In this section you'll find the answers to the most common questions and problems.

1. General Questions about AdDesigner.com:
a. Is your service really free or is there a "catch"?
b. Will my free membership ever expire?
c. Do you offer a "premium" or "fee-based" membership?
d. Why does my banner ad say "Free Ad by AdDesigner.com"?
e. I did not receive my password via email - why?
f. How can I change my account password, email address or other account info?
g. I think your free banner ad service is terrific - how I can help?
h. Do you offer the opportunity to co-brand your service?

2. Questions about the banner ads:
a. What can I do with my new banner ad?
b. How do I upload my banner ad to my website?
c. How can I display my banner ad on someone else's webpage?
d. I added the HTML code but my ad doesn't appear, only a box with an 'X' in it - why?
e. My banner ad appears, but clicking on it does not do anything - why?
f. Can I design more than one banner ad?
g. I asked you to send me my banner ad via email but it never arrived - why?
h. The banner exchange I joined uses ads in a size other than 468x60, what should I do?
i. What is the URL of my banner ad?
j. Why isn't my banner ad animated when I view it in PhotoShop or some other program?
k. My banner ad plays once and then stops - why doesn't it repeat endlessly?
l. I use WebTV - how can I put my banner ad on my webpage?
m. I can't see any of the banner ads on this site - HELP!

3. Questions about adding a link to us on your webpage:
a. How can I add a link to your service on my webpage?

1. General Questions about AdDesigner.com:

a. Is your service really free or is there a "catch"
Our service is 100% free - there are no "catches" whatsoever. If you like our service, we'd appreciate if you would add a link to it on your website, but this is not required. You are completely free to use the banner ads anywhere you like - such as at your favorite banner exchange or even on your own website - completely free of royalties, commissions, etc.

b. Will my free membership ever expire?
Your free membership has no expiration. We intend to offer 100% free memberships forever.

c. Do you offer a "premium" or "fee-based" membership?
At the present time, we offer only one type of membership: free. We currently do not sell an "upgrade" or "premium" membership level.

d. Why does my banner ad say "Free Ad by AdDesigner.com"?
Rather than impose a fee, commission or reciprocal link requirement, we simply add these "credits" to all free banner ads. This is how we are able to offer this unique and valuable service without requiring anything in return. Our experience has shown that the credits do not detract from click-through rates.

e. I did not receive my password via email - why?
Surprisingly, the most likely cause of your email not getting to you is simply that your mailbox is FULL. If you use a free email account (such as with Yahoo or Hotmail) you need to be aware of the fact that if your mailbox is full, no additional email will get through. So, the first thing you should do is make sure your mailbox is not full.

f. How can I change my account password, email address or other account info?
Simply log into your account and then scroll to the very bottom of the screen to the section "More Options" - click the "My Account Info" button and make the changes you need.

g. I think your free banner ad service is terrific - how can I help?
We believe the highest compliment you can give us is to recommend us to others, so we'd greatly appreciate it if you tell your friends about our unique service or even add a link to us on your webpage. Adding a link to us is easy - simply click here or on "LINK TO US" at the top of the page.

h. Do you offer the opportunity to co-brand your service?
Yes! If your website meets basic eligibility requirements, you can easily and without cost create a co-branded site with us. Your co-branded site will have a URL customized just for your site's users (such as http://yoursite.addesigner.com) and will prominently carry your logo and name. Please contact webmaster@addesigner.com with your site's URL and a brief description of your service for more information.

2. Questions about the banner ads:

a. What can I do with my new banner ad?
Now that you have a banner, why not join a banner exchange such as bCentral's LinkExchange or SmartClicks? (see our Free Stuff section for some recommendations) A banner exchange is a free service that makes it easy for you to get exposure for your website. In exchange for displaying other people's banner ads on your site, your ads will be displayed on other people's sites. The banner exchange service takes care of virutally all the details, which makes it very convenient and easy to use.

b. How do I upload my banner ad to my website?
There are two steps involved in getting your banner ad to display on your webpage. First, you need to add the HTML code to your webpage that will display the banner ad, such as:
<IMG SRC='addesign.gif'>
(be sure to change 'addesign.gif' to the exact name of the file of the banner ad you want to appear).

The second step is to transfer the banner ad from our service to your web host's computer so that the HTML code can load and display it. Remember, the HTML code is stored on your web host's computer and therefore your banner ad must be stored there as well. In order to get your banner ad there, you first need to download it to your PC. You can do this by requesting that it be emailed to you or by clicking on it with your RIGHT mouse button and then selecting "SAVE FILE AS" to save it to your PC. Once it's on your PC, you will need to follow the upload procedure for your specific web host. If you are not sure what these are, you will need to contact your web host for uploading instructions.

c. How can I display my banner ad on someone else's webpage?
You cannot simply force your banner ad to appear on someone else's site - they must place it there for you. As a result, the most popular (and easiest) way to get your banner ad on other people's sites is to use a free banner exchange service (See Question 2a above).

d. I added the HTML code but my banner ad doesn't appear, only a box with an 'X' in it - why?
The blank box with an 'X' in it appears when the HTML code attempts to display your banner ad but cannot find the file you specified in the <IMG SRC> tag. Look at the name of the file in your <IMG SRC> tag and make sure it matches EXACTLY with the name of the file you uploaded to your web host's computers. And remember, if you uploaded your banner ad to a folder (such as /images/), be sure to include it in the <IMG SRC>. For more information, see Question 2b above. Also, see our selection of free HTML RESOURCES.

e. My banner ad appears, but clicking on it does not do anything - why?
You need to add the HTML code that will control what, if anything, happens when your banner ad is clicked. Simply add <A HREF="http://someplace.com"> immediately before the <IMG SRC> tag and then add </A> immediately after the <IMG SRC> tag. Of course, change "http://someplace.com" to the full address of where people should be sent when they click.

f. Can I design more than one banner ad?
Absolutely! In fact, we suggest you design and use several banner ads (this helps you find ones that work best for you).

Our service retains only your most recently designed ad (and only for 12 hours), but you can save an unlimited number of ads on your PC. All you need to do is every time you finish designing a banner ad you want to keep, simply instruct our system to email it to you (or you can download it to your PC). This way you can actually keep your own personal library of banner ads at your disposal whenever you like.

g. I asked you to send my banner ad to me via email but it never arrived - why?
Because your banner ad is a graphic image, it must be sent as a "binary attachment". If you received an email from us that said your banner ad was attached but you couldn't find it, then it is likely that your email service provider does not allow you to receive binary attachments.

The other likely cause is simply that your mailbox is full. If you use a free email account with services such as Yahoo or Hotmail, you should make sure that your mailbox is not full (you need about 15K for each banner ad you want emailed to you).

h. The banner exchange I joined uses ads in a size other than 468x60 - what can I do?
468x60 is the only industry-standard size for full banner ads. Any other size is considered non-standard and is not supported by our service. Simply shrinking a 468x60 banner to the size you need will produce poor results. Unfortunately, you may have only two alternatives: find someone who can make an ad to meet your specifications or find a different banner exchange (all major banner exchanges use the 468x60 size).

i. What is the URL of my banner ad?
We store your most current banner ad for 12 hours at this temporary URL:
http://www.addesigner.com/users/youremailaddress.at.somewhere.gif

Remember to replace "youremailaddress.at.somewhere" with the email address you used to register with us. So, for example, if your email address is "joe@public.com" then your banner ad will be stored for 12 hours after you design it at http://www.addesigner.com/users/joe.at.public.com.gif.

j. Why isn't my banner ad animated when I view it in PhotoShop or some other program?
Programs like PhotoShop can't properly handle animated images. As a result, they display only the first frame of the animation. If you want to view a banner ad you have saved on your PC, we suggest you load it into your web browser. To do so, simply go to FILE - OPEN - BROWSE and then locate the file on your PC.

k. My banner ad plays once and then stops - why doesn't it repeat endlessly?
When you designed your ad, you probably specified "LinkExchange/bCentral" as your intended use. Our service knows that LinkExchange/bCentral does not want banners to "loop" or "repeat" (they make it repeat for you). As a result, when you specify "LinkExchange/bCentral" as the target use, your banner ad will not repeat. If you want it to repeat, be sure NOT to specify "LinkExchange/bCentral".

l. I use WebTV - how can i put my banner ad on my webpage?
WebTV users can use a "transloader" service (such as the free one offered at http://www.transloader.com). This service will "transload" your banner ad from our server directly to your webpage in a matter of seconds. This is especially useful for WebTV users who cannot download their banner ad. All you need to know in order to "transload" your banner ad is its temporary URL (see Question 2i above) and information about your webpage.

m. I can't see any of the banner ads on this site - HELP!
Many popular firewalls and webfiltering software, such as ZoneAlarm, offer the ability to disable the viewing of banner ads. Check to see whether you currently have that setting on and turn it off, at least while using our banner ad service.

3. Questions about adding a link to us on your webpage:

a. How can I add a link to your service on my webpage?
Adding a link to us on your page is a great way to show your support and to tell others about our unique service. Plus, it's very easy. Click on "LINK TO US" at the top of the page (or click here) for step-by-step instructions.