Do banner ads need to be clickable

[bilbo--baggins]

I'm creating my first banner ad. Will the sites hosting the ad generally make
the whole ad clickable (to direct to our web site) or do I need to put
something into flash?

ie. is it like making an image a link, or is it more complicated.

[liquidleaf]

You need to put this in your ad.

I used to work for a marketing agency and we would run across this problem all
the time with client-provided SWF ads. You need to make the entire ad
clickable (can use a "clear" button with an onrelease of
"getURL("http://whatever", "_blank");")

Otherwise, when embedded on the page, the ad will just animate and do nothing.

If you want the URL to be dynamic, you can pass it in via the FlashVars
parameter and then use a bit of actionscript to make the getURL statement use
the passed-in URL, but this means you have to make absolutely sure that whoever
uses the ad uses the correct HTML structure (for <object><embed>, using your
FlashVars parameter).

I think embedding the url within the SWF is better, eliminates confusion for
those who will ultimately publish the ad, especially if you might not have a
lot of contact with those parties.

[bilbo--baggins]

That's great, thanks. So glad I found out before sending the ad!

[bilbo--baggins]

Actually, I'd never even heard of ActionScript before your suggestion. I've
spent this afternoon trying to work out what is required, and after finding a
tutorial have come up with the following:

import flash.events.IEventDispatcher;
linkbutton.addEventListener("MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN ",gotoIM);
function gotoIM(e:MouseEvent):void {
navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://www.imaginemontenegro.com/"));
}

Unfortunately, the banner ad doesn't respond when it is clicked on, and I have
no idea where to go from here.

One thing I have noticed is that in the ActionScript window it says Scene 1:
Actions: Frame 1.

From the timeline it appears the action covers the whole duration of the ad,
but I don't understand why it says Frame 1, or whether this is involved with it
not working.

Hope someone understands this stuff!

[aniebel]

Double check with the hosting site. Most of the big sites require a clickTag
these days instead of your average getURL but it's entirely up to the hosting
site.

Disregard that tutorial you found. See if this helps:
[url]http://blog.doubleplusgooddesign.com/[/url]

[bilbo--baggins]

Thanks for this info. Does that mean that you don't include the link within
the Flash document, just the clickTag which the site host then uses to link to
your site?

How can I test that the link or tag is working? How should I test the flash
movie? I've tried 'test movie' within Flash as well as openingn the file from
witihin Safar and Firefox and nothing happens when I click on it (not referring
to the clickTag). I'm suspecting I'm going wrong somewhere, and I'm concerned
that the same will happen with clickTag and that will be harder for me to test.
I'm totally unfamiliar with ActionScript - I've barely worked out the basics
of Flash.

[aniebel]

liquidleaf was correct by suggesting the use of getURL if you are in control of
the page where the banner sits. Not all sites require the clickTag but of those
who do, they handle the forwarding URL for you. It's out of your hands at that
point. They just need to know what the URL is to plug into their code on their
end.

If you want to test whether it works or not using the regular getURL code,
make yourself an invisible button by putting a rectangle the same size as your
stage in the HIT frame ONLY. This means you put a keyframe on that frame,
select that frame then draw your rectangle. It will appear as a teal colored
box on stage but don't worry. That will not show up when you play/test your
Flash file.

Place that button on stage and position it, then give it an instance name in
the Property Inspector of something like "inv_btn".

Now, in frame 1 of your main timeline, in a layer called "AS" (for
actionscript) place the following code:


inv_btn.onRelease = function(){
//replace [url]www.mysite.com[/url] with the correct URL
getURL("http://www.mysite.com", "_blank");")
};