How to make custom native filmstrip ads
In online advertising, a filmstrip is a vertical or portrait-aligned rectangular ad that cycles through several images, similar to a carousel. You can easily create this in AdButler using native ad templates and native ad items.
If you'd rather sanitize the template and have only HTML inside it, you should make your filmstrip ad using a styled native ad template instead. For more information on the differences between custom native ads and styled native ads, read About native ad templates.
You will learn:
- How to create a template for a custom filmstrip ad. You can customize the sample code to fit your needs.
- How to create a custom filmstrip ad item once you have a custom filmstrip template.
How to create a custom filmstrip ad template
This template will require the user to provide the URLs to where the image creatives are hosted when creating the filmstrip ad item.
- Click Templates in the left navigation menu. The Templates section will appear.
- Click Native Ad Templates. The Native Ad Templates subsection will appear.
- Click Add Native Ad Template. The New Native Template window will appear.
- Click Custom Rendering/API. The New Native Ad Template page will appear.
- Name the template then add an image URL variable for each image that will be in the ad. In our sample code, we have three image URL variables: ImageURL, ImageURL2, and ImageURL3.
- Enter the code in the HTML Template (Custom Rendering) field, then click Save Changes.
Here's the code we used in our example:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<style>
.filmstrip-container {
width: 300px;
height: 600px;
position: relative;
}
.slide {
display: none;
animation-name: fade;
animation-duration: 1.5s;
}
.slide:first-of-type {
display: block;
}
@keyframes fade {
from {opacity: .4}
to {opacity: 1}
}
.prev, .next {
cursor: pointer;
position: absolute;
width: auto;
left: calc(50% - 21px);
padding: 12px;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 18px;
transition: 0.6s ease;
user-select: none;
}
.prev {
top: 0px;
border-radius: 0 3px 3px 0;
}
.next {
bottom: 0px;
border-radius: 3px 0 0 3px;
}
.prev:hover, .next:hover {
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);
}
.filmstrip-close-button-container {
position: absolute;
top: 15px;
right: 15px;
cursor: pointer;
}
.filmstrip-close-button {
width: 21px;
text-align: center;
display: inline-block;
color: #ffffff;
font-size: 18px;
background: #000000;
border-radius: 21px;
user-select: none;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="filmstrip-container">
<div class="slide">
<a target="_blank" href="[TRACKING_LINK]">
<img src="[%ImageURL%]">
</a>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<a target="_blank" href="[TRACKING_LINK]">
<img src="[%ImageURL2%]">
</a>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<a target="_blank" href="[TRACKING_LINK]">
<img src="[%ImageURL3%]">
</a>
</div>
<a class="prev" onclick="changeSlide(-1)">
<i class="fa fa-chevron-up"></i>
</a>
<a class="next" onclick="changeSlide(1)">
<i class="fa fa-chevron-down"></i>
</a>
<div class="filmstrip-close-button-container">
<span class="filmstrip-close-button" onclick="closeButton()">×</span>
</div>
</div>
<script>
var slides;
var currentSlideIndex = 0;
function changeSlide(addToIndex) {
var prevSlideIndex = currentSlideIndex;
currentSlideIndex += addToIndex;
if (!slides) {
slides = document.querySelectorAll(".slide");
}
if (currentSlideIndex > slides.length - 1) {
currentSlideIndex = 0
}
if (currentSlideIndex < 0) {
currentSlideIndex = slides.length - 1;
}
slides[prevSlideIndex].style.display = "none";
slides[currentSlideIndex].style.display = "block";
}
function closeButton() {
document.querySelector('.filmstrip-container').style.display = 'none';
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
You can now use this template to create a custom filmstrip ad item.
How to create a custom filmstrip ad item
- Go to the section of the relevant zone (Your AdButler > Publishers > Your Publisher > Your Zone) or campaign (Your AdButler > Advertisers > Your Advertiser > Your Campaign).
- Click Add Ad Item in the Ad Items table. The Add Ad Item window will appear.
- Click Native (Custom Rendering/API). The New Ad Item page will appear.
- Set the ad item's size.
If the ad item or its campaign will be assigned to a Standard zone, you must set the ad item's size to Dynamic.
If the ad item or its campaign will be assigned to a Native zone, you must enter the ad item's exact size. You can do this either by selecting Preset Size and then selecting the matching width and height values from the dropdown menu, or selecting Custom Size then entering the values in the fields that appear.
- Select your filmstrip custom native template in the Template dropdown menu.
- Fill in the rest of the fields as needed, including the image URLs. If you entered a destination URL, you can test it by clicking Open Destination URL to the right of the field.
- Click Save Ad Item.
