Changing the Adsense Panel on your web pages:
Path, from the left navigation menu: ['Customization' section] > Skin Setup > Adsense Panel
Adsense adverts, from Google, can feature on your website pages throughout your site. One prominent placement of these adverts is the optional Adsense Panel (note: it is a prerequisite, of displaying Adsense adverts on your site, that you have an Adsense account set up - you will need your Google Adsense ID in populating your Adsense panel with live adverts).
You can change the appearance of the Adsense Panel on your web-pages using the link labeled "Adsense Panel" within the Skin Setup menu. Selecting this option will load the Adsense Panel customization screen, above the Skin Setup navigation menu:
Fig. 2.5.1.8.1: The "Adsense Panel" link & customization screen:
Exactly what part of the page am I customizing here?
Firstly, we need to clarify the specific area within the page template that these modifications affect. The Adsense Panel is a boxed-out set of Adsense adverts that you can display at various positions, left or right of screen, within your page template. The Adsense adverts you specify within the Adsense Panel settings also dictate the Adsense adverts that are positioned within the Banner Ads slots at the head of each page (should you select 'Adsense ads' over 'Banner ads' in the relevant section). A sample position for your Adsense Panel might be as follows:
Fig. 2.5.1.8.2: The Adsense Panel, affected by changes in this section:
What are the customization options available to me?
Knowing the specific part of the website page template that is affected by your customizations within the 'Adsense Panel' section, we can now take a look at the types of customization open to us:
Copy Settings From...
This feature spans a number of the customization screens . Essentially, what 'Copy Settings From...' enables you to do is pick up the styles (Fonts, Colors, Sizes) on any of your other listed menu/text boxes/panels and replicate those styles across the current customization screen.
Put another way, if you have spent time setting up a particularly nice font with the exact coloring/sizing you've been looking for, to tie in with your header graphic, then you can apply these same font, size/coloring settings to a new customization section - in this case, the Adsense Panel - to save time, using this feature. It presents a lot better if you have a common styling repeated throughout the site, rather than a 'mish-mash' of different styles.
If the customization you require has already been successfully made to, say, your 'New Releases' then you can select 'New Releases' from the drop-down selector, then click on the "Copy" button, and 'hey presto!' the same color/style settings are adopted by the customization page you're currently working on.
This feature enables you to spend a good deal of time getting your site style right, before very quickly and easily replicating this look and feel across all the page elements in the Skin Setup section.
Google Account ID
Before you will be able to generate Adsense adverts within the Adsense Panel on your page template, you will of course first need an Adsense account with Google. Once you have set up an Adsense account you must enter your Google Account ID in this text box. Please take a moment to ensure that you have entered your Account ID correctly, to avoid problems displaying your Adsense content later on.
Shape
You also have the option to choose the shape of the Adsense Panel border - specifically, whether you want square or rounded corners. To do this, you just need to check the appropriate radio button for either of the two options.
Background
You can also choose the exact color you want as your background for the Adsense panel. You just need to click on the color picker button and a Color Picker window will pop-up. Then select the desired color and it will appear in the box situated on the left of the color picker button, along with the code or name of that specific color. Alternatively, you can type the Hexadecimal color value (if known) directly into the text box. Again, the color of the box will update immediately to confirm your color selection.
Border
The border for the Adsense Panel can be any color and/or line thickness you choose. To change the border color, click on the color picker button and select a color from the color picker. The color sample next to the color picker button will update to reflect your color choice. As mentioned before, you can type the hexadecimal value straight into this box if preferred. To adjust the thickness of the border around the Adsense Panel, you can specify how many pixels wide the border is. This can be useful when you wish to pick out this panel from other panels - a slightly thicker border around a panel can create added emphasis, and draw the customer's eye to this panel, and so your Adsense advertising.
Link Font
The Link Font refers to the 'title' of your individual Adsense ads, immediately above the descriptive text. This setting allows you to change the color of the link text by clicking on the color picker button and select a color from the color picker. The color sample right next to the color picker button will update to reflect your color choice.
Text Font
As with the Link Font color selection above, so you can modify the color of the Text Font. 'Text Font' refers to the descriptive text in the individual Adsense ads, below the Ad title. You can change the color of the descriptive text by clicking on the color picker button and select a color from the color picker. The color sample next to the color picker button will change to show what color is currently selected for this text.
URL Font
By URL font, this section refers to the URL listed at the bottom of each Adsense ad. You can easily change the color of this URL link by clicking on the color picker button and select a color from the color picker - the color sample adjacent to the color picker button will show the color you have currently specified for the URL's.
Want to reposition this panel?
You can reposition this panel, but not in this part of the Skin Setup section. To reposition panels, you need to use the "Panel Positions" option, also within the Skin Setup section.
Canceling, Previewing and Applying my changes
It is important to note that the four buttons at the bottom of the preview screen are the same for every other option within the 'Skin Setup' menu. Their functions are as follows:
"Preview" Button: This button allows you to load your website in the preview screen. This is a great way to visualize how different colors, fonts and layouts will work together coherently on the page (or not, if you've chosen a poor mix of styles!). This button does NOT make changes to your 'live' site - it is only for use as a visual 'proof' of your proposed changes. Please note that all changes made to your site - even those in other customization sections - will be previewed on pressing this button.
"Full Screen Preview" Button: This button allows you to load a new pop-up window illustrating, in full preview mode, exactly how the changes you have just made will look when your page is made live.
"Close" Button: This button will close the "Skin Setup" page without saving any changes you may have just made. If, for example, you change your mind, you can simply abandon your proposed changes by clicking the "Close" button. Only clicking the "Apply Changes" button (details of which are below) will you commit your changes.
"Apply Changes" Button: This button saves any changes you might have made to any of the skin setup sections. When you click on the button, you will be presented two options/buttons, "Cancel" and "Generate Site", as seen below:
Fig. 2.5.1.8.3: The "Cancel" and "Generate Site" options that appear after clicking on the "Apply Changes" button:
If you click on the "Cancel" button, the system will reload the previous version of your website in preview mode, without making any changes to the website.
Instead, if you click on the "Generate Site" button, the system will save your proposed changes and then will display the website in full screen preview mode. For clarity, this button will make live all the changes you have made since you last pressed the "Generate Site" button. Your customers will see all of the changes you have made immediately.
Tip:
It is highly recommended that you make full use of the "Preview" and "Full Screen Preview" buttons to ensure that the changes you have proposed appear exactly as you want, BEFORE committing the changes to the 'live' site (although you can of course edit the site again, and recommit additional changes, should you need to correct an error).