UBD Block Ad Plugin Is Here!
Posted: June 13, 2008 by Matt Blancarte Filed Under: Blog | 9,175 viewsBlock advertising (125×125 ads) has become one of the most popular ways to monetize blogs. Top blogs such as Tech Crunch, John Chow and ReadWriteWeb all use block advertising as a method to generate revenue from their blogs.
As great as block advertising is for monetizing blogs, if you use block advertising, then you know that adding new advertisers or changing out old ones can be a tedious and time consuming task, especially for the new blogger who is not very familiar with editing source code.
We’re proud to announce the new UBD Block Ad Plugin!
Co-developed by Alex King and UBD, the new plugin is a must for anyone who uses block ads on their Wordpress blog. With smart, easy to use features, the plugin will help you manage the advertising more effectively than manually editing code (if you are even familiar with editing code, that is).
Versatile and Functional
With the UBD Block Ad Plugin, you’ll be able to use a variety of advertising layouts. You can either use one column (see Shoemoney’s right sidebar) or two columns (see John Chow’s ad blocks) to display your ads, with a maximum of 10 ads at any given time the UBD Block Ad Plugin will automatically format the layout of your ads, too!
Built-In Automatic Rotation
The plugin will also automatically rotate your advertisers. This is a great way to ensure that your advertisers won’t feel any bias when buying a block ad from you. Having rotation will also allow you to make a few extra bucks by rotating more advertisers than you have space for.
The plugin is also fully widget compatible. You don’t need to manually edit the sidebar.php file in order to add the add the block ads to your page.
Easy to Use
Our plugin has been developed in a way that makes it incredibly easy to use. All of the buttons and actions have been laid out in a way that makes the process straightforward, and results are accomplished very quickly. You can see live previews of the ads before they will be published on your blog. Here is a screenshot from the plugin options page:
On top of the inherent ease of use, I’ve personally made several screen casting sessions to explain the plugin and exactly how to use it. These videos are all short screen casts that cover the basics of using the UBD Block Ad Plugin.
Download UBD Block Ad Plugin - For Free!
You can download the UBD Block Ad Plugin for free! Just type your name and email address into the fields below and we will send you a link to download your theme. Don’t worry, your email will NEVER be shared with any third party. You will also get access to our UBD Moneymaker Theme by signing up below.
UBD Block Ad Plugin Video Tutorials
Please let us know if you have any questions! We hope you enjoy this plugin - there are many more cool plugins coming in the future!
Looks awesome, can’t wait to play with it!
Sweet!
Nate needs to come clean. Did you all develop this so I would stop bugging him asking him to add new ads! Ha!
One question… for my blog, do I need to do anything special? Or can I just upload the plugin and get cracking? I guess I am asking more about how does the plugin know where to place the ads on the page?
Looks great!
Dang! Where were you guys when I was looking for a great plugin to rotate ads???
-Mike
@ Ron - you will still need to place a little piece of code into the sidebar or you can add the sidebar widget too if your blog is widgetized. Would you like me to set it up for you?
You are the best, Nate. I’d be very appreciative of your help (as always).
For those wondering about UBD’s customer support… Nate and the guys designed my blog months ago… yet they still answer my questions and help me out whenever I ask.
Very nice. YOU guys are still on a ROLL …
2000NATE
Darin
The plugin is very handy. I am playing with it right now.
Thanks, Darin and RadoHand! Let us know what you think after you’ve had a chance to use it.
I keep getting this error when I try to put my ad links in.
Cannot load affiliatecode.php.
I don’t see any affiliatecode files, any idea?
Hi Matt,
sure thing. I managed easily to add codes and preferences and save. I go to the blog and the images, links are working perfectly. looks extremely practical stuff!!!
HOWEVER, maybe it has something to do with my wp settings(???), but all wp settings are standard. I am in (/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=ubd-block-ad.php) and when I add ad-s’ code-s and press the “Update UBD Block Ad Plugin” to save added code etc. I get HTTP 500 error while in browser url shows /wp-admin/options-general.php
The error page contains:
Most likely causes:
The website is under maintenance.
The website has a programming error.
The error shows after I save changes (help please), although going straight to blog all is working and as I said the saved ads are there 100%.
WP version 2.5.1
Used IE7
Not many plugins running, only: All in One SEO Pack and Simple Tags.
Can you please help me? I will have some web design work done by you guys pretty soon!
With compliments and anticipation. r
I just tried Firefox and the outcome is different! Seems more that i do not have A prerequisite file or plugin installed?
After saving I get page with “Cannot load affiliatecode.php.” When I click on “Set your affiliate code here” under the plugin in the wp Plugin Management page, I also get the “Cannot load affiliatecode.php.” on browser page. The link is: /wp-admin/options-general.php?page=affiliatecode.php at that time.
Both clicks would show HTTP 500 if IE7 was sued.
Sorry if I’ve missed something, I probably have…
Hey guys, I just fixed the problem of it not loading the plugin when clicking under the plugin settings. Try re-downloading the plugin and it should work. Thanks for your comments - we really appreciate the feedback.
Now with the fix UBD Block Ad Plugin works very well. I uploaded few images rotating in 4 spots and, people notice them, I could add some ads perhaps. I intend to ask you for some deco/improvement job on my site. Thanks…
–
PS Just a feature suggestion for the plugin; a select option for aligning images ‘inline’ e.g. in header or footer?
Great Plugin …thanks
Wow is that great - will try it out later today!
Cool, I like it
Thanks just what I have been waiting for
What a great plugin! Thanks for offering it free.
I’ve been looking around for this kind of plugin for long time. Thanks UBD. Nice job!
Great plugin, it’s perfect for those who haven’t bought the OIOPublisher plugin….
Love the plugin, is there a way to make this so you can have 3 columns or more on wider blog formats? Maybe even a way to control the overall width and height of the main block… other than that, it works great!
Thanks,
Bill
Do you happen to have this plugin available for Blogger?
@Paul, sorry but we only support Wordpress at this time. Have you thought about making the switch? It is actually quite easy and we would be more than happy to talk to you about the specifics of it.
@ Bill Wardell - currently, the plugin does not support those features, but those are some fantastic ideas and we will try to work them into the next update.
I came to know about this plugin from John Chow. Nice plugin. Just wanted to say thanks.
This seems like a great plug-in, but I’m not getting the widget to show up and my site has widgets in it.
Can you tell me how to fix this problem?
Thanks!
Seems like a cool plugin I’ll have to try it out.
Thanks for the plugin! I look forward to trying it out.
I’ve been waiting fo rthis plugin a long time ago. NOw I could get a rotating ads on my site too.
thanks for the plugin..it’s make my blog easier !! Thanks !!
Great! Now please tell me where I can get those block Ads for my blog.
Great plugin! I have already put it in my blog, but is there anyway to make those ad align to center? Normally i will add in “div align=center” in the widgets, but this time i can’t edit it, any solutions?
This plugin is going to be awesome…i know it. Although I am a wedding photographer and do not sell space…i think that this will be a really creative way to show slideshows. thanks
Question: I just loaded the plugin and when I update the plugin I get a blank screen that states, “You are not allowed to manage options.” I can see everything in the preview screen as I would like it. Any thoughts?!?!?!?!?!
@ Atlanta Wedding Photographer - that is odd. Are you using the latest version of Wordpress (2.5.1)? If you would like our help getting it to work, please fill out a Contact Form message including your Wordpress login information as well as FTP information, and I will be happy to check it out and help you get it working.
@ Max - if you can edit your stylesheet, you can add some left margin to the div that you have the ads placed within. If you contact us with your FTP information, I can fix it for you. Thanks.
Excellent!! I will install it when update my wordpress
Great Plugin for Sure - How can i Fix/Change/Modify width between ads. My side bar is exactly 260px if the gap between is a little more the second ad will drop the sidebar or will display short ad
Fantastic concept. When I loaded it, it displayed a 2×2 block fine in IE6 and IE7, but in FF3, it displayed fine, but shoved everything else in the sidebar WAY down the sidebar. I suspect it’s my theme, but have no clue how to fix. (if anyone visits the blog, the 2×2 block there now is not from using the plugin)
Definitely better than writing the code by hand, but I have 50+ ads, so before you have some sort of category management and click tracking, I’m sticking with AdRotator plugin + CCounter script.
I noticed that “<?” was used in the code a couple of times. The full “<?php” should really be used everywhere, since not all PHP setups have short tags enabled.
Question: I just loaded the plugin and when I update the plugin I get a blank screen that states, “You are not allowed to manage options.” I can see everything in the preview screen as I would like it. Any thoughts?!?!?!?!?!
I too got this error when using firefox but when I went to IE it worked fine. Hope that helps a little.
@ The Little League Coach - are you logged in as the Admin for Wordpress? Try filling out our contact form and include your FTP details and we will be happy to take a look at it.
Nice Plugin! I was wondering if there was a way to make this plugin default with my blog template. Because right now the ads are showing below my regular template built in ad space.
ttyl
Thanks,
Dontrell
Will it work with those 125×125 iframes you get through Amazon Affiliate program?
Can somebody help me reducing the width between block ads.
-Shanker Bakshi
This is great plugin! I use it with my WPmu 1.5.1 and it works great! I have a question, is this plugin cache-able? (Does it work with the WP-Super Cache plugin?
After I upload it and go into Design to look for it in my available themes, it reads that the theme is broken as it doesn’t contain a style sheet! I’m new at this so am wondering if I have done something wrong.
Thanks so very much for making this available!
Nice plugin, thanks guys!
@ Deb - send us your FTP information and we will check it out for you. Thanks!
Awesome plug in for monetize the blog. Ads rotation is great tool for attract more advertiser.
To Your Success
Bryan Hee
@ mike - I believe the plugin is cacheable, but it will not rotate the ads if it is cached.
@ Dontrell - are you using the widget or the HTML code to manage your 125×125 ads?
@Shanker - you can reduce the width by opening up the plugin in an FTP program and searching for and modifying the internal stylesheet.
Any idea why it doesn’t display correctly in IE 6? The ads should be in two columns and it shows that way in FF and IE 7 but in IE 6 it is one column.
Any help is appreciated.
hey! the Update UBD Block Ad PlugIn (i.e., Save Button) doesn’t work. :-/ any suggestions? We’ve deleted and reinstalled it 3 times and we’re running on 2.5.1.
@ Ari - send us your FTP information and I will gladly take a look at it for you.
@ Andy - the plugin works correctly in IE6 for every other site I have tested - which leads me to think it is because of your theme. For that reason, you may want to check with the developer of your theme to see if he can widen the sidebar or he would might know the error.
It also works in every other browser I have tested except for IE 6. The column is 322 pixels wide.
I know this is a long shot - but is it possible to set up different size ads in 2 separate areas?
Like a 468×60 in one and a 125×125 in another?
I added the plugin to my blog, I can see the ads too but how can I add a title, like “sponsors”? Thank you
Is there a way to add a header title? I’m jammed up trying to accomplish this, any feedback would be appreciated.
looks like a great plugin, I will be trying this immediately
I have OIO Publisher….is this a replacement, or does it work with it, or what?
@Dennis - no this is not a replacement for the OI Publisher plugin. This plugin only replicates the 125×125 block advertising functionality that is found in similar plugins like OI Publisher.
@ Josh and Servizot - adding a title will need to be done manually via HTML in the sidebar.php file.
I guess my question is, any point in having both?
Can someone help me with the title please.. sorry to bother again, I seriously don’t know how to add it
@servizot - please use the Support Forums for any additional questions you have about the theme. You can visit the forums my clicking here.
@ Dennis - if you need to run multiple sizes of ads, then you can run both, but that would be the only reason.
What is the html code to manually add the plugin to ones theme? I’m using an older one, and there are no widgets.
When I install it and hit activate no ads show up on the side of my site. They show they are working in the settings like shown on the video but they are not on the side of the site. Why is this?
looks great to me..
but a question - I have to use it as a widget ? but i want to hard code it.
I have finally set up me blog/website. Now I have been tring to download the adblock plugin. When I click the “download” tab above, nothing is happening, it’s not letting me download the plugin.
Any help would really be appreciated. Many thanks
It is not working in WordPress 2.6. It gives an “unserialize” error and a “headers already sent”. Do fix it soon because it’s a great plugin.
Hey guys, working to fix the WP 2.6 bug as soon as possible.
Any update on the fix for 2.6?
Fix will be available late next week.
Sorry for the delay.
We love you guys….. I don’t know how would I manage my ads otherwise. My knowledge of php is very limited though…. -:) so at the end of the week I’m gonna be very happy to install it to my blog: http://www.best-solar-energy.com
Love the plugin too guys. Thanks for the effort with the fix!
Thanks for the free theme. You’ve helped me out a ton. It was a no-brainer solution to my question of how I was going to get my blog up and looking good. I’m glad I found this page though as I was wondering what was up with the ad block plugin. Thanks for your efforts on the fix. I’ll keep my eye out for it. Will the download be on this page or will you email your list when it’s finished? What’s the deal? Thanks Fellas!
This plugin uses php short tags and pip default configuration does not accept short tags So on IIS it throws 500.
Damn, wish I would have read this first. It was working fine with 2.6 until I changed the number of ads from 2 to 4.
Looks like my plans for the morning changed.
Status on the update??
Yo guys, just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for your work on the fix. I know that’s the majority of the comments here, but just wanted to send some out some love for UBD! Any idea when it might be complete?
Wondering if the fix is complete yet? Thanks!
Any word on the update?
WordPress 2.6 compatible version is now available… Update Here!