Ads discussion

[shgysk8zer0]

@KVSun/kv-sun-employees

We need to do some planning for ads on the website. I could just start putting images and links all over the site, but that's just not going to work out well later on.

Things to be decided on

• How are ads managed? I can think of 3 ways of doing this, and each has its benefits and consequences.
• What options should be presented when creating ads? How can we know when and where to display them?
• Is there anything that can be done to improve handling of text in ads? Having the text in the images makes very large images at lower quality. I really don't want to have a 500kB image for an ad when using actual text instead can reduce the size by a factor of thousands and have better looking results
• On the topic of size, keep in mind that I have put a whole lot of work into making the site as fast as possible. Research has shown that you lose about half of your visitors for having a load time > 3 seconds. Having simpler and smaller ads is better for everyone.
• We'll need to make some changes to how pricing is calculated. The concept of inches does not apply to the website. When it comes to sizing, we need to think in percentages / relative units.
• What sizes will be uploaded? I have something that I already use for uploading images for articles that will work well or can be adapted for handling ads. It won't work well if there is a different image intended to be shown for mobiles, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to switch to the mobile image at a certain size.
• An 800px image really doesn't work well on larger displays. I have a 1920 monitor here, and the current desktop image size looks terrible on it. Remember, we're in an age where people are starting to browse the web with everything from TVs to watches... Even some refrigerators.

[shgysk8zer0]

Form concept thus far:

        $date = new \DateTime();
    $dialog = make_dialog('ad-form-dialog', $main, ['open' => '']);
    $form = $dialog->append('form', null, [
        'name'   => 'ad-form',
        'action' => 'api.php',
        'method' => 'POST',
    ]);
    $fieldset = $form->append('fieldset');
    $fieldset->append('legend', 'Ad Form');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'Name: ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'        => 'text',
        'name'        => "{$form->name}[name]",
        'id'          => "{$form->name}-name",
        'pattern'     => '[\w\-\. ]+',
        'placeholder' => 'Ad name',
        'required'    => '',
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;
    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'Container:  ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('select', null, [
        'name'     => "{$form->name}[container]",
        'id'       => "{$form->name}-container",
        'required' => '',
    ], [
        ['option', 'Header'],
        ['option', 'Sidebar'],
        ['option', 'Footer'],
    ]);

    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'Image(s):  ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'        => 'file',
        'name'        => "{$form->name}[image][]",
        'id'          => "{$form->name}-image",
        'accept'      => 'image/*',
        'placeholder' => 'Ad images',
        'multiple'    => '',
        'required'    => '',
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;
    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'URL: ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'        => 'url',
        'name'        => "{$form->name}[url]",
        'id'          => "{$form->name}-url",
        'placeholder' => 'http://example.com',
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;
    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'Start date: ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'        => 'date',
        'name'        => "{$form->name}[start]",
        'id'          => "{$form->name}-start",
        'pattern'     => '\d{4}(-\d{2}){2}',
        'placeholder' => 'yyyy-mm-dd',
        'value'       => $date->format('Y-m-d'),
        'min'         => $date->format('Y-m-d'),
        'required'    => '',
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;
    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'End date: ');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'        => 'date',
        'name'        => "{$form->name}[end]",
        'id'          => "{$form->name}-end",
        'pattern'     => '\d{4}(-\d{2}){2}',
        'placeholder' => 'yyyy-mm-dd',
        'min'         => $date->format('Y-m-d'),
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;

    $fieldset->append('br');

    $label = $fieldset->append('label', 'Position');
    $input = $fieldset->append('input', null, [
        'type'     => 'number',
        'name'     => "{$form->name}[position]",
        'id'       => "{$form->name}-position",
        'min'      => '1',
        'max'      => 10,
        'value'    => '1',
        'required' => '',
    ]);
    $label->for = $input->id;

    $form->append('br');

    $form->append('button', 'Submit', ['type' => 'submit']);