How to make custom native slider ads

Slider ads are banner ads that appear at the bottom of the page. They prompt the viewer to click and slide their mouse cursor over the banner. Doing so will reveal a second image. You can use native templates to create slider ad items that are tailored to your needs.

A sample slider ad

A sample slider ad fully revealed

This feature requires the Enhanced Ads add-on. For more information on adding add-ons to your subscription, read How to change your subscription.

In this guide, we're going to create a simple slider ad using a custom native ad template. This type of native template has all the code - HTML, JavaScript, and CSS - necessary to display the ad properly.

If you'd rather sanitize the template and have only HTML inside it, you should make your slider 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.

Templates for custom native ad items are not compatible with styled native ad items, and vice-versa.

You will learn:

  1. How to create a template for a custom slider ad. You can customize the sample code to fit your needs.
  2. How to create a custom slider ad item once you have a custom slider template.

How to create a custom slider ad template

This template will require the user to provide the URLs to where the image creatives are hosted when creating the slider ad item.

  1. Click Native Ad Templates in the left navigation menu to go to the Templates section.
  2. Click Add Native Ad Template in the Native Ad Templates table. The New Native Template window will appear.
  3. Click Custom Rendering/API. The New Native Ad Template page will appear.

Selecting a native template type

  1. Name the template then add two image URL variables. In our sample code, we called these variables ImageURL and ImageURL2, respectively.
For templates that have multiple variables such as this one, you can drag the icon on the far left of each variable field up or down to reorder your variables.

Creating a custom native slider ad template in AdButler

You can save variables and use them in other templates. After adding a variable, click on the three dots at the far right of the variable fields then click Save Variable as Template. To use a saved variable, click Add Saved Variable while creating a native template.
  1. 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 lang="en">
    <head>
        <link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
        <style>
            body {
                overflow-x: hidden;
            }

            .slider-container {
                position: fixed;
                bottom: 0;
                left: 0;
                width: 100%;
                background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);
                transition: left 2s ease-in-out;
            }

            .slider-image-container {
                position: relative;
                width: 728px;
                height: 90px;
                margin: 0 auto;
            }

            .slider-image {
                position: absolute;
                top: 0;
                left: 0;
                width: 728px;
                height: 90px;
            }

            .slider-button-container {
                position: absolute;
                top: 0;
                right: 10px;
                height: 100%;
                cursor: pointer;
                display: flex;
                align-items: center;
                justify-content: center;
            }

            .slider-button {
                font-size: 28px;
                color: #ffffff;
            }

            .slider-close-button-container {
                position: absolute;
                top: 3px;
                right: 3px;
                cursor: pointer;
            }

            .slider-close-button {
                width: 21px;
                text-align: center;
                display: inline-block;
                color: #ffffff;
                font-size: 18px;
                background: #000000;
                border-radius: 21px;
                user-select: none;
            }

            .slider-full-screen-container {
                position: absolute;
                top: 0;
                left: 100%;
                transition: left 2s ease-in-out;
                width: 100vw;
                height: 100vh;
                background-color: rgba(0,0,0, 0.25);
                display: flex;
                align-items: center;
                justify-content: center;
            }

            .slider-full-screen-image-container {
                position: relative;
            }

            .slider-full-screen-image-container a img {
                max-width: 80vw;
                max-height: 80vh;
            }

            .slider-full-screen-close-button-container {
                position: absolute;
                top: 3px;
                right: 3px;
                cursor: pointer;
            }

            .slider-full-screen-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>
        <script>
            function slideLeft() {
                document.querySelector('.slider-container').style.left = '-100%';
                document.querySelector('.slider-full-screen-container').style.left = '0';
            }

            function slideRight() {
                document.querySelector('.slider-container').style.left = '0';
                document.querySelector('.slider-full-screen-container').style.left = '100%';
            }

            function closeButton() {
                document.querySelector('.slider-container').style.display = 'none';
                document.querySelector('.slider-full-screen-container').style.display = 'none';
            }
        </script>
        <div class="slider-container">
            <div class="slider-image-container">
                <a target="_blank" href="[TRACKING_LINK]" class="slider-image">
                    <img src="[%ImageURL%]">
                </a>
                <div class="slider-close-button-container">
                    <span class="slider-close-button" onclick="closeButton()">×</span>
                </div>
            </div>
            <div class="slider-button-container" onclick="slideLeft()">
                <div class="slider-button">
                    Click here to see more <i class="fa fa-angle-double-right" aria-hidden="true"></i>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="slider-full-screen-container">
            <div class="slider-full-screen-image-container">
                <a target="_blank" href="[TRACKING_LINK]" class="slider-full-screen-image">
                    <img src="[%ImageURL2%]">
                </a>
                <div class="slider-full-screen-close-button-container">
                    <span class="slider-full-screen-close-button" onclick="slideRight()">×</span>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

You can now use this template to create a custom slider ad item.

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How to create a custom slider ad item

  1. Go to the section of the relevant zone (Your AdButler > Publishers > Your Publisher > Your Zone) or campaign (Your AdButler > Advertisers > Your Advertiser > Your Campaign).
Custom native slider ad items can be assigned only to Standard zones with their size set to Dynamic. The zone size can be configured only when creating a zone and cannot be changed afterward.
  1. Click Add Ad Item in the Ad Items table. The Add Ad Item window will appear.
  2. Click Native (Custom Rendering/API). The New Ad Item page will appear.

Creating a native (custom rendering/API) ad item

  1. Set the ad item's size to Dynamic.
  2. Select your slider custom native ad template in the Template dropdown menu.
  3. 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.
  4. Click Save Ad Item.

Creating a slider custom native ad item in AdButler

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