Community Central talk:Advertising on Wikia

Advertising was added to Wikicities today. There are currently a few glitches. If you see the ads at the top of the page above all the content, please do a hard refresh of the page (ctrl and F5 for example), which should update it and move the ads to a column on the right. Please add any other issues below. We hope to have these resolved soon and apologize for these temporary formatting issues. Angela 21:51, 14 Jan 2005 (PST)

Macintosh users: Safari users, empty your cache -- that often does the trick. --DavidFeng 02:27, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)


 * The problems reported yesterday with Safari seem to be resolved today. (I don't have enough time today to test much, but it looks good on the pages I've been to so far.)  -- RJ 07:59, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

More details on clearing your cache are at Wikipedia:Bypass your cache. Angela 18:34, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

Current issues

 * 1) The ads force right floating images and category entries to be shifted to the end of the page
 * 2) The ads appear above the edit box, so you need to scroll down too far to edit
 * 3) Public service ads are included, seemingly without reason
 * I have a comment on the PSAs, that's what google does when it can't figure out what to put on your page. You can, however, have a secondary adserver which google calls instead of putting in a PSA, which isn't a terrible alternative.  --Me at work 21:05, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * If the PSAs bring in no money, should we have them at all? Angela 18:34, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

- user:Jasonr made some changes to the placement and tested it in Firefox and IE on Windows at 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions. Le t me know if you get any other formatting problems. Regarding the public service ads... Those are something Google is doing. It is my understanding that they will go away after a few days.
 * Can you get it so there's edges on the box then? The ads make the box not touch the side of the page, so it's like a box open on one end and it just makes my eyes hurt at the bad style :( --Me at work 21:05, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * I agree. The missing edge is weird. Angela 18:34, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)


 * There are still problems with everything coming after the ads under Linux/Konqueror 3.3.2; the column-content is sized correctly to fit the space, but it still appears below the ad - GreenReaper 05:11, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * I tried adding style float:right to the column-google, but that shifted the content left as well without resizing it. GreenReaper 05:41, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * This page also has problems on at least IE/Windows - GreenReaper

OmniWeb and Safari on Mac OS X are rendering the pages with a massive column of blankness next to a right-aligned tower ad, followed by a shrunk text. Only the top tabs and the left navbar are still "normal". --DavidFeng 08:27, 15 Jan 2005 (PST) looks like it's fixed. --David

Also, google rules state (somewhere) that you can't put the ad on pages you can only see after you're logged in, so ads cannot (by rules) be on preferences pages or admin only pages. While it's doubtful they'll find out/do anything, I have heard of a user losing his account, but as that's FOAF, I can't verify it. --Me at work 21:05, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * I think the ads should be more aimed at visitors, not editors, so removing them from user pages, special pages, and edit pages, might not be a bad idea. I don't know how easy it is to do this though. Angela 18:34, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

There's a problem here in IE6/Windows - the adverts go over the footer rather than extending the height of the page. - GreenReaper 22:21, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)

We're getting less space to edit and to put content as a result of this ad at the right side of the page. We used to have the rest of the screen to the right of the navbar to edit at will; we're now having like 20% that taken away, not just with the ad in its place, but even after the ad. An edit a few edits back (which BTW got the categories/edit problem where it was) made all the text come right after the ads. We should have it like that without the ad problems with that edit (sorry if I'm making someone around here confused). BTW, if USD 100 was all that was required for a year, I'd be more than happy to pony up the cash (maybe a bit more) :-) --DavidFeng 10:22, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)


 * That Section Edits prob has been resolved. Thanks for lightening response. :) Do stuff on the fly with a Treo 650 so those come handy. Rman JackRman Jack 12:04, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

CSS Fix Suggestions


width: 120px; /* to replace the current 15% */ }   margin: 2.8em 125px 0 12.2em; /* push away from right 125px */ /* width: %65; // remove this accursed thing */ /* border-right: none; // remove this as well */ }
 * 1) column-google {
 * 1) content {

Now, it does not look terrible! Edit: I did not miss anything else, just retested on a fresh. /:Edit I hope you like it/use it! --Me at work 18:25, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

Alternatives and suggestions
There was a suggestion on peace-l to use the PayPal donation program on peace: as an alternative. Angela 09:15, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)
 * I think paypal would be good, too, if people actually gave the money . . . don't know how many would, though. But it could be another option. GreenReaper 10:17, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)

A suggestion was made on my talk page to use the button ads on edit pages. Personally, I don't think ads on edit pages are useful at all. If people are about to edit something, they ought to be allowed to do that without distraction. Angela


 * Yes, I didn't see talk:advertising yet, I guess that's because they're brand new. Ads are still on edit pages, but I was saying, what if i'm editing and i want to learn how to buy edited films for my family without swear words (actual ad i saw just a min ago) and maybe that's related?  just kidding... --Me at work 20:59, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)

A suggestion in an email to me was to allow wiki users to pay to have the ads removed. Angela 09:21, 15 Jan 2005 (PST)


 * This was my suggestion and I strongly recommend it. I would be most willing to pay a reasonable support for the wiki and the excellent support. I could manage up to $10 per month. Even if it had to be more than that and I couldnt afford, I would like to have the option. Josep


 * Following the Biz Model of countless other "Free" Net Services (like NetZero, for example) having the option to pay a reasonable fee would seem a natural progression. Ad-Free option would be sweet. Been here just 2-weeks & already fond of it. IMHO, best thing since indoor-plumbing, Net-wise.

I remember coming across an estimate last year that within a single day most are subjected to some 18,000 Ad images. Humans are really good at filtering-out the annoying or unwanted. This is why cutting-edge advertising is currently focused on the possibilites of what is called Memetic Marketing. Dare I say that a Wiki environment can be readily perceived as a prime candidate for such a technique which is taken as far less obtrusive, much more effective, & can actually be educational. Just a thought. Rman JackRman Jack 12:08, 16 Jan 2005 (PST)

Examples

 * http://creatures.wikicities.com/index.php/Norndoll
 * http://creatures.wikicities.com/index.php/Category:Creatures_games
 * http://creatures.wikicities.com/index.php/Hebe_Norn