Banner Hot-Linking

NATS 3 About NATS 3 NATS3 Requirements IPSP Integration NATS3 Changelog For Affiliates Affiliate Link Codes Affiliate Adtools Affiliate Rewards Affiliate Referral Stats Automatic Campaigns Affiliate Billing Info Deep Linking Affiliate Defaults Linkcode ASP Query String NATS3 Main Program Page TubeStudio Adtools Setup Apache Configuration MySQL Settings Creating Admin Accounts File Upload Setup Link Domain NATS3 Files and Directories NATS Go Live Checklist Moving NATS3 Admin Overview Troubleshoot Chart Director Fix Admin Overview Graphs Admin Reports Profit & Loss Report Strack Surfer Stats Chargeback and Credit Amount Inaccuracies Payments Admin Payment Dump Setting Up Pay Vias Hidden Payout Options Temporary Payout Payment Option Webmasterchecks Affiliate Payout Domestic Wire Instant Payments Intercash International Wire Moneybookers RevUpCard NATS Payments PayPal Payment Dump Entry Numbers Payment Dump Variables Payout Scales Epassporte Affiliates Admin Override ID Numbers Account Representatives Affiliate Starting Balance Affiliate Documents Affiliate Start Page Affiliate Referrals Manual Sale Manual Invoice Statistic Query Strings Creating Admin Accounts Affiliate-Specific Join Options Disabled and Banned Affiliates Verifying Account Changes Members Admin MySQL Auth Members Admin Member ID Numbers Expired Members Creating Trial Members Member Delete Member Logging Trial Member Sites Admin Sites Site Setup Configure Redirects ID Numbers Automail Site User Management Username Checking Join Form Errors Free Pre-Initial Checkbox Payouts Based on Program and Join Options Payouts Based on Join Option and Per Option Adding Extra Site Tours Site Partner Join Options Multisite Access Removing Join Options Tour Setup Site Undelete Join Option Box vs Button Redirecting Traffic to a Sponsor Qualified Join Page Hits Type-In Traffic Allowed languages Linkcode Decoding Programs Admin Programs Admin NATS Program Adding Programs ID Numbers Paid Trials Main Program Page Pay Per Click Pay Per Sale Revenue Share Program Default Payouts Referral Payout Tier Third Parties Admin Third Parties Chargeback and Credit Amount Inaccuracies AdultFriendFinder AdultFriendFinderAPI   AdultFriendFinder versus AdultFriendFinderAPI AllMightyContent CamSpot Cams DatingGold EffexMedia Gamelink Jettis International Third-Party Mallcom My Dirty Hobby SexGoesMobile (SGM) Streamate   Streamate Biller versus Third-Party VideoSecrets WebCamClub   WebCamClub with Biller WebCams XonDemand Adtools Admin Adding Adtools Linking to Join and Tour Pages Duplicate Site Adtools Banner Hot-Linking Adding RSS Feeds to NATS's Adtools Downloadable Adtool Bulk Importer Dump Hosted Galleries Hosted Adtool NATS Thumbnails TubeStudio Adtools Admin Billers Admin Biller Cascade NATS Cascades Adding Cascades Biller Cancel Promotions Cascade Weight Autocascade Hidden Cascades Geo-Targeting Cascades Type-In Cascade Post-Biller Templates Extra Biller Fields HTTPS Gateways Payment Deduction Timed Cascade Rules Multiple Biller Accounts Upgrade Plus Adding a Biller   Biller Instructions NATS3 Biller List 123Bill 365Billing 2000Charge Aconti Payment Service Allopass Ampay Argus Authorize.net Bill1st Gateway Billing Line BoaCompra Card Gate Plus CCBill CCBill Direct Pay CCBill Web900 Centrobill ChargeMeLater ClearCard ClearCard IDV Commerce Gate CurePay DHD Media E-Pay Company Edelweiss Card EGatePay ElectraCash EMerchantPay (Interconsult) EnterCharge Epoch EProcessingNetwork EuroBill EPGBill.com FABILLING Global Access GTBill GXBill HeidelPay HeidelPay Gateway iBill ICN Ltd. Infinity Payment Interconsult Jettis Jettis Gateway Jettis International Linkpoint LocalBilling Merchant Partners Gateway Merchant Partners Membership Merchant Solutions MyVirtualCard Netbilling Netbilling Native NetCash Netpay International NoCreditCard Oakbill Optimized Payment System Password by Phone Pay4 Paygea Payment Network Paysite Cash PhoneAccess Plug'n Pay PPPCard Probiller Protx Pure Vanilla RocketGate RocketGate Native RSBilling SafeCharge Secure Billing World SegPay Sonic Bill StandardBill Streamate Symmetrex TrustCash TrustCharge txtNation Ukash Universal Processing Verotel Pro VXSBill WebBilling WebPay WTS WTSeu YNOT Processing Zombaio Netbilling v3 Upgrade Instructions Purchasing Tokens Through Netbilling Streamate Biller versus Third-Party Switching From Epoch to Epoch EU Epoch Member Approval Plus Multiple Biller Accounts Popups Admin Popup Chain Price Cascade Rewards Admin Rewards Admin Reward Points Unshipping Rewards Cross-Sells Admin Cross Sells Admin Process Gateway Cross Sales Outside NATS Outgoing Gateway Cross Sales CCBill Cross-Selling Cross Sells: A to Z Mailing Admin NATS3 Mailing Admin Email Expired Members Repeating Email Member Cancel Emails Member Chargeback Emails Member Credit Emails Member Join Emails Member Rebill Emails Mailer Template Variables Skins & Templates Admin Smarty Plugins Skins Editing Skins Creating Skins Switching Skins Templates nats_code Affiliate Stats Template Affiliate Support Template Affiliate Login Template custom errors.php Template Array Variable Detailed Stats NATS Variables Dialer Statistics Affiliate Signup Post URL Variables Member Usernames & Passwords Output An Affiliate's Last Paid Date Custom Program and Campaign Selection Pages CAPTCHA Removal Username Recommendations Password Retrieval Post-Biller Templates Geo-Target Join Options Template Caching Random Usernames and Passwords Base Templates Protecting Template Data Mail Reseller Signup Template Variable Names Smarty Smarty print array News Section Templating Affiliate Signup Email Getting The NATSCode Checking for Usernames on All Sites Adding Stats to Affiliate Pages Affiliate Join Page Linkcodes   Template Functions nats_apache_note nats_convert_bytes nats_decode nats_encode nats_fhg nats_helper_row_fill nats_get_gateway_token nats_list_campaigns nats_list_programs nats_list_sites nats_my_decode_entities nats_my_encode_entities nats_smarty_function_ajax_box nats_smarty_function_amount_owed nats_smarty_function_gateway_xsell nats_smarty_function_getbonus nats_smarty_function_get_paid_date nats_smarty_rebuild_link nats_smarty_rebuild_query nats_smarty_function_reseller_ajax_box nats_tooltip nats_tour_report nats_wmref_list Template Shortcuts ajax_box amount_owed apache_note convert_bytes fhg gateway_xsell get_loginid_from_campaignid get_gateway_token get_paid_date list_campaigns list_programs list_sites new_gateway_xsell rebuild_link rebuild_query reseller_ajax_box reward_points tooltip tour_report wmref_list Common Parameters assign assign_prefix count data_only display_on_assign start tpl   Helper Functions nats_code nats_extract_program nats_extract_site nats_modify_program nats_modify_site Configuration Admin NATS3 Configuration Options Extra Country Options PayVia Minimum Log Admin Activity IP Address Filtering MEMBER EXPIRE PAD Second Sign-up Matching Affiliate Signup Email GeoIP Fake Upgrade Misc. Admins Database Cleanup Troubleshooting Common Errors Email_Issues Auto Login Emptying Forms AutoLogin Cookie CAPTCHA Changing Licenses Expired License Zend License NATS Extras Remote Affiliate Authentication Shopping Cart Sales Moving Tours, Members' Area, and Galleries Require W-9 Admin Areas Fraud Report NATS Content of the Day Module NATS Load Balancing Module Gallery Builder Module Build Your Own Anything Module NATS Code Wordpress Plugin Error_message_display TMMid

Your affiliates don't need to download banner ads, upload them to their server, and add the banner code to their pages. Instead you can let them hot-link to the banner on your server by following these instructions.

Making the Banners Directory Accessible

Start by making the banners directory accessible to the web. Log into your server using SSH, change to the NATS root directory, and create a symbolic link from the banners directory to the www directory:

cd /<path_to_nats>/nats/www
ln -s ../banners ./banners

(Replace <path_to_nats> with the full directory name to your NATS installation.)

Alternatively, you can put your banners directory on another virtual host -- for example, another sub-domain. For example:

cd /<path_to_other_virtual_host>
ln -s /<path_to_nats> ./banners

You can now view uploaded banners by adding /banners/<file_name>.<extension> to the URL of your NATS program. We recommend you disable Apache directory listings for banners/. The simplest way is to execute the following command immediate after the previous ln command:

touch ./banners/index.html

Modifying the Banner Ads Template

Tell affiliates about these new hot-linkable banners by navigating, within NATS, to Skins & Templates. Edit the members_adtools_adv_banner_search template. See the following images for an example:

Figure 1.1 - The Skins and Templates Admin Link

Figure 1.2 - The Template List Button

Figure 1.3 - Edit the Template

In the template, you'll find the following code:

<input type="text" 
  value='<a href="http://{$linkdomain}/track/{$banners[banner].linkcode}/" 
  target="{$smarty.request.a_target}"><img 
    src="{$smarty.request.upload_dir}{$banners[banner].filename_name}.{$banners[banner].file_type}" 
    width="{$banners[banner].width}" 
    height="{$banners[banner].height}" 
    border=0></a>' 
    size=100>

Change that to the following:

<input 
  type="text" 
  value='<a href="http://{$linkdomain}/track/{$banners[banner].linkcode}/" 
  target="{$smarty.request.a_target}"><img 
    src="http://DOMAIN/banners/{$banners[banner].id}.{$banners[banner].file_type}" 
    width="{$banners[banner].width}" 
    height="{$banners[banner].height}" 
    border=0></a>' 
    size=100>

Replace DOMAIN with the domain name of the virtual host you placed the banners in earlier.

Click "Save Template" so affiliates can hot-link to your banners.

Credits

• Too Much Media thanks Vincent from Twistys.com for contributions to this article.