WordPress Ad Server (CMAC) - Getting Started - Free Version Tutorial

The Free Plugin

This guide covers the free version of the WordPress Ad Server plugin.

Download from WordPress.org | Learn about the Pro version of WordPress Ad Server

The WordPress Ad Server free version acts as a fully customized banner rotating service for one site. Banner advertisements can be placed anywhere in a page or post using a custom shortcode or displayed as a customized widget.

There is no limit for the number of banners that can be made to appear on a given page. Changing the CSS of the banner can be done via a control panel in the admin user interface.

Example

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Displaying Banners with the WordPress Ad Server Free version

There are only a few steps required to add a clickable image banner to a page or post:

1. Create an Advertising Campaign

Navigate to Admin Panel → CM Ad Changer → Campaigns.

Campaigns dashboard - Ad Server WordPress Plugin — Campaigns dashboard

Then click Create a new Campaign.

Creating new campaign - WordPress Ad Management — Creating new campaign

2. Give Name and Description

Under the Campaign Settings tab, you can give a name, add notes and activate the campaign.

Here's what you will see:

Adding name and description - WordPress Advertising Plugin — Adding name and description

3. Add Banners to Campaign

Add images to the campaign and choose if they will be displayed in order (based on weight) or randomly.

Adding campaign banners - WordPress Banner Ad Management — Adding campaign banners

4. Add a shortcode or widget to any post or page

You can display campaigns by applying the shortcode [cm_ad_changer campaign_id=""]

You can add the following attributes to it:

campaign_id – ID of a campaign (required).
linked_banner – Should your banner images be linked to a URL? Can be 1 or 0 (default: 1)
debug – Show the debug info? Can be 1 or 0 (default: 0).
wrapper – Wrapper On or Off? Can be 1 or 0 (default: 0).
class – Banner(wrapper) class name?
no_responsive – Banner not responsive? Can be 1 or 0 (default: 0). If a non-responsive banner attribute is defined, this cancels the use of banner variations, and instead, only banners with original dimensions are requested.
custom_css – The CSS code which would only be outputted if the banner is shown. (default: empty).
allow_inject_js – Allow server to inject JS? Can be 1 or 0 (default: 0).

Examples of custom shortcodes:

[cm_ad_changer campaign_id=”1″] – minimum attributes
[cm_ad_changer campaign_id=”1″ debug=”1″] – outputs all banner info
[cm_ad_changer campaign_id=”1″ linked_banner=”0″] – outputs banner as image without link
[cm_ad_changer campaign_id=”1″ wrapper=”1″] – wraps banners with div tag

Front-end example - WordPress Ad Management Plugin — Front-end example

Learn more:

Why Upgrade to Pro - Differences Between Free and Pro

Free Edition	Pro Edition
Run several campaigns simultaneously with unlimited banners	Run several campaigns simultaneously
Ads are inserted into post / pages using shortcode	Ads are inserted into post / pages using shortcode
Each banner can have a unique target URL	Each banner can have a unique target URL
-	Track impressions and clicks of each campaign. Includes monthly reports and geolocation
-	Google AdSense support
-	Supports the Ad Server add-on, allowing to display ads in multiple domains
-	Mobile-responsive ads
-	Restrict by day, maximum clicks or impressions, and more
-	Visual editor (WYSIWYG) with HTML support
-	Add custom JS activated upon click
-	Add video to campaigns
-	Notification once campaign stops
No support	Plugin can be used forever; one year support and updates