Getting Started with AdSense Manager 3.x

AdSense Manager 3.x is the latest update to the popular WordPress ad management plugin. More than a normal gradual update, version 3.x represents an almost complete rewrite to support a number of changes in the Google AdSense service and the recent explosion in new blog-targeted ad networks. As of writing, AdSense Manager 3.x now also supports Adpinion, AdRoll, AdBrite, Commission Junction, HTML Code, ShoppingAds and WidgetBucks.

The instructions below will guide you through the first steps of configuring Adsense Manager 3.x. If you are upgrading from a previous version of AdSense Manager, you can skip these instructions.

Getting Ready

Before you can do anything else, you will first need to set yourself up with an AdSense account and install the AdSense Manager plugin.

You can also use Adpinion, AdRoll, AdBrite, Commission Junction, HTML Code, ShoppingAds and WidgetBucks. Once you’ve created your account your provider will give you some “Ad Code” to paste into your site. Keep this window open for later: you’ll need to be able to paste this code into AdSense Manager once installed.

2. Download AdSense Manager v3.x

Take the downloaded file, unzip and copy the /adsense-manager/ directory into your WordPress plugins directory at /wp-content/plugins/. After this is done you should have a folder at /wp-content/plugins/adsense-manager/ containing all the plugin’s files. To activate the plugin, simply go to your WordPress dashboard » Plugins and click ‘Activate’.

Upgrading for Previous Versions

If you’re upgrading from a previous 1.x / 2.x version of AdSense Manager simply copy the /adsense-manager/ directory from the downloaded .zip file into /wp-content/plugins/. This will replace the previous version with the new files. AdSense Manager will handle the upgrade of settings/etc. automatically when you next access the WordPress dashboard and show a notice if it succeeds.

Setting Up Adsense Manager

Previously you had to input your Google AdSense ID manually when setting up AdSense Manager, but this is now updated automatically when you import code. If you go to Options » Adsense Manager, you will find the following instructions for importing your first Ad Unit:

2. Create a new ad unit using your network’s ad online management system.
3. Copy the ad code generated (Edit » Copy, from within your browser)
4. Go to Manage » Ad Units and paste the code into the box
5. Click Import to New Ad Unit»

Below here are the settings for Be Nice! a method for supporting development by donating a % of your Ad space and Alternate Ads to raise funds for AdSense Manager. All ads are hand-selected and family friendly, and the income generated in this way allows me to dedicate time that would be otherwise spent on a bar job.

Just enter a % value indicating the proportion of ads you wish to use to support us. If you enter 0 only your own ads will be shown (no hard feelings but please consider donating instead).

Creating Ads

All creating and editing of Ad Units is done on the Manage » Ad Units page in your WordPress Dashboard.

The simplest way to ad new Ad Units to AdSense Manager is by importing Ad Code from your network. To do this simply go to your ad network’s management page, choose your ad settings, and copy the code that is generated. This can be pasted directly into the box at the bottom-left of the Manage » Ad Unit page.

From here you have three options: Save as Code, Import to Defaults, Import to Ad Unit.

Import to Ad Unit

This will be the most commonly used method of importing ad code. By clicking on this option, AdSense Manager will attempt to determine which entwork your ad unit is from and import the settings to create a network-specific unit. This has a number of benefits, including access to network management links and the ability to change defaults for a given network as a group. For example, some networks may require specific HTML wrapped around them.

After clicking import you will see the imported settings: check values and set a name before saving.

Import to Defaults

This imports the ad code and uses the settings to set the defaults for the network. For many networks this will simply be the network ID, but some networks will store default dimensions etc. If you ever want to change the account ID associated with a network (e.g. if you change your Google AdSense account) this is the option you will want to use to update all your ads automatically.

Save as Code

If for some reason importing is not working, or you want to store the ad code as-is, you can choose to import to a plain Ad Code unit. This will not attempt to import, modify or do anything else to the code: it will be output precisely as imported (although, of course, you can edit it later).

AdSense Classic

The simplest way to create Ads in AdSense Manager is by importing Ad Code generated from your ad network (e.g. Google, or Adroll) described above. However, the plugin still supports old-style AdSense Ads if you want to create them from scratch. Simply click on the buttons for ‘AdSense Classic’ in the bottom-right of Manage » Ad Units, and then follow the instructions from AdSense Manager v2.x.

Network Defaults

As mentioned, each network in AdSense Manager has it’s own set of defaults (including the Account ID) that are used as the basis for all adverts on that network. For example you can optionally choose to wrap all ads on a network in specific HTML markup, or you can change the display settings so all AdSense ads are shown on Posts only for example.

Default Settings for a network can be changed by clicking the “Network Defaults” button in the Manage » Ad Units list. As with editing an Ad Unit, when you’re finished click Save changes »

Ad Management

Once you have a few blocks listed, you can manage each block using the buttons provided on the right hand side of the Ad list. Details of each of these are given below:

Clicking Copy generates a copy of the selected Ad, which can then be reconfigured with any necessary changes. This is a good way of setting up a series of similar Ads for example. Note: You can also use Network Settings to configure multiple ads.

The DA (Default Ad) radio button sets which Ad unit will be used by default on your site. When adding AdSense Manager code to your site (or in your posts) you have the option to either specify an ad ID or to show the default. If you opt to show the default Ad on your site, you can then cycle through different Ad configurations by changing the selected Default Ad here.

Positioning Ads

Widgets

If you have the Sidebar Widgets plugin installed, each Ad block will appear on the Widgets configuration page to be positioned as you like. Each Ad will appear with the name of the block in the title.

Drag onto your sidebar and position as you want.

Posts and Pages

You can include Ads into your Posts and Pages using the code below where “name” is the name of the Ad block you have created. New to v3.x is the addition of the shorthand <!--am#name--> format.

[ad#name]

You can also display the default Ad in your posts and pages by omitting #name. Doing this allows you to switch these Ads simply by switching the Default Ad in Manager » Ads.

[ad]

Of course any Ads in posts update automatically when colours or layouts are modified.

Code

You can include Ads in your non-Widget blog adding the code below in your WordPress templates. For example, a good place to add Ads might be sidebar.php.

<?php adsensem_ad('name'); ?>

Again you can display the Default ad by omitting the ‘name’ e.g.

<?php adsensem_ad(); ?>

If you want to avoid errors when you disable AdSense Manager you’ll want to add a function check to the above code. For example:

<?php if(function_exists('adsensem_ad')){ adsensem_ad("name"); } ?>

More

If you have any further questions on using Adsense Manager or have suggestions for modifications, simply leave a comment & I’ll get back to you.