Author Topic: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG  (Read 56377 times)

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« on: July 24, 2004, 12:47:46 AM »
It seemed like a shame to let all the hard work Bons and Icelus did on the PPG banner logos go to waste.

So with the tremendous contributions of the mysterious but wonderfully helpful and competent SECRET ADMIN, PPG now has a banner rotation. At present it runs on the main site's left-hand pane, as well as in the upper right-hand of the main forum template (which roughly 97% of users see... if the other templates start getting lots of use, I'll add the banner to them as well.)

Since so many of these were already made for the TBG banner rotation, I'm keeping most of the specs the same, but please read:

- Dimensions: 150x80
- Size: No more than 50K* **
- Format: Still JPG/PNG/GIF, or animated GIF
- I reserve the right to reject banners for mods-in-progress if they appear no more credible than Godspawn.

Please send your submissions to jcompton@pocketplane.net . Please provide the destination URL, the filename, and a brief alt-text line (the thing that shows up if the image doesn't load, or someone checks the image properties) exactly as follows. Note the use of the | (pipe) character.

Code: [Select]
http://my.url.com|logoname.gif|A new mod by me

* - Yeah, we have some that are bigger, but I've asked that they get slimmed down. Big banners are slow for dialup users and gnaw bandwidth something fierce.

** - Yeah, I know I already pared it down once. So sue me. Big banners are like a double-whammy, because they take longer and more BW to download, and by virtue of being larger they're more likely to fill up a user's image cache more quickly, forcing them to be downloaded AGAIN. If your banner is already in the rotation and significantly above 50K, don't be too surprised if I ask you to change it at some point.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2004, 12:12:46 AM by jcompton »
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Cybersquirt

  • Socialist Evil-Doer
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 816
  • Gender: Female
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2004, 06:12:22 AM »
but for us dial-up scourge, could the size be reduced a bit more?  :-\
Stupid is as stupid does.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2004, 09:52:36 AM »
See that, people? Aim for banners even smaller, or you'll make Cybersquirt cry.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline jester

  • Here be dragons...
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 2416
  • If you fail, fail gloriously.
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2004, 12:05:47 PM »
Dial-up will die anyway though I would not want to see Cybersquirt cry. I like the banners. They are nice and not as annoying as I thought at first from the description. Flashing stuff on sites should be at a minimum IMHO. They are a bit to fast though. Are they made in Flash?
« Last Edit: October 28, 2004, 07:39:38 PM by jester »
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Why spend all your day surfing for porn?




Balance in all things
I haven't had this much fun since... the last time.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2004, 09:18:35 PM »
No, just animated GIFs.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Cybersquirt

  • Socialist Evil-Doer
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 816
  • Gender: Female
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2004, 03:41:41 AM »
See that, people? Aim for banners even smaller, or you'll make Cybersquirt cry.
That depends on your definition of 'cry'...  :-X   ::)   :P   :-*

 ;)

(much better, btw.  Thank you. :))
« Last Edit: July 25, 2004, 03:51:28 AM by Cybersquirt »
Stupid is as stupid does.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2004, 12:54:58 AM »
Another quick note:

Until about two minutes ago, all banners had an equal, random chance of appearing.  (at least, as random as the PHP function

srand((double)microtime()*1000000);

is. If any qualified PHP gurus would like to suggest something better, be my guest.)

As of two minutes ago, I'll be running things with a 50% chance you will see a PPG ad, and a 50% chance you'll see an ad for somebody else. Mechanically, that means giving double weighting to certain PPG banners in the list. (for the curious, those are currently House Of Sim, because it's just an insanely great looking ad, and Tutu, because a lot of people seem to enjoy learning about Tutu.)

If there are any major concerns about this, you're entitled to a full refund.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Galactygon

  • Modding since 2002
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 378
  • Gender: Male
  • Creator of spells
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2004, 03:35:05 PM »
Seems a bit too self-centered if you ask me. I have no other objections.

-Galactygon

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2004, 06:48:54 PM »
In the immortal words of Jamie Farr, "Remember the golden rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules."
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Cybersquirt

  • Socialist Evil-Doer
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 816
  • Gender: Female
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2004, 08:36:09 PM »
Er.. what's so self-centered about 50-50 Galactygon?
Stupid is as stupid does.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2004, 09:05:38 PM »
Incidentally, I'm happy to send the banner code, and accompanying clickthrough counter code, to anyone who wants to use it along with some instruction for setting it up on your own sites, if anybody's so inclined.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline jester

  • Here be dragons...
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 2416
  • If you fail, fail gloriously.
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2004, 02:51:31 AM »
Reciprocity is a neat concept. :) This offer should be picked up IMO.
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Why spend all your day surfing for porn?




Balance in all things
I haven't had this much fun since... the last time.

Offline Rastor

  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 271
  • Author of the book, "Being a Jerk for Dummies"
    • RPG Dungeon
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2004, 10:00:56 AM »
Since bandwidth seems to be your main concern here, is there any way that you can directly link larger banners to our own sites so that it's our bandwidth getting used by the ads loading instead of yours?

Maybe that could allow for more complex banners, as you can't have more than about five or six frames and keep an animated gif under 50k unless you reduce quality significantly.

Offline SimDing0™

  • Back In Black
  • Global Moderator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 3496
  • Gender: Male
  • Word Enhancer
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2004, 10:05:40 AM »
Keeping the site friendly for dial-up users is also pretty significant.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #14 on: July 29, 2004, 10:47:05 AM »
Since bandwidth seems to be your main concern here, is there any way that you can directly link larger banners to our own sites so that it's our bandwidth getting used by the ads loading instead of yours?

That would be possible, but as Sim said, that's not the only concern here.

Quote
Maybe that could allow for more complex banners, as you can't have more than about five or six frames and keep an animated gif under 50k unless you reduce quality significantly.

While I really love some of the more complex banners we've seen (like the One-Day, which I'm not going to ask to be cut down any further because it's just that good) I don't think the banners necessarily have to be an arms race of complexity.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Perdita

  • Lost
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 109
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2004, 03:49:23 PM »
Incidentally, I'm happy to send the banner code, and accompanying clickthrough counter code, to anyone who wants to use it along with some instruction for setting it up on your own sites, if anybody's so inclined.

I'd like that banner code, thanks.

Cyn
Ever wonder what an impulsive bard would do if she feared her boyfriend Anomen were turning back into a vampire?  No?  Well, read my new fanfic, Life During Wartime, and find out anyway.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #16 on: August 18, 2004, 09:48:42 PM »
Incidentally, since resetting all of the counters about 2 weeks ago, there have been a total of over 1300 clicks on banners, so, roughly 100/day. I'm glad people are getting value out of them.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline jester

  • Here be dragons...
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 2416
  • If you fail, fail gloriously.
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2004, 03:27:54 AM »
More erm replay value is always good. :P
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Why spend all your day surfing for porn?




Balance in all things
I haven't had this much fun since... the last time.

Offline Rastor

  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 271
  • Author of the book, "Being a Jerk for Dummies"
    • RPG Dungeon
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2004, 03:01:15 PM »
Another quick note:

Until about two minutes ago, all banners had an equal, random chance of appearing.  (at least, as random as the PHP function

srand((double)microtime()*1000000);

is. If any qualified PHP gurus would like to suggest something better, be my guest.)

As of two minutes ago, I'll be running things with a 50% chance you will see a PPG ad, and a 50% chance you'll see an ad for somebody else. Mechanically, that means giving double weighting to certain PPG banners in the list. (for the curious, those are currently House Of Sim, because it's just an insanely great looking ad, and Tutu, because a lot of people seem to enjoy learning about Tutu.)

If there are any major concerns about this, you're entitled to a full refund.

Are weidu.org mods included as Pocketplane mods in this?  I seem to be seeing those banners as often if not moreso than the other PPG ads.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #19 on: August 24, 2004, 03:19:30 PM »
Nope, they don't count towards the total. For the curious, there are currently 50 total banner slots, 7 of which are "doubled" PPG banners.

I do hear every so often about banners people see more often than others--Hubelpot gets mentioned a lot, but any seeming non-random behavior along that line is just the vagaries of the PHP randomizing function.
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Andyr

  • Dance Commander
  • PPG
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 3178
  • Gender: Male
    • The Gibberlings Three IE mod community
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #20 on: August 24, 2004, 03:23:05 PM »
Yeh, I've not seen a mod that I've worked on in rotation yet. ;) I think JC's trying to make me download Ghareth, the amount of times it comes up! :D
"We are the Gibberlings Three, as merry a band as you ever did see..." - Home of IE mods

<jcompton> Suggested plugs include "Click here so Compton doesn't ban me. http://www.pocketplane.net/ub"

I am unfortunately not often about these days so the best way to get hold of me is via email.

Offline jcompton

  • Niche Exploiter
  • Administrator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 7246
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #21 on: August 24, 2004, 03:45:31 PM »
Heh. No, for all its majesty One-Day NPC is only in one rotation slot, too. And UB, which you've worked on, is in two...
Cespenar says, "Kelsey and friends be at the Pocket Plane? Ohhh yesssss!" http://www.pocketplane.net

Offline Andyr

  • Dance Commander
  • PPG
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 3178
  • Gender: Male
    • The Gibberlings Three IE mod community
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2004, 07:22:42 AM »
Oh, yeh, I forgot about that...
"We are the Gibberlings Three, as merry a band as you ever did see..." - Home of IE mods

<jcompton> Suggested plugs include "Click here so Compton doesn't ban me. http://www.pocketplane.net/ub"

I am unfortunately not often about these days so the best way to get hold of me is via email.

Offline colbruce

  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 40
  • You have to go IN to go OUT.
    • Blue Button
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #23 on: September 12, 2004, 10:58:35 PM »
HI, I've searched the site and didn't find what I seek.

Is there a tutorial on how to create the mod banners (animated GIF's)?

I have Adobe ImageReady but I need some tips.  I've found the animating tool with the frames but when I modify the 2nd frame it keeps overwriting the 1st frame also, and I don't know what setting I need to change, or how it's dealing with Layers, etc.  Can anyone help me get started?

Offline Bons

  • Global Moderator
  • Planewalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 1237
  • Gender: Female
  • Glad Corvis Isn't Dead Club
Re: Mod banner rotation now available on PPG
« Reply #24 on: September 13, 2004, 12:10:55 AM »
Quick explanation:

Using ImageReady, your overwriting problem is probably related to the visibility of layers. Each layer will have an eye icon to the left of it if it is visible, and typically you will want one layer for each frame. Click on the frame you want to set the layers for, then click the eye icons to switch their visibility to suit. For a three frame animation like the WeiDU ad:


Frame 1:     Layer 3 Not Visible
                 Layer 2 Not Visible
                 Layer 1 We Do

Frame 2:     Layer 3 Not Visible
                 Layer 2 WeiDU
                 Layer 1 Not Visible

Frame 3:     Layer 3 Why Don't You?
                 Layer 2 Not Visible
                 Layer 1 Not Visible

If the visibility was not altered for the layers in this example, all three frames would appear to read, "Why Don't You?"
Newt had always suspected that people who regularly used the word "community" were using it in a very specific sense that excluded him and everyone he knew.

             --Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens"

 

With Quick-Reply you can write a post when viewing a topic without loading a new page. You can still use bulletin board code and smileys as you would in a normal post.

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

Name: Email:
Verification:
Type the letters shown in the picture
Listen to the letters / Request another image
Type the letters shown in the picture:
What color is grass?:
What is the seventh word in this sentence?:
What is five minus two (use the full word)?: