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.