We are happy to announce that lately we've been working constantly on a new project!
It's a brand new feature for our site PTCBox.Me that we'll simply call "PTCBox.Me Ads".

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/605/98kf.gif

The base idea is to provide a good platform for effective and affordable advertising.
A page that receives excessive daily traffic and that is mainly related to online "Get-Paid-To" programs.

This way it will be a good option for promoters to get more referrals for PT programs they're working on,
at a much better price than advertising directly on the sites the traffic comes from. Also this way they
have the ability to advertise multiple sites at the same time, while keeping the costs low.

The program is still under development but you can get a preview of what it will look like here.
In order to ensure everything is perfectly prepared and tested before launching the program we will not
announce a launch date yet. However we are working on it at full speed and we don't expect it to get more
time than just a few days to complete.

Our script is build 100% from the scratch and it will offer a unique advertising tool that is almost fully automated
when it comes to queuing and processing ads. All the administration will have to do is approve the ads once they're placed.
Afterwards the system will automatically handle how they're managed and here's is an overview of how it will work :

Step 1: The advertiser submits a new ad, purchases and confirms a specific ad spot on the page.
Step 2: The system places the new ad on the approval waiting queue.
Step 3: The moderators check the ad for inappropriate content and if everything is proper they approve the ad.
Step 4: The system places the approved ads in a separate queue for each spot and decides when they will be displayed and expired.
Step 5: Once every 24 hours - probably midnight on our server time (0:00 GMT+2) our script will perform maintenance on all the Ad Spots.
Step 6: The system will then check all spots one by one for expired ads and replace them with ones from each spot's queue. If there are no queued ads waiting on a spot then it will simply display the "Advertise Here" banner with its specific prices.

But apart from these steps the system will be flexible enough to offer the following features :
1. Advertisers will have the ability to change their ad's banner, text and link details even when the ad is active. (Switching to another spot is not allowed due to the system's complexion in order to avoid errors)
2. Live public stats of the traffic received.
...(more to be added)...

We are open to new ideas as long as the base project doesn't change,
so feel free to suggest things you'd be interested in or ask any questions.

PTCBox.Me Ads - Development Stages History

2013-06-26

Initial planing and analysis of the project.
Definition of the resources that will be required and research on the implementation platforms.

2013-06-27

Completed the very first beta version of the database.
Designed the first version of the ads page. Started working on the sites portability of the page to smaller resolutions.
Completed configuring our PayPal account to prepare it for usage with our new system's specific advertising products.
Added a new invoice prototype with our logo.
Completed the first version of the ad submission form and connected it to the database.
Major changes to the administrator's office. Everything on the site can now be supervised through the Administrator's "Office" (password protected panel).
Implemented methods to get notified for new tasks requiring our attention.

2013-06-28

Decided the final prices based on the spots location and distance from the top of the page.
Heavy upgrades done to the submission form. It now offered automated calculation of the product for sale and the price to be paid to PayPal based on the user's selections on ad spot and duration.
Submit ads were initially possible with image file upload. But later on we turned down that idea mainly because of the security risks that came up. Therefore, we decided that we will manually upload and host the banners on our server, during the approval stage of the ad.
Small additions done in the database and all site's permissions were adjusted for the maximum security of our data.
A complete guide with screenshots and a pricing table were added to the ad submission page.
Auto-respond script completed and implemented. Both administrator and advertisers will now receive a detailed description of their order.

2013-06-29

Administrator's office updated with an ad approval section. It is now possible to approve single and multiple ads with a simple click.
Database updated with an email blacklist. In case of unauthorized usage of an email the recipient will now have the option
to directly add his email to the site's blacklist (using an "unsubscribe"-like link coming in the new order notification email so that the system prevents it from happening again). A user can be removed from the black list by contacting support. More flexibility and security of this system will be developed soon (we'll probably ad a security pin option in the future).

2013-07-01

Developed a whole you confirmation system with a security pin code. New ads must be now be confirmed (before being approved) by clicking a confirmation link in the confirmation email received after ad submission. This is to prevent unauthorized placement of orders by users using email accounts they don't own.

2013-07-02

Applying security measures to prevent SQL injection attacks through all the input fields of the site.
This was necessary to ensure the safety of the data stored in our databases.
Enabled email blacklisting.
Fixed date formats.

2013-07-03

Fixed pin code bugs.
Fixed blacklisting bugs.
Added checks on the order form's fields.
Improved visuals.

2013-07-07

Upgraded all database access functions with strong anti-hacking security measurements. - OPERATION FAILED! - Bypassed(query technology not supported by my host - will have to figure out another way)
(We will now reconstruct the ad submission forms data handling)

2013-07-11

Finished developing an alternative hacker safe way to access our databases.
So far it's been working flawlessly so we're ready to proceed to the next step.

2013-07-13

Completed the mechanism that checks for expired ads and replaces them with new ones waiting in the ad queue for each spot.
Also completed a backup mechanism that will save all the current data before replacement each day.

2013-07-15

Function to load banners to their spots is ready. Banners and links as well as availability dates load properly.
Logging script to keep notes of all the automated processes in order to easily check if everything went smooth done.

2013-07-16

Fixed bugs at the ad queuing system. It is now supposed to work properly.
Added counter for daily and total hits and unique hits.
Added server timestamp at the bottom of the ads page.
Fixed some typos.
Fixed html email coding.

2013-07-17

Fixed a small typo in the default ads title.
Fixed a bug in the unique hits counter.

2013-07-22

Banner and Title's Ad Description is now showing correctly.
Fixed a small bug displaying a wrong ad in SpotR6.
Availability date calculator is now functioning correctly in cases of queued ads.
Made the "Available at" line of text one step smaller.
Added more specific logging functions to be able to track changes in ads spots.

2013-07-24

Fixed a bug at saving yesterday's hits.
Fixed some visual issues on the ads page to make it visible at any resolution higher than 1024 x 1024.
Fixed a small bug in the function that handles the communication with the database.
Content with instructions and order placing details added on the submission form page.
Redesigned PTCBox.Me menu to integrate the ads page to the site.
Redesigned the advertise page to include information on the new project "PTCBox.Me Ads".

Announced launch date : 27-7-2013

2013-07-27

We've added a link pointing to a recreated PayPal payment page just in case someone places an ad but accidentally
closes the payment page before paying. In the confirmation email there will now a link that recreates the PayPal payment button for that specific order.
Added screenshots showing the expiration date of our stable incoming sources in the ad submission form page. You can now see for how long our ads page will be receiving traffic in the future.

2013-10-14

Fixed the page's adaptation to lower resolutions. Now the page will be displayed properly on smaller screen resolutions (smartphones, tablets etc).

2013-10-15

Updated Administration Panel so that editing an ad now is much easier and simpler to avoid mistakes.

2013-10-16

Updated the script to show "Available Now!" instead of "Available at..." and the current date. It is simpler for the advertiser to know that the spot is currently available.

2013-10-27

Prepared functions to work on the upcoming new version of the script (etc. re-coded PayPal's options to support the new prices).
Updated the script to automatically show the activation and the expiry date of the ad as soon as the member confirms it.
Updated the script to automatically prepare an email to send immediately after the approval, directly from the admin's panel.
These will greatly improve speed when handling multiple ads that need quick approval.
Added a "traffic stats" link on the ads page so that it's easier for an advertiser be able to know when his spot will become available.

2013-11-09

Added a custom tracking system so now every hit is being tracked. It's easy now to create grouped reports on the incoming traffic.
Completed some script modifications to consume the minimum possible bandwidth per page load. We can now handle much more traffic this way (10.000+ daily visitors)

2013-11-10

Upgraded my Payza account from Starter to Personal.. so now I'm able to receive payments there.
The new form is now ready and includes PayPal/Payza/EgoPay options plus the 7-Days ad duration option.
Fixed a couple of bugs in the ad submission page. Now it adapts better at low resolutions.

2013-11-14

EgoPay automated system scripting is complete. It will be available once we upgrade the script to the 2nd version.
Completed the announcements system on the ads page. It will be implemented before the v2 upgrade. (first announcement will be the upgrade)
Reconstructed the layout of the Ads page to improve adaptation to smaller and bigger resolutions while including the 2 new features listed above.
Improved adaptation to include font size decrease at smaller resolutions.
Added a 7-days stats indication on the top of the ads page. This will help with the upcoming 7-days ad pack sales.
Captcha bot check is complete and implemented directly on the new submission form. I'll soon implement it on all forms of the site.

2013-11-15

Fixed an issue with banners that failed to load messing up the site's design. Now if they fail to load they get removed.

2013-11-17

Fixed a small critical bug that was messing up the availability dates.. by cutting days off for every month that had 30 days instead of 31.

2013-12-14

After a lot of scripting we are finally ready to launch our second version with the exception of the Featured Links column as it is taking more time that it was planned.

To-do List :

[list bull-greenarrow]

Automated emailing script when the ad gets initially displayed on the ads page that notifies the advertiser that his ad is activated and provide him with the expiration dateAction done at the ad approval.

Additional feature to display under each banner how many clicks it has received since it was placed.

Create a testimonial page with a testimonial submission form.

Add nerdbux in the incoming traffic sources. - Done!

Add Payza and EgoPay to the payment options - EgoPay is ready.. Payza requires a lot of stuff to implement. - Done!

Create a custom captcha and implement it on all forms of my site. - Done!

Write a new T.o.S. page specifically for the PTCBox.Me Ads project. - Done!

Announcements feature on the ads page - Done!

Add ad blocking software detector - Done!

Featured ad links option on the ads page - Currently Working on it..

You may want to also get some input from the other members in the forum on what should be written on the final draft before it's displayed to the public. If needed, we could also possibly help with the editing here and there.

You might eventually want to plug that page into the neobux fixed ads also. That starts at $100 for one day but drops as you buy in bulk.

Are you going to allow affiliates in the future some time? I don't recall if that was discussed

dansbanners wrote on 30^th Jun, 2013 at 4:56pm:

You may want to also get some input from the other members in the forum on what should be written on the final draft before it's displayed to the public. If needed, we could also possibly help with the editing here and there.

Yep.. That's why I posted this as announcement in the general discussions forum which is public.. even to guests.


moneymarketing wrote on 30^th Jun, 2013 at 6:15pm:

You might eventually want to plug that page into the neobux fixed ads also. That starts at $100 for one day but drops as you buy in bulk.

Neobux is way too expensive for me to afford right now.. but it will probably be possible in the future..
However the prices will have to go way up as well.. and that's not in my current plans. I'm intending to increase them a bit only after the site will be generating enough profit for it to self-sustain. So, we'll start low and climb a bit as we go.. I think top10ptc is a bit expensive all in all.. so I might offer a cheap alternative some time in the future.

And of course one of my strong cards will be my script that is supposed to be flexible enough to help me offer the best possible support to my customers. It's quality of service and support that I'd like to offer. The traffic maybe cheaper and the prices as well.. but I'll be more than happy to have satisfied customers to say good things about me and my services. That is my first goal. :)


moneymarketing wrote on 30^th Jun, 2013 at 6:18pm:

Are you going to allow affiliates in the future some time? I don't recall if that was discussed

I've thought of that as well, and it's not a bad idea but an affiliate based system is much more complex and needs much better planning to make it successful.. Think about it, my site offers 16 specific spots for a reasonable price.. Now, since I'm a promoter it might prove more profitable if I myself promote my program. However since this whole site is based on affiliate marketing (and well.. the previous sentence sounds awkwardly selfish.. :P)  then yes it is a good idea to implement such a system. But it's still early for that. I need to create an initial reputation and some cash flow and then I'll expand it as we go. It's just that, I need to be 100% sure that I can maintain the site and pay for the expenses myself. Then if and only if I can afford it I could consider adding affiliates to help the site grow even larger.

In simple words.. I aim high.. but I start low in order to get there.. :)

I keep forgetting that the banners will be a fixed cost and they won't rotate. Yes, because of that neobux would be too expensive. Also, having affiliates would also not be very useful.

The only way to make those two things useful would maybe be to leverage your payments system and build a second page that does have rotating banners. Either that or let people bid on the banner spots.

You can't really do it with fixed ads. You need something that will scale up in order to capitalize on increased traffic flow

SolidSnake wrote on 30^th Jun, 2013 at 10:42pm:

In simple words.. I aim high.. but I start low in order to get there.. :)

It is best not to build a house without a good foundation  8-)

SolidSnake wrote on 30^th Jun, 2013 at 10:42pm:

I've thought of that as well, and it's not a bad idea but an affiliate based system is much more complex and needs much better planning to make it successful.. Think about it, my site offers 16 specific spots for a reasonable price.. Now, since I'm a promoter it might prove more profitable if I myself promote my program. However since this whole site is based on affiliate marketing (and well.. the previous sentence sounds awkwardly selfish.. :P)  then yes it is a good idea to implement such a system. But it's still early for that. I need to create an initial reputation and some cash flow and then I'll expand it as we go. It's just that, I need to be 100% sure that I can maintain the site and pay for the expenses myself. Then if and only if I can afford it I could consider adding affiliates to help the site grow even larger. In simple words.. I aim high.. but I start low in order to get there.. :)

An affiliate program could bring more traffic to the site cause it could encourage members to promote the program.

But like you said, you rather take one step at a time then build on from there, etc.

The site actually required much more work than I expected mainly because of the security issues that I noticed and had to take care of. I had to reconstruct big parts of the system and research a lot on SQL injection prevention to implement strong security measurements. Now the auto-emailing, confirmation, blacklisting and pin code related mechanisms are complete on the programming side. I'll have to work a bit on some visuals now and finally develop the automated ad placement system to make this whole thing capable of doing its job.

We're definitely closer now! Not sure how much more time it will take me to complete it..
but once it's done, it's gonna be legen-(wait for it)-dary.. :P

SolidSnake wrote on 3^rd Jul, 2013 at 1:52pm:

The site actually required much more work than I expected mainly because of the security issues that I noticed and had to take care of. I had to reconstruct big parts of the system and research a lot on SQL injection prevention to implement strong security measurements. Now the auto-emailing, confirmation, blacklisting and pin code related mechanisms are complete on the programming side. I'll have to work a bit on some visuals now and finally develop the automated ad placement system to make this whole thing capable of doing its job. We're definitely closer now! Not sure how much more time it will take me to complete it.. but once it's done, it's gonna be legen-(wait for it)-dary.. :P

And people wonder why I don't become an admin.

Reason # 1 through 7:  HACKERS!   >:(

moneymarketing wrote on 3^rd Jul, 2013 at 5:40pm:

And people wonder why I don't become an admin. Reason # 1 through 7:  HACKERS!   >:(

That's why I've spent so much time researching and developing the scripts at the safest possible way.
They're supposed to block any type of sql injection attack now.
And the privileges of every file on the site is set up to prevent unauthorized access.
Plus I've password protected directories of all critical files at server level.

Of course they say that no system is 100% hacker safe, but I've done my best to discourage anyone that would like to try.. :)
Now I need to fix a couple of bugs here and there due to the database access reconstruction.
But things roll a lot faster now..

SolidSnake wrote on 7^th Jul, 2013 at 4:53pm:

That's why I've spent so much time researching and developing the scripts at the safest possible way. They're supposed to block any type of sql injection attack now. And the privileges of every file on the site is set up to prevent unauthorized access. Plus I've password protected directories of all critical files at server level. Of course they say that no system is 100% hacker safe, but I've done my best to discourage anyone that would like to try.. :) Now I need to fix a couple of bugs here and there due to the database access reconstruction. But things roll a lot faster now..

Hackers are like rats. Sooner or later they will find a way to get in. Thus we always need to be ready with rat poison or traps

Well, I've just crashed up hard, on a big fat wall.. there is a function that is required in my script
and it's in PHP version 5.3+ but my server is using 5.2.x. That's a bummer... I need to figure out
a way around this. I've literaly burnt half of my braincells implementing secure methods and I'm
so fed up of this stuff.. It was almost over but I'll have to rebuild many parts of the script if my
host turns down my upgrading suggestion.. :(

Pff.. this site just doesn't wanna get completed... there's always something going so wrong...  [smiley=sad.gif]

Hi everyone again, I got a reply from my host and it was unfortunately negative.. so I can't do this the easy way.
But it's not that bad, since when it comes to programming "there is always another way" so I went ahead and figured
out an alternative custom safe way to handle queries to my database. It's now completed and working successfully
so far and I'm now free to go ahead and build the automated system rotating system. I've been really busy with my
offline job these days and I'm sorry for the delay.. I'll keep you updated at the top posts as I go. Thank you all for
your motivating support! :)

SolidSnake

SolidSnake wrote on 11^th Jul, 2013 at 1:57pm:

Hi everyone again, I got a reply from my host and it was unfortunately negative.. so I can't do this the easy way. But it's not that bad, since when it comes to programming "there is always another way" so I went ahead and figured out an alternative custom safe way to handle queries to my database. It's now completed and working successfully so far and I'm now free to go ahead and build the automated system rotating system. I've been really busy with my offline job these days and I'm sorry for the delay.. I'll keep you updated at the top posts as I go. Thank you all for your motivating support! :) SolidSnake

Way to go. Adversity builds character and necessity is the mother of invention. You handled that speed bump with ease

moneymarketing wrote on 11^th Jul, 2013 at 5:52pm:

Way to go. Adversity builds character and necessity is the mother of invention. You handled that speed bump with ease

[smiley=z02-thanks.gif] You're a quote generator, aren't you?  :P

SolidSnake wrote on 11^th Jul, 2013 at 7:27pm:

[smiley=z02-thanks.gif] You're a quote generator, aren't you?  :P

I'm at that age  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Well most of the hard coding part is done.. now there are some finishing touches left to do here and there..
Most of the scripts are complete and fully functional. We're really close to announcing the opening.. :)

Finally.. the ads loaded correctly.
I'll now test the whole system.. :)

And YES! The first successful results are showing up.
Well, I could use some help at this next step.

I need to test how the program will perform in some real life situations.
So I would like you to become my beta testers for about a week.

Some Instructions

Please use the system, visit the ads page and place some ads yourself.
I'd like to see how it will function for a week and then open it for the public.

After placing an ad the system will prompt you to complete the payment through PayPal.
So simply ignore that prompt for now as it is not necessary.

Please use your normal contact email as the system will automatically send you a confirmation link
after your ad placement. You will need to click the link provided in that email to confirm the ad.

Then I will get notified and will have to approve your ads.
After I approve them they will be placed at the banner spot queue.

First come - first served.. the system will pick the older orders to show up the next day.

Btw, in your confirmation email you will receive your automatically generated pin code.
You can change that pin code by following the link included in your email.

Please give it a try as it will help me figure out if there are any bugs.
You can also use the blacklist link in your confirmation email.

However this will prevent you from being able to place any more orders,
until I unblock you. Play with the system as much as you want.

Keep in mind that all the changes will be temporary as I will reset the system
before the official launch. We're still not giving a specific date as we need to
make sure everything goes according to the plan.

Have fun testing it! :)
(And please let me know if you notice anything that feels weird or if anything is missing)

First beta tester reporting for duty  8-)

moneymarketing wrote on 17^th Jul, 2013 at 5:27am:

First beta tester reporting for duty  8-)

Thanks for that!
And here's some more information on how it gets worked out now :

I noticed your ad placement. You've probably received an email stating your ad details and has a confirmation link on top of it.
Please confirm your ad through the email you received so that it gets passed over to me to approve it. :)

Btw, the pin code is not exactly a password so you don't have to worry about it.
It's automatically generated and you can easily recover it in case you lose the confirmation or pin code change email.
The point is that there is a specific number (6 to 8 digits) that identifies you as the owner of the email.
Therefore, it's only visible in your email and nowhere else. It gets automatically loaded from the database for you
whenever an ad is placed with your contact email. So, once it's generated to be yours... it stays yours.
You don't even have to change it and it's not even encrypted in the database. (I'll probably work on that though)

There is a very super tiny chance (1 in 99899999 if I'm correct) that another member gets the same pin code
generated from the system but even in that case it won't bother your account as the pin code alone is useless.
It's the email-pin code combination that matters.

After your first ad placement, if someone tries to place an ad using your email, it's you that will get the confirmation.
So if someone abuses the system you can always select to black list your email if you don't intend to make any more
purchases anytime soon. If you do so, next time someone tries to place an ad using your email he will get the "this
email is blacklisted on our server" message and the ad won't be placed. I might improve this system using some switch
of some type where you can disable and re-enable your ability to make purchases without having to contact me at all.
Just by using your email - pin code combination. It's kinda easy to implement.

Well there are many things to ad but the priority is to offer the basic service and then improve it as we go.
I'll get notified through the "admin's office" page (panel) once you confirm your ad.

Second beta tester reporting for duty, Lt.
I've got my trusted cardbox ready to go.

(Isn't in funny that the site that SolidSnake runs has 'Box', in it? I mean, the cardbox is almost a trademark of Snake)  ;D

Oh, and since you seem to like Grids so much, have you considered Probux? It seems to popular site which is growing considerably, even though I do not know the exact number of members. While I'm approaching it with extreme caution since I'm not sure if it will be sustainable in the long term (due to the $0.01 sponsored ads), it could at least be an interesting source for traffic.

If we go on like this soon everything will be trademark by me.. lol
I'll get back to you on ProBux. I'm curious to see how sky high my montly bandwidth will climb after using ClixSense, Twickerz and TheBux. Btw, does NeoBux offer any grid-only ad packages or they are only combined with the ptc ads?

Anyways, I checked your submission ruicarlov and approved it and I already noticed a small typo-like bug..
Under the ad spot you picked it already says that it will be available again at 2013-07-18.
However the title of the advertise here ad says that it will be available tomorrow and that needs to change..
I'll check it out.

Feel free to place more ads if you like.
Be creative.. ;)

I'll play with them during this week.
Think of it as a rehearsal for the real thing.. :)

[edit]Btw, ruicarlov is it just me or your splash page contains a missing image?

(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7848/x5d7.png)[/edit]

[edit]Also do you guys notice any lags or bugs anywhere? (pages not loading or not loading incorrectly, typos etc.)[/edit]

SolidSnake wrote on 17^th Jul, 2013 at 10:54am:

Thanks for that! And here's some more information on how it gets worked out now : I noticed your ad placement. You've probably received an email stating your ad details and has a confirmation link on top of it. Please confirm your ad through the email you received so that it gets passed over to me to approve it. :) Btw, the pin code is not exactly a password so you don't have to worry about it. It's automatically generated and you can easily recover it in case you lose the confirmation or pin code change email. The point is that there is a specific number (6 to 8 digits) that identifies you as the owner of the email. Therefore, it's only visible in your email and nowhere else. It gets automatically loaded from the database for you whenever an ad is placed with your contact email. So, once it's generated to be yours... it stays yours. You don't even have to change it and it's not even encrypted in the database. (I'll probably work on that though) There is a very super tiny chance (1 in 99899999 if I'm correct) that another member gets the same pin code generated from the system but even in that case it won't bother your account as the pin code alone is useless. It's the email-pin code combination that matters. After your first ad placement, if someone tries to place an ad using your email, it's you that will get the confirmation. So if someone abuses the system you can always select to black list your email if you don't intend to make any more purchases anytime soon. If you do so, next time someone tries to place an ad using your email he will get the "this email is blacklisted on our server" message and the ad won't be placed. I might improve this system using some switch of some type where you can disable and re-enable your ability to make purchases without having to contact me at all. Just by using your email - pin code combination. It's kinda easy to implement. Well there are many things to ad but the priority is to offer the basic service and then improve it as we go. I'll get notified through the "admin's office" page (panel) once you confirm your ad.

DOH!  ::)

I didn't even read that click confirmation in the email even though it is there in bold. I glossed right over that  [smiley=07-whaat.gif] [smiley=lolx.gif]

Oh well. I'm all cued up now  :D

Neobux has their Daily fixed ads which are probably the closest thing you can get to a grid on that site. It functions the same way where you are buying in bulk and taking your chances on how many people will click within a certain time period. Of course, the rewards for clickers are certain and not speculative

Thanks for letting me know about the picture. For some strange reason, it stopped being displayed correctly even on my imageshack directory. Had to reupload it again. I'm sure it was fine some days ago.... Don't tell me I've been wasting credits on a bug like that. :o

There is a problem on the queue handling mechanism.
Something goes wrong with expiring current ads.
I've been working on it the past days.

It's just that I've been too busy with offline stuff these days and my head is already too messed up to puzzle this out..
But it will eventually be worked out, don't worry.

The important point is to have the site rock solid in the matters of scripting before launching it.

[edit]Actually it was simple enough.. but with a messed up head not easily visible.. a "$" symbol was missing somewhere..
Now it loaded up ads properly. So the next step is to see if the ads will be automatically replaced tomorrow.[/edit]

Well, I checked it today and the ads are being placed properly in the correct order, according to their confirmation date.
However, a bug I've noticed is that the queued ads duration is not calculated at the total reserved duration of each spot.
So, I need to fix this now. It should calculate the availability date including all the queued ads waiting at each spot.

Another small bug is that the description is not showing at mouse over event as it should.
That's easy to fix. I'll have it fixed by tomorrow.

Take care everyone and thanks for the help.
Your input is highly appreciated!

[edit]Banner description bug fixed.[/edit]

[edit]Couldn't figure the availability date bug yet.. I'm close but I need a clearer mind.. I'll try again tomorrow..  :phew[/edit]

Well, pretty much everything is now ready and fully functioning. We are practically ready to launch.
Of course there could still be some bugs but it's pretty hard to produce them at a testing environment..

I've set some ads to expire tonight so if everything goes well, I'll take a finishing look at my code and
I'll announce the launch. Of course, members of the forum will get priority placement, so don't worry about that.

Stay tuned for more details..! We're almost there.. [smiley=crazy.gif]

SolidSnake wrote on 22^nd Jul, 2013 at 6:43pm:

Well, pretty much everything is now ready and fully functioning. We are practically ready to launch. Of course there could still be some bugs but it's pretty hard to produce them at a testing environment.. I've set some ads to expire tonight so if everything goes well, I'll take a finishing look at my code and I'll announce the launch. Of course, members of the forum will get priority placement, so don't worry about that. Stay tuned for more details..! We're almost there.. [smiley=crazy.gif]

I'm really happy for you. I think this could be the start of something much bigger and better for you

moneymarketing wrote on 22^nd Jul, 2013 at 7:56pm:

I'm really happy for you. I think this could be the start of something much bigger and better for you

Well, you've been here since the beginning and I'd have probably quit without your support.
The same goes to Dan, ruicarlov, venkat and everyone else here.

This is the reason I believe that the whole PTCBox fiasko was not necessarily a bad thing as it helped us form this team here.
It helped us get together and achieve things that otherwise we wouldn't have possibly tried..

So, it's a celebration night.. as I'm finally announcing my brand new project.. The PTCBox.Me Ads page.

It is finally completed and ready to start serving ads.
As a so called "launch" date I decided to initiate the system at 27-07-2013 (this Saturday).
By launching it I mean that it will be the first day that traffic will start flawing in..
(Your ads placed within these days will start showing on the launch date in order not to waste paid days)

So whoever here wants to be among the first to place ads on it is now allowed to go ahead and do so.
Starting on Saturday I'll start serving orders from the incoming traffic as well.

My initial budget plan for the project is this :

ClixSense (ClixGrid 1 month) : $20
Twickerz (TwickGrid 1 month) : $15
The-Bux (TheGrid 1 month) : $10

Total : $45

Hopefully it will get me a couple of sales to raise the budget for the next month.
Let's see how it goes.. :)

Again thank you all for your ultra motivating support!  [smiley=12-party.gif]

[edit]PS. As a small gratitude gift, any member of the forum placing ads will receive this :

For every Top, MidTop and Middle ad spot purchased you get a free Bottom spot of the same duration.
So you can place 2 ads while paying only for the big one..
(This way also the page won't look so empty on day one..)

Take care mates! :)[/edit]

Btw, I did some additional writing in the submission form page and the generic advertise page as well.. so if you meet any typos please let me know..

[smiley=01-needhelp.gif]

You have a false positive in your system. I was going to pay with payza since I had $8 in my payza account so I set up the ad and then realized you only take paypal. The system sent me the ad confirmation but I won't have the cash from CS in paypal until tomorrow  :(

What do you want me to do? Resubmit the ad again tomorrow when I have the cash? Can you cancel the current one?

Also, when we try to cancel, you say that we will be blacklisted.  [smiley=07-whaat.gif] I don't want to be permanently removed, just put on hold for about 30 hours. That blacklisting sounds harsh and may confuse a few people

Well, yes I should have added Payza from the beginning.. I will research it to see if it's easy to implement.

As for the ad don't worry, just click the confirmation link and I will approve it to be placed at 27/7/2013.
Chill out you can always pay for it later.. :)

To cancel an ad you just need to contact me, no need to blacklist your account.
It is easy enough for me to handle the ads from my side.

Btw, the blacklisting thing is just in case you didn't place the order yourself.. which means someone else entered your email without you knowing.. therefore you can choose to black list your email so that no more orders get placed.. It's not permanent actually.. as you can remove it later on by contacting me.. :)

Of course I could improve the system.. but I'm kinda out of ideas in that area... eventually I'll figure it out.

SolidSnake wrote on 26^th Jul, 2013 at 5:14am:

Btw, the blacklisting thing is just in case you didn't place the order yourself.. which means someone else entered your email without you knowing.. therefore you can choose to black list your email so that no more orders get placed.. It's not permanent actually.. as you can remove it later on by contacting me.. :) Of course I could improve the system.. but I'm kinda out of ideas in that area... eventually I'll figure it out.

You might want to clear that up in the wording in case people get the wrong impression

moneymarketing wrote on 26^th Jul, 2013 at 7:39am:

You might want to clear that up in the wording in case people get the wrong impression

Well, I think I made it a bit clearer now. I edited the email body and replaced some text here :


Quote:

Your order will be manually approved soon and then automatically processed as soon as the spot is available. We do our best to provide you with the best possible quality of services. If you'd like to cancel this order, or if you have any questions or feel like changing any of the details above please do not hesitate to contact us through our Contact Form.

...and here...


Quote:

If you did not authorize this order please click here to prevent our server from sending you any more emails in the future. This will black list your contact email ([ContactEmail showing here..]) on our server and placing orders will not be possible any more. (You can always remove this ban later by contacting us).

..but this is kind of a temporary solution. I might have to import an initial email registration process with a separate confirmation  that can happen only once.. or maybe request the client's pin code to be inserted after the first order placed.. I'll figure out a way. For now it can all work like this. I'll also have to insert captchas in all submission forms cause you never know when spam bots will pop up and start flooding the system..

Yes, that's much better. Now even I can figure it out  ;D

You might also want to turn a mistake into an opportunity:


Quote:

If you did not authorize this order please click here to prevent our server from sending you any more emails in the future. This will black list your contact email ([ContactEmail showing here..]) on our server and placing orders will not be possible any more. (You can always remove this ban later by contacting us).

Then you could add:


Quote:

If you are interested in trying our services, click here for our pricing (and maybe offer a discount for new customers)

No point in passing up someone that has dropped in your lap like that  :)

moneymarketing wrote on 26^th Jul, 2013 at 5:55pm:

You might also want to turn a mistake into an opportunity: Then you could add: No point in passing up someone that has dropped in your lap like that  :)

Well, wouldn't that be much like accidental spamming?
We wouldn't wanna be accused with that.. if we get reported for such a thing then google, yahoo and outlook would probably put our email in a spam black list and block our emails from being delivered.. That would be very bad for business.

Besides, if someone received such a confirmation email without his own permission (which means his privacy is already at risk and our name will be there associated with it) wouldn't it drive him nuts to also be pointed to a sales page..? :)

SolidSnake wrote on 26^th Jul, 2013 at 11:14pm:

Well, wouldn't that be much like accidental spamming? We wouldn't wanna be accused with that.. if we get reported for such a thing then google, yahoo and outlook would probably put our email in a spam black list and block our emails from being delivered.. That would be very bad for business. Besides, if someone received such a confirmation email without his own permission (which means his privacy is already at risk and our name will be there associated with it) wouldn't it drive him nuts to also be pointed to a sales page..? :)

:o

:phew

you've got mail. I'm trying to pay you but you make it very difficult  >:(

moneymarketing wrote on 26^th Jul, 2013 at 11:21pm:

:o :phew you've got mail. I'm trying to pay you but you make it very difficult  >:(

Maybe it's just that my system's heart feels so unwilling to offer you its services for a reward.. :)
I replied to your email.

The PayPal page is automatically generated when placing a specific order.
So when leaving it it's not possible to just go back to it..

I'll make a simple option to cover this issue.
Maybe I'll probably put a link in the confirmation email leading directly to the payment email.

15 minutes left to launch.. Traffic has already started coming in so we're set up and ready.

I added a link in the confirmation email leading to a recreated PayPal payment page just in case an advertiser accidentally
closes the PayPal payment page without completing the payment process. So, sorry MoneyMarketing for the inconvenience,
it's now supposed to not happen again.. :)

All three campaigns work fine now (ClixGrid, Twickerz and The-Bux) driving traffic to our ad page.
In the previous 12 hours it has already received 1343 unique hits and I hope we break the 3000 visitors/day barrier this way.
It will definitely boost our Alexa and Google rankings as well, helping us with some additional free targeted traffic.

I'll also bring some additional traffic from some small ptc campaigns including freeadmoney, constantbux probably even refban.
I'm not touching Neobux yet.. I'll leave it for later when our budget can hold it's weight..

SolidSnake wrote on 27^th Jul, 2013 at 12:37pm:

I added a link in the confirmation email leading to a recreated PayPal payment page just in case an advertiser accidentally closes the PayPal payment page without completing the payment process. So, sorry MoneyMarketing for the inconvenience, it's now supposed to not happen again.. :)

Awww, c'mon. Have a little faith in me. I'm sure I'll find another way to mess it up  [smiley=lolx.gif]

moneymarketing wrote on 27^th Jul, 2013 at 3:11pm:

Awww, c'mon. Have a little faith in me. I'm sure I'll find another way to mess it up  [smiley=lolx.gif]

What can I say.. you're the best tester I could ask for.. everything you touch needs fixing.. lol
(That goes beside your "quote generator" skill..)

Well, first day went according to plan :

2013-07-27 - 3028 hits - 2727 unique hits

Beautiful activity.. I believe more advertisers will most likely be interested in purchasing the spots
after the end of the first week so that the "Last Week's Stats" table gets filled up with such good
traffic rates. Let me know if you get any leads from your campaigns on the ads page.

Some positive feedback is always welcome..

I finally found some time to code the PTCBox.Me Ads page to adapt at lower resolutions.
You can test it yourself, just reduce your browser's window size to anything lower than 1280x1024 and refresh the page to see how it fits the available screen. I'm now ready to add some automated emailing support to notify customers for approved and expired ads possibly with details.

It's been almost 3 months since the launch of the PTCBox.Me Ads project and so far it's been a successful project with lots of upgrading potential. At first I wasn't sure if the banner sales would be enough to keep up with the expenses so I decided to set the prices rather low and pretty close to the traffic expense. This way I didn't focus on profiting in the first months but to form a client list with satisfied customers that would like to come back month after month to purchase advertising. So, after 3 months now we've got over the beta period, fixed most of the issues/bugs and adjusted the code to meet our needs.

As for the traffic amount here is an overview graph of the last 3 months based on the StatCounter widget logs :

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7417/pvq2.png

We now receive regular traffic from most major PTC sites and more and more advertisers decide to purchase ad spots up to the point that we can't keep up with the demand. Just like in every other business our goal is to be able to cover the customers' needs and provide quality services while keeping the business economically healthy. So we've got to a point where we have to do some adjustments to keep it going like that.

Since the beginning the purpose has been to provide an effective and affordable banner advertising solution for PTC users, through a platform that allows multi-site advertising on one simple campaign. This has not been changed so far and will also not change in the future. It will only become better fulfilled over time by increasing the audience size.

Therefore I have come up with a new plan about the ads page to handle its growth. The idea is simple enough and will require some fresh code implementations to make it work. We will keep pushing the incoming traffic to the next target that is ~6000 unique daily visitors by adding more and more incoming traffic sources to it. However this will not be possible as the sales won't be able to cover the expenses at the current prices. So in order for the change to be as smooth and easy to calculate as possible we'll simply divide the duration values by 2 and add some new combo discounted advertising packs.

So the new price plan will look like this :

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4541/s6ui.png

This way it is designed to both cover our expenses and offer large volumes of advertising at an affordable cost.
For example until now the top spot's cost was $8 / month and was receiving ~90000 impressions, now it will be the same based on the ~6000 unique visitors plan but it will be delivered in half the time. Plus with the larger or combined packs it will be even cheaper than that.

This way we'll be able to handle more banner orders and satisfy more customers every month.
Thanks everyone for your support making this plan possible, and please let me know of your thoughts on it!

[smiley=12-party.gif] :money

congrats on your success!  [smiley=z05-yes.gif] 8-) ;D :D ;) :) [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

moneymarketing wrote on 23^rd Oct, 2013 at 7:31pm:

[smiley=12-party.gif] :money congrats on your success!  [smiley=z05-yes.gif] 8-) ;D :D ;) :) [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

If as they say "one picture equals a thousand words" then you could have written a book here..  [smiley=lolx.gif]
[smiley=z02-thanks.gif]

...though I've not even started yet... :)

By the way, I just noticed your very nice looking PTCBox.Me banner over there at BoB! :)

dansbanners wrote on 25^th Oct, 2013 at 12:43am:

By the way, I just noticed your very nice looking PTCBox.Me banner over there at BoB! :)

Well, I added 3 banners (PTCSolution, X-PTCBox, Ads Page) and split daily impressions evenly among them..
The ads page generates ~2200 credits daily so those are some free impressions I can use.. :)

Well, I was busy upgrading the script yesterday and finally most of the boring parts are now ready..

I finally created my "ad approval" semi-auto-responder that speeds up the process now and provides
the advertiser with the exact start-end dates of his ad activation.. in bold red font.. lol.. so that we
avoid any misunderstandings, as with the new script, the displaying time will be a very important factor..

Also I kinda refurbished the emailing scripts so that the email now looks more professional and provides
accurate info and helpful instructions. Critical parts are marked with red font so that they don't get
missed out.. I also have to work on creating separate T.o.S. for the Ads page to clarify a few points
there about how this site works and what are its rules.

If I complete the new script on time, I'll probably activate it starting this December.. if not it will most
likely go up along with the new year.. December is a good advertising month so I wouldn't wanna miss it.
So...

Coming soon..:

PTCBoxMeAdsScriptPHP v2.00...

All of a sudden the availability dates today started getting messed up.. [smiley=07-whaat.gif]

I had to follow hundreds of lines of code one by one to figure out what happened..
To my bad luck it was just a bug caused by the winter time change and took a tiny correction to fix it up..  :phew

Pff..  [smiley=sad.gif]

Ah yes, winter time change. In my POV, one dumb idea. Sure sucks going home when it's completely dark now. And it's not like it was very dark in the morning yet....

I did more script improvements on the administrator's side to get detailed tracking reports.
So now it will be easier to track sites referring to the ads page and see how much actual
traffic I receive without the need of having to visit them. Every single hit is recorded with
ip and referrer and I can easily view them all grouped based on the domain name.

Also preparing to break through the 6000 visitors barrier.. actually I intend to get up to 10.000 soon!
For that purpose, made the ads page spend the tiniest possible amount in terms of bandwidth.
So the 10 last days only consumed ~2GB in bandwidth (50GB is my monthly limit so there's lot
of space for future traffic increase). We're now ready to move on to the next level.

Something else new is that I re-adjusted the price plan to meet my upcoming traffic goals.
The exposure will be much higher so the prices will need to get a bit higher too to cover
the costs.

Still our plan is to offer "effective and affordable banner advertising using proven methods',
and the happy returning customers prove that the system works, only it requires these upgrades
in order to be able to serve them all.

Here is an overview of the exposure quantity..

6000 visitors daily mean 6000 banner impressions / day.
These equal to :

42000 banner impressions / 7 Days,
90000 banner impressions / 15 Days and
180000-186000 banner impressions / 1 Month (depending on how many days the month has 30 or 31).

Keep in mind that I plan to cross 10000 daily visitors entering 2014.
Based on these stats, here is the new pricing sheet :

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/5016/bma3.png

Some bonus packs with multiple spots will now be available with great discounts included.

The new PayPal code automated script is tested and ready to be implemented.
I'll now look into adding more payment processors. Payza and EgoPay will be included.

In the upcoming version I'll include some announcement box in the top left corner along
with some additional advertising space.. possibly some cheap text ads and 125x125 banners.

Lots of stuff to complete in the next few weeks. I hope I'll make it by the end of November,
as I intend to launch the new script within this December as early as possible.

Stay tuned! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
It's gonna rock! [smiley=z06-guitar.gif]

Another 12-hours coding day is over.. I've completed a lot of scripting for the new version.
A list of detailed upgrades is here.

Probably 15 days to get to my target launch.. still there's a lot of stuff to code.. I hope I'll make it.
EgoPay payment system is ready.. Payza support coming soon..

Fixed another painful issue with the availability dates calculating mechanism.
And now there's something else to fix. When a couple of ads are in queue for a spot,
if I delete one in the middle the following ones' dates need a re-calculation..
It's already too complicated.. now how to figure that one out through coding..

Featured links also require a lot of coding in my to-do list.
There's really too much to catch up.. and my offline jobs just keep coming..
leaving me less and less time.. :(

SolidSnake wrote on 21^st Nov, 2013 at 10:51pm:

Fixed another painful issue with the availability dates calculating mechanism. And now there's something else to fix. When a couple of ads are in queue for a spot, if I delete one in the middle the following ones' dates need a re-calculation.. It's already too complicated.. now how to figure that one out through coding.. Featured links also require a lot of coding in my to-do list. There's really too much to catch up.. and my offline jobs just keep coming.. leaving me less and less time.. :(

you need to be careful or you will create too much work for yourself. Maybe there is a simpler way

moneymarketing wrote on 22^nd Nov, 2013 at 7:17am:

you need to be careful or you will create too much work for yourself. Maybe there is a simpler way

It's just that I want to complete all the work now so that I don't have to do it "every time" in the future.
The more I work now the less I'll have to deal with stuff later.. so I try to automate practically everything..
And the problem is my time is getting more and more limited lately.. Hopefully I'll make it.

The second version of the script is almost ready.. I have fixed most major issues.
Now I have to fix a couple of bugs around here and there.. But I'm happy with the way it all looks like.. :)

It is still in testing phase.. it doesn't work 100% but I'll get there soon!

[edit]The new layout is now active.. on December 22nd we'll also switch on the new system.[/edit]

I've finally figured out a way to detect ad blocking software..  :phew
Hopefully now our visitors will consider adding an exception to the Ads page in order for it's layout to load normally.

You can test it by browsing to PTCBox.Me Ads and enabling your Ad Blocking software on it (if you use one).

You mean the 'pleas enable Javascript' message?

I saw that but why would someone have the incentive to enable?

Is there a way that you can put up java and non java ads? That could be a feature you ad.

I remember seeing text ads that got past both java and image blockers. Maybe you could work that with your text ads?

No I mean ad blocking software.. without any javascript at all I think the whole world would fall apart.. :)
Ad blocking software is a javascript based plugin that blocks banners and javascript generated banners from specific sources.
They usually come with a url black list and users are able to report banners that escape the blocking and add them to the blacklist manually. Also there is an option to whitelist a domain name or specific page in a domain if you would like to view
its content.

However my problem is that such ad blockers not only block banners on my site but also whole functions that I use for
my design's adaptations etc. removing whole tables, making banners huge and generally ruining my design.

Most PTCs currently use such anti-ad-blocking software to ensure their ads will be visible.
Whenever you see no ads to click on a PTC site and there is a message showing that you
need to disable any ad blocking software in order to view them, you face anti ad blocking software..

It's not a big deal to the user.. all he's got to do is right click his adblock icon and select "don't run on this page".
That's what I'm asking my visitors to do.