Uploading Creatives
Once a new booking has been saved, you can upload a creative. A creative is the visual element of an advertising campaign that is displayed to visitors on your platform.
Upload a creative
You can upload different kinds of creatives in Adhese. Adhese supports the following format types:
- Image files (JPG, GIF, or PNG)
- HTML5 files
- Video files (MP4 and FLV)
- Audio files (MP3 and MPEG)
- Text
- Third-party JavaScript tags.
In addition, Adhese has developed its own format, Advar, to simplify the creation of complex creatives. Advar templates can be customized to take various forms, including video advertising formats, text ads, or content.
It depends on the client which fields are compulsory to complete. To save a creative, you must select a format. If a mandatory field is left blank, the creative can still be saved, but the mandatory fields will be set to their default values.
Add an HTML5 creative
To add an HTML5 creative:
- Go to the Campaign overview, click Campaigns in the left navigation menu of Adhese.
- Click the campaign for which you want to upload an HTML5 creative.
- Click the Creatives tab. The Creative overview opens. The Creative overview lists all creatives that are uploaded for the selected campaign.
- Click the Add HTML5 button. The New creative screen opens.
Specify the details of the creative under the following headings:
General
- The ID is automatically generated by Adhese after the creative is saved.
- Give the creative a meaningful and clear name in the Name field. A distinct name will make it easier to recognise the creative in the next step when it is attached to a booking.
- In the Format field, click the Select format link. This opens the List of formats modal window. Select the appropriate format with the correct dimensions from the list and click on the Save button.
- The Last updated field indicates the most recent update of the creative.
Target URLs
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In the Select target field, determine the target URL or the URL of the landing page. Click the show more URLs link to add multiple target URLs to the creative.
You may omit http:// from the target URL, as Adhese will automatically add it. If the target URL is over a secure connection, you must add httpS:// to it.
Tracking
- Adhese monitors every campaign, booking, and creative, and reports are available in the interface. It is also possible to let a third party monitor a creative. The client needs to provide a tracking URL, which is inserted in the Tracking URL field. For more information about the tracking URL, refer to Third-party tracking.
Extra
- The Extra field 1 and 2 input fields are custom input fields depending on the chosen format and template. These fields are used to add extra functions, such as changing the background colour of a wallpaper ad.
Upload files
A format needs to be selected before you can upload an HTML5 creative.
To upload an HTML5 creative, click the Main file button. You need to choose a correct .zip HTML5 creative file. For details, see the HTML5 Creative file section below.
While uploading a .zip file, Adhese verifies various potential issues, including file size and proper implementation of the clickTag.
If there is an issue, the .zip file is not uploaded and Adhese gives an error message.
If you are convinced that an error notification is not justified, you can disregard it by simply checking the Ignore errors (only for me) box under the Alternative creative section and upload the file again.
Next to the .zip file, you can upload up to five additional files. This enables you to upload HTML5 creatives with additional material, such as a wallpaper.
Please note that if you do not provide a clickTag and select Ignore errors (only for me), Adhese will not track your Clicks.
Click the Save button after the .zip file is uploaded.
HTML5 Creative file
The HTML5 creative file is a .zip file that defines the creative or advertisement. You can either receive such a .zip file from the advertiser or prepare it by yourself.
To create it by yourself, make sure:
- The .zip file contains at least an index.htm or index.html file or another unique .htm or .html file. This file will be used as the starting point for the HTML5 ad.
Ensure that the filename only contains alphanumeric characters, dots, and underscores. Other characters may cause issues when Adhese processes the file.! - The main .html file contains a clickTag. Adhese relies on it to track clicks correctly.
- The main .html file relatively refers to all code and assets. This means that all links in the HTML5 creative, such as the link to an image within the ad, need to use a relative path, for example,/graphics/ad-image.png or
<img src="/graphics/ad-image.png">
. This enables the ad to be self-contained and, therefore, to run independently or to render without a network connection. External libraries and web fonts can be an exception to this guideline.
Some additional guidelines:
- There are no specific rules for the folder structure inside the .zip file. You can organize all files in different subfolders or within the root folder.
- The number of files should be kept to a minimum because each different file results in a single request that affects the web page's performance where the ad is being loaded.
All links in the HTML5 creative, such as the link to an image within the ad, need to use a relative path, e.g. /graphics/ad-image.png or img src="/graphics/ad-image.png". This enables the advertisement to run independently. External libraries and web fonts can be an exception to this guideline.
The use of Adhese macros, such as [adheseReplace:xx] or <ADHESE_X>, from within the HTML5 file is not possible. An Adhese value will not replace these macros.
clickTag
To let Adhese measure the clicks of the banner, some extra work is required:
-
We require a JavaScript variable to be present in the code. This variable has to be named clickTag in order to be picked up.
The value of the clickTag variable needs to be a string literal within single quotes:Example<a id="clickThroughBtn" target='_new' href="">Register click</a>
<script> var clickTag = ''; document.querySelector('#clickThroughBtn').href = clickTag; </script> ...
The HTML code above is only an example of how to use the clickTag variable. Simply copying and pasting this code into your file will not suffice! The clickTag variable needs to be integrated into the already existing click logic.
- Place this variable in the main HTML file. This is the only file that will be parsed.
- The Adhese UI will provide the landing page URL. Once the banner is uploaded, this URL, together with our click tracker, will be assigned to the clickTag variable.
Make sure to make use of this variable when implementing the click-through logic!
...
var clickTag = '';
var clickTag2 = '';
var clickTag3 = '';
...
All clicks will be counted collectively to calculate the total number of clicks on a specific banner. However, in the more detailed reports, you can view the clicks per URL.
Adhese detects the clickTag in compressed code, which reduces file sizes by removing line breaks, tabs, and double spaces.
Although the clickTag variable is present in the code and the click URL is correctly filled in by Adhese, it is still possible that Adhese will not measure clicks.
If this is the case, you will have to contact the supplier of the HTML5 file. It is possible that the clickTag variable is not being used or is being overwritten.
Save
To save the file, click the Save button. When you click the arrow next to the button, additional saving options are available in a drop-down menu.
Save and create a booking | Saves the current creative and opens a new create booking screen |
Save and create Image Creative | Saves the current creative and opens a create Image Creative screen |
Save and create 3rd party Creative | Saves the current creative and opens a create 3rd party Creative screen |
Save and create Advar Creative | Saves the current creative and opens a create Advar Creative screen |
Save and create HTML5 Creative | Saves the current creative and opens a create HTML5 Creative screen |
Save and go to traffic screen | Saves the current creative and goes to the traffic screen for that creative |
More files
If a creative consists of more than one file, e.g., a background image and a video clip, you can add these individual files to the creative. After a format is selected, a new section becomes available: More files. This section enables you to add up to six files to a creative. Click More files... to expand this section. Five buttons appear that allow you to upload more files.
Additional creatives
Once you have selected a format, you can upload the main HTML5 creative file. You must save the main creative before uploading any additional creatives, which are variants of the main creative, such as images with different dimensions for various platforms. For further guidance on uploading additional creatives, please refer to Additonal creatives.
Preview
After the file is uploaded, a visual preview of the creative appears. Check if there are no errors.
You can switch between the creative's actual size and its thumbnail. To show the exact size, click the [ show actual size ] link, or click the [ show thumbnail ] link to show the thumbnail.
If the HTML5 contains an action script with an HTTP request, various browsers may block the preview because the Adhese interface connects through HTTPS. It depends on the kind of browser what should be done to preview the creative:
- In Google Chrome, click the shield button situated on the right of the browser's address bar. Click the Load unsafe script button to enable the preview of the HTML5 creative.
Link to live preview
You can preview the creative in its context after the file is uploaded and saved. Use this feature to check for errors (see the next paragraph). We recommend checking the live preview in more than one browser. No impressions will be counted while previewing a creative in the live-preview mode. For more information about live previewing a creative, refer to Live preview a creative.
The preview link will only be available if the booked position has the same dimensions as the selected format for the creative.
The live preview URL can be copied and shared with the advertiser to ensure that the creative is displayed as desired.
Checking the URL of the uploaded creative
After you have uploaded and saved the HTML5 creative, the URL of the landing page needs to be verified. To verify the URL:
- Do one of the following:
- Click on the preview of the creative in the Adhese interface, or
- Click on the creative in the live-preview mode.
A new page is opened. If the URL is correct, the following message appears:
If the above message does not appear, Adhese does not measure any clicks.
-
Click the link in the message to check if the URL goes to the actual landing page.
If the preview does not click through, the HTML5 creative may not contain the clickTAG. For information about how to add a clickTAG correctly, refer to the above Upload files paragraph.
Add an image
Adhese enables users to upload image files in formats such as JPG, GIF, and PNG.
To add an image file:
Specify the details of the creative under the following headings:
General
- The ID is automatically generated by Adhese after the creative is saved.
- Give the creative a meaningful and clear name in the Name field. A distinct name makes it easy to recognise the creative in the next step when the creative is attached to a booking. If no name is provided, the filename of the uploaded image file is used.
- In the Format field, click the Select format link. This opens the List of formats modal window. Select the appropriate format with the correct dimensions from the list and click on the Save button.
- (Optional) In the Alternative Text field, provide text that will appear if the image cannot be displayed or if someone hovers over the image.
- The Last updated field indicates the most recent update of the creative.
Target URLs
- In the Target field, you can choose whether the URL of the target or landing page should open in a new browser tab or in the same browser tab of the visitor. The default setting is set at new window. To change this default setting:
- Click new window. The Target of link modal window opens.
- Select same window to open the landing page within the same browser tab.
- Click the Save button.
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In the URL field, determine the target URL or the URL of the landing page. Click the show more URLs link to add multiple target URLs to the creative. The URL can contain a maximum of 500 characters.
You may omit http:// from the target URL, as Adhese will automatically add it. If the target URL is over a secure connection, you must add httpS:// to it.