What this guide covers
This short guide takes you from installing OIO Publisher to selling your first ad, in five steps. Each step links to a more detailed guide in case you want to go further.
1Installing OIO
OIO Publisher is a WordPress plugin. Version 3.6.0 has been tested with WordPress 6.8 to 7.1 and PHP 8.4.
- Download the latest OIO zip file from your account at oiopublisher.com.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, choose the zip file and click Install Now.
- Click Activate. You’ll find OIO in the OIO Ad Manager menu, starting on the Get Started page.
Updating from an older version? Back up your database and save a copy of the oiopub-direct/uploads folder first, then upload the new zip and choose Replace current with uploaded. See Upgrading for details.
2Setting up your first ad zone
What is an ad zone?
An ad zone is a group of ads of the same size, shown together in one place. A common example is a block of 125 x 125 banners in a sidebar: six ads in 2 columns and 3 rows make up one ad zone.
Creating it
Let’s build that sidebar example. Go to OIO Ad Manager > Ad Zones > Banner Ads. Zone 1 is already partly set up to give you a head start. Each setting has a short description, but for now just set:
- Banner Size: 125 width, 125 height
- Zone Grid: 2 columns, 3 rows
If you want space between the ads, use Spacing Between Ads rather than adding it to the banner size.
A quick note on default ads
At the bottom of the zone’s page is a default ads section. Default ads fill empty slots until advertisers start buying. Choose the HTML type to use ad network code such as Google AdSense.
More detail: Banner ads.
3Showing the ad zone on your site
The top of the zone’s page (Ad Zones > Banner Ads) shows the code for displaying it. Pick whichever suits you:
- Shortcode (easiest): copy
[oio_banner_zone zone="1"]into any post, page or Shortcode block. - Widget: to show the zone in a sidebar, go to Appearance > Widgets and add the OIO Ad Zone widget.
- PHP code: paste it into a theme template file if you’re comfortable editing your theme.
- JavaScript code: works on any website, even ones where OIO isn’t installed.
Why can I only see one empty slot?
By default, OIO shows just one empty “advertise here” slot per zone, even if more are free. Step 5 shows how to change that.
4Letting advertisers buy ads
Set a price
Go back to Ad Zones > Banner Ads and set a price for the zone. You can offer several price and length options, for example $30 for 7 days and $80 for 30 days. You can also charge per click or per impression using Charging Model.
Set up a payment method
Go to OIO Ad Manager > Settings > Payments. Choose the payment methods you want, enter your account details for each, and tick enable. PayPal and Stripe mark ads as paid automatically. With offline payment (such as bank transfer), you mark ads as paid yourself.
Your first sale
Now visit your site and click an empty ad slot. It takes you to your purchase page, where advertisers choose a zone, upload their ad and pay. After paying, advertisers get an emailed receipt and their own stats page. You can also send them a weekly stats email by turning on Send Weekly Reports? in the stats tracker settings.
Adding ads yourself
To add an ad without a payment, for example for a sponsor who paid you directly, go to OIO Ad Manager > Ad Purchases and use the Create New Purchase links. These ads get full stats tracking.
Or use default ads (see step 2) to fill unsold slots with your own promotions or ad network code.
5Customising your ad zone
Earlier we saw that OIO shows only one empty slot per zone by default. To show every empty slot, add the empty parameter to your ad code and set it to -1.
With JavaScript code (replace example.com with your site address):
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://example.com/wp-content/plugins/oiopub-direct/js.php?type=banner&zone=1&align=center&empty=-1"></script>With PHP code:
<?php if(function_exists('oiopub_banner_zone')) oiopub_banner_zone(1, array( 'align' => "center", 'empty' => "-1" )); ?>You can use any number from 0 up to the number of ads in the zone, or -1 to always show every empty slot.
empty is just one of many options. See the full list of custom parameters.