The first code release of the WICA Extensions for Umbraco have been uploaded. I do not recommend putting this package together in a production environment at this time as the code has not been extensively tested. I would suggest the code for running the Banner Ad Rotation and the Contact Form are rather stable, but I have yet to run any real tests against the membership controls or other components.
Special thanks to Tim Geyssens and the Blog4Umbraco project he developed. I hope that the revised version of the "post comments" functionality included here provides a base for better comment spam control without the need for a Captcha control (I really hate those things).
Morning Aleksander. The question is not stupid at all as no documentation has been posted yet. The Ad Rotator component is designed not to use a media library to post images and have them rotate, but to provide a mechanism for the combination of HTML+Images to rotate.
To configure, you will need to add two document types to your project.
1) Banner Library. This document type does not need a template associated with it. It is used solely as a container. This should contain the following properties:
groupWeight(Numeric) - This property specifies the base frequency for all Banner Items located underneath the this document type.
umbracoNaviHide(True/False) - This property hides the Banner Library node from navigation per umbraco best practices
2) Banner Items. This document type does not need a template associated with it. It is used solely as a container. This should contain the following properties:
bannerName (Textstring) - This property represents a simple named reference for the content.
bannerContent(RichText Editor) - This property contains all of the markup for the banner item. It can contain any combination of flash, image, html, javascript (such as PPC tracking information), or even other controls.
bannerWeight (Numeric) - This property specifies the frequency the rotated content should appea
Once these document types are created, you would create a new node under the Content tree in Umbraco as a Banner Library and set the base properties there. You would then add Banner Items as children to the Banner Library. Finally, set the document root node to the nodeId of the Banner Library content page and your items should start to appear on your site.
While this does seem like a lot of work to set up a banner rotation feature on the site, it does provide some benefits that a simpler model can not achieve such as:
Using publish and unpublish to set effective dates for a banner to be visible.
Using combinations of HTML/Javascript to allow for non-graphical or highly rich ad content.
Providing a weighted randomization that features some content over others.
For a web site that needs to implement tracking cookies or other includes, these features are highly important. I hope that helps. If you need additional assistance, please do not hesitate to leave a follow-up comment. In the meantime, I will try and get a screencast together that might help.
You can download the pre-configured document types here.
Alpha Release Added
Greetings!
The first code release of the WICA Extensions for Umbraco have been uploaded. I do not recommend putting this package together in a production environment at this time as the code has not been extensively tested. I would suggest the code for running the Banner Ad Rotation and the Contact Form are rather stable, but I have yet to run any real tests against the membership controls or other components.
Special thanks to Tim Geyssens and the Blog4Umbraco project he developed. I hope that the revised version of the "post comments" functionality included here provides a base for better comment spam control without the need for a Captcha control (I really hate those things).
Hello, Chris Larson!
May be my question is stupid, but how can I use the AdRotator user control? What I did:
1. Add the .dll file to my bin folder.
2. Add the .ascx file to my usercontrol folder.
3. Add the appropriat line to xsltExtensions.xls file.
4. Create new folder in 'Media' and put some pictures in it. Put the ID of the folder as 'RootNode'.
And nothing happens. What did I do wrong?
Thanks,
Aleksander
Morning Aleksander. The question is not stupid at all as no documentation has been posted yet. The Ad Rotator component is designed not to use a media library to post images and have them rotate, but to provide a mechanism for the combination of HTML+Images to rotate.
To configure, you will need to add two document types to your project.
1) Banner Library. This document type does not need a template associated with it. It is used solely as a container. This should contain the following properties:
2) Banner Items. This document type does not need a template associated with it. It is used solely as a container. This should contain the following properties:
Thanks a lot, Chris Larson!
This is quiet enough for me at this moment. May be later I'll use some of your other controls. Thanks again and have a nice day!
Aleksander
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