DragonByte Forum Ads v1.0.0 Gold + Lite Released!

[Fillip H.]

Hey all,

Another week of development, another release. This isn't any release though, this is DragonByte Forum Ads v1.0.0 Gold! As always, Gold means a Lite version is now available. You can view the feature comparison between the Lite and Pro versions, as well as download the Lite version, here: DragonByte Forum Ads - or scroll further down on this page.

DragonByte Forum Ads is an advanced advertising solution that allows you to easily show visitors you have advertisements available, offer multiple ad campaign options including banners, keywords and more and maximise the revenue potential of your community. Full PayPal integration and automated features such as deactivating expired ad campaigns allows you to make money without expending extra effort.

The Gold version adds over half a dozen new features & enhancements, 100% of them requested by our customers.


Complete Change Log

New Purchase Metric: Time

• Ads can now remain valid for X days
• Existing ads can be edited to set a new expiry date
• Existing ads can be set to have no expiry date, effectively allowing for indefinite display
• Time-based ads still track Clicks and Impressions

Banners / Keyword Titles

• New configuration item: Site Title
• Displays on mouse over of banners or keywords
• HTML safe

Banner Spaces

• Configure placeholder image
• Overrides stylevar image
• Allows different images in different locations

Statistics

• Summary of clicks or impressions stats above the Search form in the Customer area
• Displays total clicks or impressions, unique IP addresses, date of first click or impression, date of last click or impression
• Ability to click a button to receive an email report of the statistics

CSS Improvements

• Existing ads now have additional CSS to make adblockers less effective
• CSS can now be customised for placeholders and normal ads via a new CSS template
• Colours / backgrounds can be customised per-style via StyleVars (see below)

StyleVars

• "Checkmark" image in the Packages / Discounts display
• Border around the ads & placeholders
• Padding around the ads & placeholders
• Background of the ads & placeholders
• "Please Don't Use An Ad-blocker" image
• "Your Ad Here" placeholder image

General / Other

• The Purchase boxes are now placed above the chart representing banner space locations
• The chart representing banner space locations is now collapsible
• The Configuration screen now shows the price of each individual item
• The Configuration screen now allows you to remove individual items from the cart without reloading the page
• Prices and Packages no longer references "Rotations" as valid purchase metrics

Complete Feature List

Lite

Payment Processors

• Supports PayPal
• Configure the description to display to your users when they checkout
• Configure your Merchant ID (such as PayPal email address)
• "Sandbox" Mode toggleable via vBulletin Options, for testing purposes

Banner Spaces

• Integrate with one of vBulletin's built-in advertising locations
• Configure the dimensions of the banner shown within this space
• Choose how many rotations are available for this banner space
• Set multiple banner spaces to the same advertising location to show the banners side-by-side
• Configurable placeholder image
• Placeholders and sold ads have anti-adblock code

Prices

• Choose price type (keyword or banner space)
• Choose the price per X impressions, clicks or days
• Configure multiple price points for the same banner space or for keywords to encourage bigger purchases
• Choose what banner space the price point belongs to
• Configurable display order for display in the front-end shop

Sold Keywords

• Add new keyword advertisement manually - give advertisement space as a gift!
• Search sold keywords by active/expired, username, sold date (range), or specific keyword
• Search results display a paginated list of keywords
• Edit / Update / delete the keywords
• Quickly view the transaction for the keyword, if any
• Support for date-expiring ads even if they are also Clicks/Impressions limited

Sold Banners

• Add new banner advertisement manually - give advertisement space as a gift!
• Search sold banners by active/expired, username or sold date (range)
• Search results display a paginated list of banners
• Edit / Update / delete the banners
• Quickly view the transaction for the banner, if any
• Support for date-expiring ads even if they are also Clicks/Impressions limited

Transactions

• Search transactions by All, Valid (completed or reversed) Completed, Reversed, Pending or Refunded status, user name, amount spent, date range, ip address
• Search results display a paginated list of transactions
• View transaction info including a complete list of information received from the payment processor
• Quickly view all transactions for the selected user

Maintenance

• Repair integration with vBulletin advertisements
• Rebuild keyword database for statistical purposes

Packages

• Group multiple banner space / keyword configurations together in a handy package
• Set a new price for the combined Package
• Allows user to configure each package item individually
• Visually attractive front-end display while buying

Custom Amounts

• Ability to set a base price for 1 Click or 1 Impression
• Allows users to choose how many Clicks or Impressions they wish to purchase
• User configures and purchases like normal
• Offers great flexibility in buying advertising

Purchase / Configure Pages

• The Purchase page has been revamped, with a new tabbed interface!
• Under the Banner Spaces tab there's now a visual indicator for where each banner will be shown
• Clicking an ad space on the visual indicator shows only pricing options for that banner space
• Sold out banner spaces display "SOLD OUT" in red
• Each pricing option for the same banner space is grouped under the same header

Statistics

• Clicks & Impressions has a dedicated Statistics page per-banner / per-keyword
• Summary of clicks or impressions stats above the Search form in the Customer area
• Displays total clicks or impressions, unique IP addresses, date of first click or impression, date of last click or impression
• Ability to click a button to receive an email report of the statistics
• Displays the country of origin for users who clicked / viewed each content type
• Fully browsable with pagination

StyleVars

• "Checkmark" image in the Packages / Discounts display
• Border around the ads & placeholders
• Padding around the ads & placeholders
• Background of the ads & placeholders
• "Please Don't Use An Ad-blocker" image
• "Your Ad Here" placeholder image

User / Usergroup Options

• Usergroup permission: automatically approve keywords
• Usergroup permission: automatically approve banners
• Usergroup permission: automatically approve bids
• User flag: automatically approve keywords
• User flag: automatically approve banners
• User flag: automatically approve bids

Pro

Multiple Currencies

• Show prices in multiple currencies
• Set a tax rate for purchases in currencies other than your home currency
• Configurable exchange rate
• Choose a "Primary Currency" that your prices will be based on

Price Bidding

• Ability to make a price point up for bidding
• Allows users to enter a bid and submit it for acceptance
• Admin can accept or reject the bid from a link in an email
• User receives email when their bid has been accepted or rejected
• Rest of purchase process proceeds as normal

Discounts

• Group multiple package / banner space / keyword configurations together and provide a discount
• Discount can be flat rate or % of the total price
• Allows user to configure each package item individually
• Visually attractive front-end display while buying

Screenshots




Thank you for your continued support!

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