

Go to the table of banners, screen "Edit table parameters and layout", part "Permissions" and modify the permissions for the desired tasks accordingly.

Even when removing all permissions, advertisers having a profile can still log in and manage their banners and profile settings.

Block loading money to accounts:

Go to the screen "Edit AdvertisingSuite parameters", part "AdvertisingSuite control panel layout" and hide the deposit form. If you prefer that advertisers cannot see their actual balance, also hide the account balance form.

Add money to an account using the admin panel:

In order to transfer money to an account, just go to the concerned profile (table of advertisers), click on "Update" and increase the "Balance" field at the desired amount.

Disable the entire advertiser lounge:

Disable all permissions in the table of advertisers and the table of banners as well as hide the deposit & account balance form.
 

When running a database application, it may be desired to show only banners which belong to the search performed by the concerned user. For example people searching for "automobiles", will see advertisements of a car dealer.

In this way, banner ads can be placed more targeted, which achieves higher click-through rates for your advertisers. By creating a new banner, you can determine the applying keywords (please refer to the part "Managing banner content" above).

Technical requirements and pre-requisites:

* Keyword targeting must be enabled in "AdvertisingSuite parameters".
* Keywords can be only read from URLs using the GET submission method (POST submissions are not supported).

Keyword targeting with EasyData:

Instructions to prepare EasyData:

Add the desired banner slots to the search result templates of the concerned tables (refer to the EasyData manual for details) and modify existing (advanced) search forms to use the GET submission method.

Instructions to prepare AdvertisingSuite:

Go to the concerned site zones and edit the parameters for keyword targeting according your requirements:

Either enable the option "Search keywords in entire URL, except domain" or specify all applicable variables in "Use value of this query variable(s) for keyword searches".

When deciding for searching query variables only, you should include "query", filters and other keyword relevant fields available in the (advanced) search forms; for example: "query,filter.name,filter._category".

Helpful hint: Also hidden form fields will work; in this way, you can do keyword targeting also basing upon pre-defined keywords indicating searches coming from particular locations (e.g. search forms on partner websites having a targeted audience).

Smart tip: Have a look at EasyData - reliable database systems for versatile applications.
 

AdvertisingSuite provides a complete range of geographical zones which allows target banner campaigns for a specific audience (e.g. users from Germany will see ads in german language while users from UK, USA or Australia will get ads in english).

However in some cases you may wish to create own "geographical zones" to get your very own target groups (e.g. people coming from particular ISPs or company networks).

Technical note: Before creating your own geographical zones, you must be sure about the IP masks used within these zones. This information may be available from various sources, like public databases or network providers.

The system table of custom geographical zones - manage zones:

This system table holds all custom created geographical zones (the pre-defined ones are stored invisible).

"Table of custom geographical zones" settings (accessible from the main admin menu):
 

Create (update) a new custom zone:

Click on "Add" or "Update" links of this table to add or update a new zone. After all settings have been made, click on the button at the end of the form to take over the data to the system.
 

Important note: Ensure that geographical zones targeting is enabled in "AdvertisingSuite parameters".
 

Here you can select the desired time period (date range, month or year) as well as the following report types:
 

Helpful hint: Instead of using this form, you may simply click on the direct links (see main admin menu) to get detailed report statistics for today, yesterday, the actual month or last month.
 

The following text contains more details about how to modify the system tables. As an experienced user, you can influence AdvertisingSuite's system behavior according your wishes.

However please note that once modifications were made, they cannot be recovered. In worst case, you have to re-install the software with the risk of losing existing advertiser profiles and all made settings.

Important note: Before you touch the system tables, ensure that you are familiar with AdvertisingSuite. You should also create a backup copy of the entire software installation for later referencing purposes.

Restructure system table:

Click on "Restructure" of the desired system table. Alternatively you can use the "Restructure" link in the upper right corner of the screen appearing when you are inside of a system table (browse its content).

How to add a new or edit an existing field:

Go to "New field name", type in the desired name, select the data type and click on "Create new field". Otherwise look for the field you wish to modify and click either on "Edit" or the field name. Now the screen "Field properties" appears:
 

Important notes: If you edit a system field, some of the settings above may be not available for selection. Don't touch pre-filled settings for system fields, you may negatively affect their behavior.

How to change sorting of fields:

Look for the field you wish to move around and click on either "move up" or "move down" to change the field's position.

How to delete a field (use with care only):

Look for the field you wish to remove from the table and click on "Delete". However, please note that once a field is removed, all related content will get lost and cannot be recovered.

By the way: All table parameters are automatically updated and the concerned field becomes removed from these settings.

Empty table:

Just select the desired options and click on the "Clear data" button in order to clear the concerned table. Please note that once a table (or part of it) is cleared, all related content will get lost and cannot be recovered.

Important note: Since all entries of concerned table may get lost, this option should be used with care (e.g. clearing table from test entries before starting to run your mailing lists officially).

Table layout parameters:

On the "Restructure" screen of concerned system table, there is a button named with "Edit table parameters" which leads you to the table layout parameters screen.

Usage note: The shown table parameters may not be available for all system tables.
 

* These are required (and important) fields; double-check them for containing correct values.

Search layout parameters:
 

* These are required (and important) fields; double-check them for correct values.

Behavior:
 

Permissions:

Please refer to the parts "Managing banner content" and "All about advertisers" for details about permissions.

Menu layout:
 

Database script pages headers / Login script page headers:

Customize the headlines of generated pages; also usage of images (IMG tags according HTML) is allowed.

Table modifications logging:

Check this button in order to log all table modifications (add, update and delete records) to TABLENAME.modif.log located in the "data" directory (TABLENAME is replaced with the name of the concerned table).

In this way, you are able to manually recover lost data or track IP addresses of users trying to cheat your system.

Technical notes: Content of memo / image / binary field types is not logged.

Table automatic maintenance:
 

Data file backing up:

What exactly is backup generation ?

AdvertisingSuite is able to generate backups of its data files automatically to allow restoring them later. Generated backup files (extension .db.bak) are located within the "data" directory.

Pre-requisites for generating backups:

Maintenance interval: Ensure that a maintenance interval is specified. Please see screen "Table parameters", "Table automatic maintenance". Recommended range: 3600 to 43200 seconds (1 to 12 hours).

Important note: The backup update period must be longer than the specified maintenance interval.

Enable / disable backup generation:
 

Technical notes: In order to disable the backup feature, set "Number of backup files" to 0 or leave it empty. New backups are not generated for unchanged files (since backup already exists).

Recommended backup settings:

Maintenance interval = 3600; number of backup files = 4; backup file #1 update period = 6
Rename backup file #1 to #2 after this number of updates of backup file #1: 4
Rename backup file #2 to #3 after this number of updates of backup file #2: 5
Rename backup file #3 to #4 after this number of updates of backup file #3: 6

TABLENAME.db.bak1 holds 0 to 6 hours old database content.
TABLENAME.db.bak2 holds 6 to 24 hours old database content.
TABLENAME.db.bak3 holds 1 to 5 days old database content.
TABLENAME.db.bak4 holds 5 to 30 days old database content.

<TABLENAME>: Name of the table, concerned backup file belongs to.

Retrieve data from backup:

If you wish to roll-back a corrupted data file, just replace the original file with the latest error-free backup copy.

Before doing so, please ensure that the table definition did not change recently (e.g. by adding new fields). In this case, the table definition needs to be set to the configuration of the data file to restore.

Important note: Restoring data files should be managed by an experienced system administrator only. In case of emergency, SunnyScript can provide you with special assistance to professionally handle this task (optional fee-based service).

Helpful hint: In order to create a backup of an entire database, you may use the "Download/upload table package" feature.

"Password reminder" utility:

If a member forgot the password to access the subscriber lounge, it can be re-send automatically by the system at request.
 

Important note: Since the admin password is saved encrypted for higher security, it cannot be restored. See chapter "Helpful hints and technical reference" about information on how to reset the admin password.

Templates substitution:

If you wish to use your own templates instead of the pre-defined ones, please select your desired templates here (more details about templates are available in the next chapter). "--use default--" will activate the standard template for concerned output.

Helpful hint: If you're unable to find your recently created templates within the lists, hold CTRL or SHIFT key and click on the "Reload" button of your browser software to reload the browser window (to replace an old copy in cache).
 

AdvertisingSuite is much more than just an advertising space manager. It also provides various office management tools, like a customer address database, order and invoice handling as well as electronic newsletters.

In the following we explain how to use these features. Before you proceed, you should have been read the previous chapters (some matters are described there we have considered as being known).
 

This powerful back-end feature allows you to watch about incoming orders (money transfers), track payments and more.

Watch incoming orders & track payments:

Use "View orders" to see a list of all orders currently active on the system. You may also search for specific ones, e.g. by using the automatically assigned order number (request this number from customers in case of inquiries).

Important... Activate a pending money transfer:

In order to load money to the advertiser's account, go to the appropriate record in order table and mark the "Payment confirmed" checkbox. Only if this step is done, the ordered amount will be made available.

Usage note: This task is not required for the payment methods "Credit card real-time processing" and "Prepaid code" (since requested funds are automatically uploaded after the payment has been processed successfully).

How to cancel or modify a particular order:

For already processed orders, go to the concerned advertiser profile (table of advertisers) and reduce the value of the "Balance" field according the situation. Then remove or update the order and invoice records to match the new values.

Usage note: Where applicable, please ensure to provide a chargeback for made payments; this task is not done automatically.

For unprocessed orders, simply remove the order and invoice records from the system and ask the advertiser to place a new order by using the advertiser lounge.

"Table of orders" settings (accessible from the main admin menu):
 

Auto removement of orders:

See screen "Table parameters", part "Table automatic maintenance" / "Records expiration". Specify the number of days after order creation, before an order is removed automatically from the system.

Mark "Auto. remove only if payment confirmed" to ensure that only orders are deleted, for which payment has been received.

Pre-requisite for this feature:

The maintenance interval must be set for this table; recommended range: 3600 to 43200 seconds (1 to 12 hours).
 

The table of invoices is mainly used for internal purposes to create printed invoices for each money transfer order processed by AdvertisingSuite. So you are able to take over invoices from AdvertisingSuite directly to your bookkeeping.

Search for invoices and print them:

Use "View invoices" to see a list of all invoices currently available on the system or search for a specific one. Click on the link "printable" (invoice number) to see the appropriate invoice ready-to-print or click on the order ID for a web-like formatting.

"Table of invoices" settings (accessible from main admin menu):
 

Auto removement of invoices:

See screen "Table parameters", part "Table automatic maintenance" / "Records expiration". Specify the number of days after invoice creation, before an invoice is removed automatically from the system.

Pre-requisite for this feature:

The maintenance interval must be set for this table; recommended range: 3600 to 43200 seconds (1 to 12 hours).

Technical note: When removing invoices here, customers will lose also access to the printable versions; so it is recommended to set a generous interval (recommended value: 30 days).
 

The table of daily statistics is used to build statistical information (advertiser lounge). In addition, it is very helpful for the administrator to investigate abnormal system usage.

"Table of daily statistics" settings (accessible from main admin menu):
 

Auto removement of daily statistics records:

Different than the auto removement features of other system tables, the records are handled automatically and will be removed once they become useless. This is done by a special algorithm which decides about the system status.
 

You can send out mailings either to all record owners of a selected table (recipients filter set to "Send to all") or just mail such people who have allowed you to do so (recipients filter set to "Send to subscribed users only").

Mark "Do not send duplicate e-mails" in order to send only one single mail, even a particular address is found multiple times.

Reach the correct recipients:

Table of registered advertisers: General mailings to all advertisers (e.g. new service announcements, company news).
Tables of orders and invoices: Mailings regarding payment or service issues.

Custom recipients filter:

You can specify a search query that filters only recipients matching particular criteria. It is possible to use any field available in the table this mailing is intended for. Click on "view filter results" to get a listing of all selected records.

For example: income>=3000 AND education="high"
Only recipients will receive this mailing which have an income of more than 3000 currency units and a "high" education level.

Usage note: For more details about how to perform search operations, please refer to "Searching of databases (tables)" below.

Personalized mailings:

Personalized mailings contain an individual "To:" field for each recipient. In addition, you can include fields from the concerned table  (format: <!--$FIELDNAME-->) which are replaced by appropriate content.
 

Sample personalized mailing:
 

Dear <!--$first_name--> <!--$last_name-->, you recently added your website <!--$URL--> to our database. If you would like to increase the popularity of your <!--$BUSINESSTYPE--> company, you should take a closer look at our valuable offers ! With kind regards, John Smith (my sample company).

Technical note: If "Do not send duplicate e-mails" is marked, a recipient with multiple records receives mail for the first found record only (and so will just see content of table fields for this specific record).

Quick mailings:

Quick mailings are used to send identical messages to all recipients (faster processing). However the usage of personalized elements is not possible (included table tags are removed automatically).
 

Intelligent mail content delivery:

The most powerful feature is the delivery of intelligent message parts based on a record's content and "if/then/else" conditions. So a mailing can be written absolutely targeted, which leads to higher response rates and increased user convenience.

Important note: This works only with "Personalized" mailing method. "Quick" mailings will ignore intelligent message parts.

Each "intelligent message part" has the following structure:
 

<!--if <expression>--> Message delivered when <expression> is true. <!--else--> Message delivered when <expression> is false. <!--endif-->

Usage notes: "if" and "endif" tags are required, while the "else" part is optional. Recurrent tags may also be used.

<expression> can contain these operators:
 

Format of field values: $fieldname (field names are handled case-sensitive).

Sample applications (non-recurrent tags):
 

<!--if $gender eq "m"--> Ties for 5 Euro only. Just a limited time, buy now ! <!--else--> Parfums starting at 10 Euro. <!--endif--> <!--if $income < 20000 AND $intelligence_quotient <= 30--> Hi <$name>, participate in our "get rich fast" special offers ! This is your chance to live like the <rich & beautiful>. <b><i>So start acting now - start today.</b></i> <!--endif--> <!--if $index * 10 / $basetax + 0.03 == 2 AND $taxstatus eq "high"--> Save taxes by ordering our book "1001 (il)legal tax tricks". <!--else--> Increase your income by ordering our book "1001 ways to get wealthy". <!--endif-->

Usage notes: Second sample does not have an "else" tag, which means that a false result will lead into not displaying anything. Should a field value be unavailable (spelling error, non-existing field), then the argument is considered as being empty.

Technical note: It is also possible to use HTML and client-sided scripts (like JavaScript) within intelligent message parts.

Sample application (recurrent tags):
 

<!--if $gender eq "m"--> Special offer for <b>men</b> from our drug store: <!--if $age > 50--> Gray hair remover for just 9,99 Euro. <!--else--> Shaving foam - just 3,99 Euro. <!--endif--> <!--else--> Special offer for <b>women</b> from our drug store: <!--if $age > 50--> Wrinkle remover for just 9,99 Euro. <!--else--> Lavender bath salt - just 3,99 Euro. <!--endif--> <!--endif-->

Usage notes: Parts in green text belonging together. Do not forget to close all "if" tags avoiding malfunctions.

How to perform a test of personalized and intelligent mailings:

In order to let the system process a sample message, click on the button "Send test message to admin". The system then generates a mailing, which is sent to the administrator under real life conditions.

And these default values are used: Numerical = 0; date/time related fields = actual date/time; URLs = http://test.<fieldname>/; e-mail addresses = test@<fieldname>.test; fields in general = test-<fieldname>.

Smart tip: Have a look at MailingStar (plus) - professional mailing list management and e-mail marketing software.
 

Import data into database:

Click at the button "Start data import..." to begin reading in an existing 3rd-party database.
 

Click on the button "Import data" to start the importing process. After it is finished successfully, please check the read in data for consistency first. It is also recommended to keep a backup copy of all original database files for later references.

Technical note: Data formats "... with field names" requires that the first line of the importable file holds the names of the fields. Alternatively, default names are chosen you can rename later at any time.