Installing and setting up OpenAds

It took about half an hour or so to upload the OpenAds files onto my server. The next step was to set up the system which is essentially installing the included PHP scripts of which there are many. The set up is straight forward but if your are completely Webmaster Admin illiterate then it may be a bit of a challenge.

MySQL

OpenAds does not create the database itself so you have to create a database, a user/password combo and make sure that user has full rights. This can be done via MySQL (I pronounce it mysquirrel, not the evil grey ones but the righteous red ones) account maintenance within control panel. You then need this information to enter it into the relevant section as you go through the set up process. As I do not do reading instructions I did not realise this and thought OpenAds would do it itself, maybe there is some technical reason for this but I know it is possible.

OpenAds admin

Once all the installing is out of the way you are into the admin area where all the action takes place. The first time you see the admin area it is a little overwhelming, that’s because you can do so much with it. I have had a little play around and tested out a text link and got it working, I need to wait for the maintenance to run so I can see some statistics.

OpenAds in WordPress

I have been testing ads and generally getting the feel of OpenAds. One difficulty I have found is that you cannot ad Javascript/PHP code directly into posts within WordPress. This means the link tracking I was going to use will not work. There is a work around but it makes the whole process one big hassle so I will not be using Openads to track anything within WP posts. This however is not a problem with OpenAds but with WP itself.

Using OpenAds

This is a complex system, not that it is complicated it’s just there is a lot too it. I have almost given up on several occasions but have decided to stick with it as I can see the many benefits. I will continue to test and report back.