Configuring Text Ads

Note: Text Ads cannot be approved for weblogs that have no posts or are password-protected. Also, Text Ads are not available with Mixed Media Templates.

Text ads allow your site to earn advertising revenue through placement of customizable text ads. You can choose an Easy Setup or Customize option with this feature. Once you have enabled text ads, you can track your earnings from the Earnings tab under the Control Panel tab. Text Ads is a new commerce feature for which we have updated our Terms of Service agreement. View Commerce Terms of Service.

Enable Text Ads

From the Weblogs tab, click the Edit Design shortcut link. From the Design sub-tab, click the Content link next on the Edit Template Sets screen.

On the Edit Templates: Content screen, the Text Ad option is listed underneath the header for Your Sidebar Content. To first enable the function, you must configure your advertising settings. Afterwards, you can enable or disable your text ads by selecting the Text Ads checkbox.

Configure Advertising Settings

Click the Configure link associated with the Text Ads checkbox. The following pop-up window appears:

Easy Setup

Select the Easy Setup button and click Continue. The Ad Preview screen appears with a preview of how ads will appear on your site. If you are satisfied, click Save and a confirmation screen will appear. If you want to customize further, click Customize.

Customize Setup

Select the Customize button and click Continue. The Customize screens appears in the following order:

Choose an Ad Layout option, from 1 to 5 ads. Click Save & Continue.

Choose Ad Categories by selecting categories from the checkbox list. To select any, click the Any checkbox. Click Save & Continue

Choose Ad Colors by entering a hexadecimal color value in the respective text boxes or clicking the color wheel icon and selecting a color from the pop-up color wheel. Click Finish and a pop-up confirmation screen will appear.

Kanoodle Account Activation

Ads are provided by Six Apart's partner Kanoodle, which requires up to 48 hours to activate your ads account. These ads will automatically appear on your weblog as soon as Kanoodle approves your account. In the meantime, TypePad ads will temporarily show on your weblog. You can see an example of such ads below. The same process is repeated if you set up the feature on multiple weblogs in your TypePad account.

You will receive a one-time credit of $2.00 in your earnings account for the period that TypePad house ads run on any of your weblogs prior to your Kanoodle approval and provided that you register at least 2,000 page views during that time. Receiving this money also requires that Kanoodle approve your account, and that you run Kanoodle ads on your weblog for 30 days from the time they are activated. If you set up a TypePad account and activate the Text Ads feature but then cancel the account before the end of 30 days for any reason, you do not qualify to receive the payment of $2. TypePad subscribers can only receive one $2 credit for their account, regardless of how many weblogs they decide to run Text Ads on.

Configuring Text Ads Using an Advanced Template Set (Pro users only)

If you are using an Advanced Template Set with your weblog, two simple steps can help you set up Text Ads. First you need to temporarily switch your weblog to a Basic Design with a classic layout in order to enable Text Ads. Secondly, you need to paste some code into your existing Advanced Templates before switching back.

Step 1

From the Your Weblogs page, click the Edit Design shortcut for the weblog you'd like to set up with Text Ads.

On the Edit Current Design page, click the Create New sub-nav menu item.

On the Template Builder: Layout page, select a Classic Layout and then click the Step 2 button to proceed.

On the Template Builder: Content page, scroll down to the Your Sidebar Content section. Click the Text Ads checkbox to enable Text Ads. (If you have never set up Text Ads before you must click the Configure link and go through the set up process.) When you are finished, click the Step 3 button to proceed.

The rest of the process can be skipped now that you've enabled Text Ads. Click the Edit Current sub-nav menu item to return to your Advanced Template listing.

Step 2

On the Edit Current Design page, click the template to which you'd like to add Text Ads. Paste the following code into the Template Body text box:

<MTKanoodleIfRegistered>
    <$MTKanoodleAdInclude$>
<MTElse>
    <$MTWeblogIncludeHouseAds$>
</MTElse>
</MTKanoodleIfRegistered>

Step 3

Click Save. When the status message indicates that the template has been saved, click Publish and proceed through the publishing wizard.

Step 4

Click the Edit Current sub-nav menu item to return to your Advanced Template listing. Click the template that contains your stylesheet. Paste the following code into the Template Body text box:

.kanoodle-ads {
    margin: 10px 0 30px 0;
    border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px;
    border-style: solid;
    border-color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="border_color"$>;
    background-color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="bg_color"$>;
}

.kanoodle-ad {
    width: 100%;
    overflow: hidden;
    border-width: 0 0 1px 0;
    border-style: solid;
    border-color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="border_color"$>;
}

.kanoodle-ad a:link,
.kanoodle-ad a:hover,
.kanoodle-ad a:active,
.kanoodle-ad a:visited {
    display: block;
    margin: 2px 5px;
    font-family: <$MTKanoodleAdValue name="font"$>;
    font-size: 11px;
    font-weight: normal;
    text-decoration: none;
}

.kanoodle-ad-title a:link,
.kanoodle-ad-title a:hover,
.kanoodle-ad-title a:active,
.kanoodle-ad-title a:visited {
    margin-top: 5px;
    color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="title_color"$>;
    font-size: 12px;
    font-weight: bold;
    text-decoration: underline;
}

.kanoodle-ad-body a:link,
.kanoodle-ad-body a:hover,
.kanoodle-ad-body a:active,
.kanoodle-ad-body a:visited {
    color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="text_color"$>;
}

.kanoodle-ad-link a:link,
.kanoodle-ad-link a:hover,
.kanoodle-ad-link a:active,
.kanoodle-ad-link a:visited {
    margin-bottom: 5px;
    color: #<$MTKanoodleAdValue name="link_color"$>;
}

Step 5

Click Save. When the status message indicates that the template has been saved, click Publish and proceed through the publishing wizard.

Why don't I see the Text Ads feature in my sidebar content list?

If you are using a mixed media template for your weblog, the Text Ads feature will not be available; at present, the Text Ads feature can only be integrated into weblogs which use classic or advanced templates.

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