You can place ads in several strategic locations across your site. Where you can place an ad is based on the type of ad:
- Discussion Ad
- Website Ad
This article focuses on creating, placing, and managing Discussion Ads, which appear on the Discussions pages of your communities and in those discussions' associated (subscription and digest) email messages.
NOTE: To create and manage ads that display on the web pages of your site (and microsites), see Website Ads.
NOTE: If you license the Group Manager module, your Community Admins can manage ads in their communities via the Community Ad Builder widget (after a Site Admin or Super Admin adds it to a page).
To create and manage your Discussion Ads:
- In the Admin Toolbar, click Admin.
- Navigate to Community > Discussions > Discussion Ads.
Watch the video
Create a Discussion Ad
- Click Discussion Ads at the top of the page.
- Click the plus sign to the right of the page title.
- In the resulting dialog, configure your ad.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Ad Name | The ad's name. This is for internal use only. |
| Sponsored By | If an ad is sponsored by a third-party or other affiliate, enter that information here. This is for internal use only. |
| Ad Type |
Select whether this is a Post or a Banner ad:
NOTE: This selection determines where the ad can be displayed on the Ad Placements tab. |
| Ad Source |
Select the ad image's source:
NOTE: If your ad code contains JavaScript, it may not display in email (i.e., it will only display if configured to display on Discussion pages). Most email clients will remove JavaScript from emails for security reasons.
|
| Contact Email | Enter the email address for the ad's point-of-contact. This is for internal use only. |
| Website Address | If you want to hyperlink the ad to a website, enter its URL here. When clicked, users are redirected to the URL in a new browser tab. |
- Click Save to create the ad. It now appears in the list of ads, and can be edited or deleted.
NOTE: Ads can only be deleted if they're not currently in use.
Now that you've created your ad, you need to define where to display it. Refer to Manage Ad Placement below to learn more.
Manage Discussion Ad placement
After creating an ad, you then need to choose which discussion to display it in. This is accomplished by creating Ad Placements. To do so:
TIP: You can display an ad in multiple discussions by creating multiple Ad Placements for it.
- Click Ad Placements at the top of the page.
- Click the plus sign to the right of the page title.
- In the resulting dialog, select the discussion where you want to display the ad. All communities with an associated discussion are listed.
- Depending on your ad's Type (Banner or Post), configure the remaining options in the Banner Ad or Post Ad section of the dialog:
- Click the Assign Ad to Discussion menu(s) and select which ad(s) to display.
- Click the Display Ad menu(s) (i.e., "display location") and select whether to display your ad(s): (1) in the discussion's email only (Email Only), (2) in the discussion only (Website Only), or (3) in both (Website and Email).
NOTE: Here, Website is not referring to Website Ads.
- Check the Active box to make the ad live in the designated location(s).
- Click Save to create the ad placement. It now appears in the list, and can be edited or deleted.
Set Discussion Ad defaults
To assign a default Banner and/or Post ad that will appear in all discussions (and associated emails):
- Click Ad Placements at the top of the page.
- Click the gear icon at the top right.
- You can set a default Banner and/or Post ad in the associated section of the dialog:
- Click the Default Ad Campaign menu(s) and select which ad(s) to display
- Click the Default Display Type menu(s) (i.e., "display location") and select whether to display your ad(s): (1) in the discussion's email messages only (Email Only), (2) in the discussion only (Website Only), or (3) in both (Website and Email).
NOTE: Here, Website is not referring to Website Ads.
- Click Save to set your default ad(s).
Where Discussion Ads display
Where a discussion ad displays depends on whether it's a Banner ad or a Post ad:
- Banner ads are singular and display only at the top of the Discussion thread. The recommended maximum dimensions (in pixels) for banner ads is 728 wide x 90 high.
- Post ads display next to each post within a Discussion thread (e.g., if there are six posts, the ad displays six times) AND at the bottom of Daily Digest and Real Time email messages. The recommended maximum dimensions (in pixels) for post ads is 200 wide x 200 high.
Discussion Ads in email messages
Ads configured to display in email messages appear in Discussion (Real-Time and Daily Digest) email messages.
NOTE: Discussion ads do NOT display in Consolidated Digest emails.
By default, ads appear at the bottom of these email messages, as shown below, but you can change their location on the Admin > Communities > Digest Configuration > Discussion Template page. See Manage Your Digest Email Templates for more information.