(1) Admin navigation

The home page has been re-branded as the “Get started” area. Ad zone configuration has been moved out of the “Settings” tab, into it’s own section (which is also linked to from settings). Modules (such as the stats tracker, affiliate etc) have also been moved into the top-level navigation, replacing the “Modules” tab entirely.

Whilst there is more to be done, the early feedback on these changes has been positive. You can see what the changes look like for yourself, by visiting the demo.

(2) Unlimited ad zone widgets

For WordPress users, the new release now allows you to re-use the ad zone widget as many times as you want. The new widget also comes with a few more options for you to tweak how your ads look (including the ability to select how many empty ad slots are displayed).

Please note that you’ll be prompted to re-add your OIO widgets, if upgrading from an earlier release.

(3) Customising core templates

v2.55 introduces a new folder within the templates directory of OIO, called “core_custom”. This is an empty folder that lets you save customised core templates, without them being over-written during upgrades. Simply copy the template into the core_custom folder, make your changes and save.

Please note that this feature is not available within the admin area, you must manually upload templates to them. It also comes with a greater risk of new releases breaking, if template changes are made.

(4) Admin IP filtering removed from stats tracker

This was a feature designed to stop stats being recorded if the IP address of a visitor matched that of an administrator (i.e. someone who logged into the OIO admin area).

Some users have reported that this caused a discrepency between their analytics provider and OIO, therefore I’ve removed it to ensure stats remain inline with other sources as much as possible.

 How to upgrade?

If you have a marketplace API key saved in OIO, you should be given the option to auto-upgrade. For everyone else (and those who like to do things manually), check out the upgrade tutorial.

Which files have changed since the last release?

Due to the admin navigation changes, please consider ALL files in the “admin” and “include” folders to have changed. The same is true for the “platform” folder, due to the WordPress widget changes.

Template files have remained the same, with the exception of the “/templates/core/main.tpl” file (to accommodate the new custom folder).

What’s next?

The two most requested features currently are (a) the ability to easily add new fields to the purchase form and (b) the ability to use custom taxonomies within WordPress. There are also some further admin UI changes to come.

Please feel free to offer your own suggestions too.

Yes, the script is fully compatible with any self-hosted version of WordPress, from v2.5 upwards.

Is OIO compatible with blogs hosted at WordPress.com?

No, WordPress.com does not allow the use of 3rd party plugins on its hosted blogs.

Is OIO compatible with WordPress multi-site?

Yes, but there are limitations. OIO will not work correctly as a “network activation”. As long as a standard plugin activation is performed (on a per site basis), it should work just fine.

If you want to show ads across the entire site, rather than using it on a blog by blog basis, it is suggested that you install it on just of your blogs and use OIO’s javascript code to show ads on the others.

Does OIO work with any WordPress theme?

Yes, as long as the theme supports WordPress “header” and “footer” hooks (which every theme should do). To check your theme, follow these instructions.

What if my WordPress theme doesn’t support widgets?

That’s no problem – you can add OIO’s ad code to any part of your WordPress theme manually. Click here to see an example of the php code you would use to add a banner ad zone to your site.

Is the WordPress plugin a separate script from the standalone install?

No, it’s exactly the same script and will automatically load as a WordPress plugin if placed in the “plugins” directory of a WordPress blog.

>> Click here to order your copy of OIO

1.) If you’re not using v2.5, upgrade to the latest version.

2.) If you’ve already upgraded to v2.5, you just need to re-upload one file from the latest code:

“/include/functions.php”

For more information on new features included with v2.5, please click here.

It sports one new feature from the previous beta; the ability to let advertisers edit their ad once they have purchased. The ad stats page, from where editing can be accessed, has also been upgraded to allow an advertiser to switch between ads (if they have made multiple purchases on your site).

In order to use the new editing feature, you’ll need to enable it from the Settings -> General section of the admin area. It’s the first “advanced settings” option.

As a reminder, the other new features in v2.5 are:

• New CPC / CPM charging models
• Show fewer default ads as more purchases are made (weighted rotation)
• Option to turn off the security question (and a fix for those who have had issues with it)

This release also contains a number of bug fixes, so thanks to everyone who contributed! If you spot any bugs, please leave a note about them in the forum.

PS. this release affects all ‘core’ template files. If upgrading from an earlier version, you will need to update to the new templates as well.

What new features does v2.5 contain?

1.) Charging models – cost per day, cost per click, cost per impression

v2.5 gives you the ability to charge customers per click or per impression, in addition to the standard time-based charge (cost per day). All charging options will still require customers to pay up front (e.g. $50 for 100 clicks), although this limitation can be bypassed if ads are setup manually via the admin area.

2.) Stats tracker improvements (archiving every 15 minutes)

The stats tracker has been updated for cost per click / impression models. A duplicate click checker has been added, along with a block on any IP addresses used to access the OIO admin area. The archiving process now occurs every 15 minutes, to ensure timely expiration of ads (and better memory usage).

3.) Weighted rotation of default ads

OIO previously had two rotation options for default ads – “fill in the gaps” and “equal rotation”. There was some confusion as to what fill in the gaps actually did – some users expected it to weight the number of default ads shown, based on the number of purchases made. The new ‘weighted’ option is designed to fulfil this need. Please note that ads cannot be individually weighted.

e.g. I have a 1×1 ad zone and want to sell 4 ads. I place several default ads in the zone and selected “weighted rotation”. A purchase is made, but instead of the ad shown 100% of the time (as happens if “fill in the gaps” is used), it is only shown 25% of the time. Default ads are shown 75% of the time. A second purchase is made – each purchased ads is now shown 25% of the time, with default ads being shown the remaining 50% of the time.

4.) Option to remove the security question on the purchase form

From the Settings -> General section of the admin area, you can now choose to remove the security question (see ‘advanced settings’).

5.) Just one payment method

If only one payment method is setup, the drop-down menu on the purchase form will default to that method automatically.

>> Download available here

Here’s what to do to fix the issue, depending on your current situation:

1.) You haven’t yet upgraded to v2.4, but want to

Upgrade to v2.4 as normal, it now contains a fix for the issue described above.

2.) You’ve already upgraded to v2.4 and are experiencing the problem

Download the latest version of OIO (from here) and upload the file “/platform/wordpress/functions.php” again.

3.) You’ve not got v2.4 installed and aren’t thinking about upgrading

Upgrade to v2.4 if you can, otherwise you’ll need to make a manual code change to your current version. Open the file “/platform/wordpress/functions.php” and delete the following lines of code near the top of that file:

@header(“Location: ” . oiopub_admin_home_url() . $welcome);
exit();

As a final step (in all cases), you may need to de-activate OIO from the WordPress plugins menu in the admin area, then re-activate it. Job done!

Here’s a break-down of what you can do with coupons:

• create as many coupon codes as you like
• use a fixed fee discount (eg. $10) or a percentage (eg. 25%)
• limit codes to particular type of purchases (eg. banner ads) or even specific zone IDs
• optionally set an expiry date for each code
• optionally set a maximum number of usages

As well as discounts, you could also use coupons to offer free trials of certain products (by setting a discount of 100%). Make sure you start putting coupon codes to work for you!

How do I upgrade?

You can use the web installer or, if you’d prefer, download the latest files manually. A full upgrade tutorial is also available, should you need it.

Which files have changed since the previous version?

* /admin/coupons.php
* /admin/misc.php
* /include/admin.php
* /include/database.php
* /include/functions.php
* /include/install.php
* /include/settings.php
* /include/upgrade.php
* /platform/wordpress/functions.php
* /templates/core/purchase_payment.tpl
* /index.php
* /payment.php

Take the classic example of google adsense. If you’ve ever tried to display google ads using OIO’s javascript output code, you’ll probably have found in all but the most simple of cases, the ad refuses to appear where you wanted it to.

It doesn’t just apply to google ads either, but to many javascript-based ads. I’ve come to view it as the javascript within javascript dilemma. It’s a problem I hope will now be a thing of the past….

OIO v2.32 comes with a completely new implementation of the javascript output code. Instead of going into the boring technical details, here are the main benefits of this new version:

• Ads are only loaded when the page has finished loading in your browser. No matter how many ad zones you put on one page, users won’t see any increase in page loading times.
• Ads appear exactly where you want them to – even google adsense and other javascript-based ads that used to cause problems – thanks to a “smart” implementation of the problematic ‘document.write’ javascript function.
• OIO only loads once, even if you display multiple ad zones using javascript at the same time, helping to cut down on server load. In particular, stats tracking won’t ever need to log anything more than once per page load.
• Refresh ads without the page needing to be re-loaded. Simply add refresh=X to the javascript output code url (where X is the number of seconds between ad zone refreshes).
• Backwards-compatible with existing OIO javascript output code. You don’t need to replace any of your existing ad zone code, only the “behind-the-scenes” stuff has changed.

As this is a brand new implementation, it’s inevitable that some issues may occur, so please let me know about any strange happenings on the support forum.

How to Upgrade?

If you don’t fancy doing a full upgrade, you can download the latest files and only upload the files called “js.php” and “js_http.php” to your existing OIO install. Nothing else is required after that.

A full change log for this version is available here.

Which files have changed since the previous version?

/js.php
/js_http.php
/admin/lang.php
/include/functions.php
/include/output.php
/include/upgrade.php
/platform/standalone/admin.php
/templates/core/purchase_links.tpl

Known Outstanding Issues?

A small number of users are seeing the “Invalid Request” message when using the OIO admin area. I’ve not been able to replicate the issue, so if you do see it on a regular basis, please let me know.

Translating OIO into other languages

Rather than having to edit language files manually, you can simply login to the admin area, navigate to Settings -> Languages and modify any of the text users see when making a purchase, viewing statistics etc.

Also included is a ‘share translation’ button, enabling you to instantly send your translation file to OIOpublisher.com. This should provide a good way to quickly build up a set of translations that the whole community can benefit from.

Please be aware that to use this feature, your web host must be using php5 (otherwise this feature will be disabled). Please contact your web host if you are unsure about the php version your site is using.

Minor Fixes

1.) A bug has been fixed when using the javascript ad code, where the “align” parameter used was not functioning correctly.

2.) A new “wrap” parameter has been added to the ad code options, allowing text to be wrapped around an ad zone. More info about ad code options is available here.

How to Update

If you’ve entered a marketplace API key, you’ll be able to use OIO’s auto-update feature (you will be prompted to upgrade when logged into the admin within the next 24 hours).

You can also use the web installer or (if you’d prefer), download the latest files manually.

Please bear in mind that due to the translation feature, all “core” template files have been updated to accommodate it. You can still use older template files, but the translation feature will not be available.

The issue only affects users running WordPress’ new “multi-site” mode (the replacement for WPMU), which may result in “page not found” errors when loading OIO’s javascript or click tracking features. If you have noticed any such problems after activating multi-site mode, it is recommended that you upgrade to the latest code.

A full changelog is available here.

As always, please remember to back-up your database before upgrading.