Gossamer Forum
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AdCycle
I've added the AdCycle plugin to the FAQ site.

Just a basic top banner rotation. I'll be starting to play with it a bit, and working on ways of making it work better.

It's just a basic install at the moment, but it works, and worked easily. That's a big plus.

Strategies for using it with Links are going to be the topic, I think. How best to use category and keyword targeting with the AdCycle Groups/Campaigns.


PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ:http://LinkSQL.com/FAQ
Forum:http://LinkSQL.com/forum
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
I guess one thing that people have requested time and time again...is keyword targetting within search results.

Just my two cents...

Regards,

Eliot Lee
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
It should be able to do that. Alex has tags for both "category" and "search" targeting of banners.

I haven't gotten that far yet, but it involves keywording the Adcycle banners when they are being set up.

If anyone has done it yet... maybe they'll post how it works. I'm still a bit away from doing that at the moment.

PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ:http://LinkSQL.com/FAQ
Forum:http://LinkSQL.com/forum
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
I've been using AdCycle 0.77b at my site from the get go without a plug in. Tried enabling keyword targeting in the advanced campaign options menu and had a rude awakeming. As soon as I did banners for that campaign stopped rotating entirely. It seems Jeff jumped the gun a bit by putting this field in the advanced options menu because the back end code to make it work isn't in there! Shocked

Last night I download shareware version 1.15 only to discover after reading over the revision history that keyword targeting was not available until version 1.10, and only now do the bugs appear to be worked out of it. I see no reason for it not to work with NG.

Real quickly, after setting up an advertiser you add campaigns. When adding or editing campaigns there's a Hide/Show link next to "Campaign Options - For Advanced Users". Clicking Show expands the page to reveal new option fields, one of which is Keyword Targeting. There's also some very good info in the support forum at adcycle.com if you search on "keyword targeting".

Hope this helps.

Mark Brasche
http://SurfSafely.com/
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
Thanks, I'm still working on this, but what the "links" wrapper code does is dynamically query the database, and insert the correct codes into the HTML. Basically, it turns Adcycle into an "ad server" and puts the onus of the requests on the Links code generation.

This could lead to some really creative and complicated add-ins for higher-end code generation, or intercepting the codes/keywords before generating the ad code in the templates.



PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ:http://LinkSQL.com/FAQ
Forum:http://LinkSQL.com/forum
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
I got Adcycle to target banners with Links SQL quite a while ago - it was simple.

Just followed the instructions.

Paul
Installations:http://wiredon.net/gt/
Support: http://wiredon.net/forum/

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Re: AdCycle In reply to
In Reply To:
what the "links" wrapper code does is dynamically query the database, and insert the correct codes into the HTML. Basically, it turns Adcycle into an "ad server" and puts the onus of the requests on the Links code generation.
Okay, that makes sense, and knowing Alex probably well worth the extra $61 over a stand alone licence for AdCycle.

But here's a problem. I'm currently on a HostPro VServer Pro. When I installed 0.77b, because it temporarily disconnects whenever a DDL command is run against the database, it did not create two tables. Someone from the AdCycle forum created a couple of queries to run which fixed it up manually. Now I am trying to install 1.15 and the problem is even worse than before.

If I buy the Gossamer AdCycle plugin, am I going to have this same problem?

The question will soon become moot because I am preparing to migrate to C I Host who is, as I write this, setting up for me a "Dedicated Server 1". But I would like to get started with the plugin now if I can have reasonable assurance it will work on my VServer now.

P.S. Someone suggested that I stick with HostPro but upgrade to their Freedom product which they claim is not
plagued with the same problems of a VServer Pro. I Kicked the tires of a Freedom 200 for a couple of weeks. Was not impressed. If I were to stay with HostPro and go the Freedom route I would need at least a 400x. With only 500MB storage and still sharing server hardware, at $149/month also not the best value I've seen.

The C I Host "Dedicated Server 1" is a truely dedicated machine, has 8 static IP's, 633MHz processor, 30GB storage running Red Hat Linux 5.2 for only $99/month. I blows anything HostPro has to offer completely out of the water. Aside from paying too much for my present service, I forsee a great many of my other headaches going away as well.

Have any of you heard news, good or bad, about C I Host?

Mark Brasche
http://SurfSafely.com/
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
oh please do a search for CI Host at any website... they are probably the company most known for the worst support. Just try a search at www.webhostingtalk.com for an array of threads against them. I think there is a site about a class action being brought against them somewhere as well.

if you want a dedicated server i would go for:

www.venturesonline.com
www.dialtoneinternet.net
www.rackspace.com

one of those 3. I dialtone and they are pretty good but there server inteface software sucks to high heaven so you need to know some linux. VO are amazing, the support is brillaint (ticket system of via forums) and i know at least 10 people with dedciated servers there. They have been plauged by the VDI crisis but are moving to the Verio datacenter (which looks amazing).

Rackspace are more expensive but probably hold your hand a bit more. Be prepared to be charged for just about anything though and stay away from AMD processors, one person there had no end of problems, probably due to over heathig.

all my opinions of course.

ASciFi.com http://www.ASciFi.com/
Help Desk http://www.Techuk.com/HelpDesk/
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
I really don't get dedicated servers - I was just looking at venturesonline.com and one of their packages costs $800/month. You gotta be NUTS to pay that for a dedicated server. I'm on a co-located server at the moment and it costs a fraction of $800 per month, and you have even more control over the server and you own it as well. I realise you have to buy the server in the first place but $800/month for a year is $9,600 I think. If you buy a $4000 server and pay $300/month then that is $7,600 in year 1 and $3,600 per year after that and you walk away with the server as well.

Paul
Installations:http://wiredon.net/gt/
Support: http://wiredon.net/forum/

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Re: CIHOST In reply to
I would DEFINATELY stay away from there, unless poor connectivity, no bandwidth and less than 0 support is what you are looking for.

This is my personal experience, at least... Oh yes and they tried to keep billing me for 6 months after I left...

AlexJ

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Re: AdCycle In reply to
yeah but $800 a month is the most expensive one! one of the main reasons being that you get 150GB of bandwidth with average bandwidth prices around probably $3 that is $450 a month in itself. That makes the actual cost (which VO has to pay) more like $350 per month. At 12 months that is what $4,000 or so and that included a DUAL PIII 866 with 512MB RAM. Not bad in my books.

Either way, why buy a $4,000 server when you could just pay $300 a month and get a single PIII 866 with 256MB ram and 50GB?

the normal difference between co location and dedicated servers is support. If you co-locate they won't give you any support, you install mysql, php, apache etc. If you can do this and don't mind doing all the troubleshooting yourself then yes it is of course going to be cheaper. For most people though who only want one server the extra $50 or so you probably pay a month is well worth it. VO answer support tickets within 6 hours (at worst) and are incredibly helpfull.

ASciFi.com http://www.ASciFi.com/
Help Desk http://www.Techuk.com/HelpDesk/
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
Bottom line is you get what you pay for.

You can't compare apples to oranges, you must compare like to like.

First, a colocated server is "dedicated". The difference is colocaiton of you your own server, or leasing a server through your ISP.

Interest rates for leasing are about 18%, for this sort of lease, and perhaps more.

A dedicated server often gets a different "package" than your own server. THe ISP will not run "garbage" hardware, and their server might cost $6000 where as your server would cost $4000.

ISP's also throw in a cost for maintaining and supporting a "leased" server, since they have the hardware. There is almost '0' support for co-located machines, other than the physical network connections, reboots and monitoring for 'uptime'.

Leased servers also almost always have back up included, whereas colocated servers do not.

You need to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

a reputable ISP/Host will separate out the costs of:

1) bandwidth
2) colocation (cabinate, switches, set up, electricity, etc)
3) sever costs/lease

They offer "packages" but they also have the numbers for each.

A "leased" server may fit into a standard rack, while your colocated
server may have a case, and require a cabinate, and 4-cubic feet of space.

All of this costs money.

SO, for the 3rd time, make sure you compare apples to apples.

Oh... the last thing. If you lease the server, the lease also includes the replacement contract so that you _always_ have the contracted hardware available. If you "own" the server, such as a co-located box, you have to do all repairs and replacements.

All of this has to be paid by someone -- and that needs to be the customer.



PUGDOGŪ Enterprises, Inc.
FAQ:http://LinkSQL.com/FAQ
Forum:http://LinkSQL.com/forum
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Re: AdCycle In reply to
Actually the support on our co-located server is good. We always have someone available to contact should we need to and in the past someone has driven over an hour to the server location to check something out on the server for us (for free).

We also have plenty of backup tapes and the network is monitored electronically and manually.


Paul
Installations:http://wiredon.net/gt/
Support: http://wiredon.net/forum/

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Re: CIHOST In reply to
Thank you for this insight, Alex.

I also serve as CTO for the United Federation of Childsafe Web Sites http://www.ufcws.org. Christopher Faulkner, the President and CEO, has personally donated a free dedicated server to UFCWS. As generous as this is, startup has been a nightmare because almost nothing is documented. Nor are their administrative controls anything to brag about.

To their credit, though, for me the tech support has been very responsive. I just shouldn't have to go to them with every little question like where is the crontab, httpd.conf and other configuration files? How do I set up virtual domains under a primary domain on their servers? etc etc etc. Overall, I'm just not impressed.

That said, would anyone else like to recommend a good dedicated server value? One that relieves the headaches often associated between shared servers and Gossamer scripts?

Mark Brasche
http://SurfSafely.com/