Banner Ideas Module v. 3.4 Requirements

I. Introduction

This document describes the requirements for an ACS Banner Ideas module. The banner ideas module enables Web site administrators to place banners at the bottom of their Web pages which consist not of advertisements but of ideas and content.

II. Vision Statement

A banner idea is something that you can place randomly on pages enticing readers to click to a different, potentially unrelated page. How is that different from a banner ad? A banner idea

is typically programmed to appear at the bottom of a page, rather than at the top
has an arbitrarily long text introduction to the idea
can carry a good-sized photo as an additional enticement Why use banner ideas? If you have a bunch of users working themselves into a rut in a particular corner of your site, you can use banner ideas to show them the interesting content on other parts of the site. For example, photo.net uses these to try to get people to go from the "boring" classified ads system http://photo.net/gc/.

III. System/Application Overview

The Banner Ideas module will consist primarily of an administrator interface and an API for developers. Site-wide administrators will use the administrator interface to create and maintain their banner ideas. Developers will use the API to display banners at the bottom of pages which they write for users to see.

IV. Use Case and User Scenarios

Creating Banner Ideas

Annie Admin runs a popular ACS-backed Web site about green shoes. People visit her site from all over the world to read her trendy articles about shoe fashion and to view her green shoes picture gallery. One day, Annie Admin imagines that her Web site would be much nicer if at the bottom of every article, she put a random picture of green shoes paired with a short synopsis about when one might wear those shoes. These pictures could link to other, more detailed articles on the same subject within her Web site. So, Annie uses the Banner Ideas module to create many small banners consisting of green shoes and a description.

Displaying Banner Ideas

While Annie Admin is writing her banners, she hires David Developer to customize her Web pages to display the banner ideas. David Developer, quite happy with his $10,000 contracting fee for customizing Annie Admin's entire site to display banners, simply appends to the bottom of every Web page a single command: [bannerideas_random]. His task finished, David Develop goes on to do other, important work with a large bank check in his wallet and a new pair of emerald, wing-tipped shoes on his feet.

Viewing Banner Ideas

Vivian Vogue comes to visit Annie Admin's Web Site. While reading an article on matching green shoes with bridal gowns, Vivian notices a nice pair of jade-studded sneakers at the bottom of the page. She reads the sneakers' accompanying description and then clicks on its link to read the entire sneaker article. Vivian Vogue decides that she will have to find herself a pair of those shoes. They would match perfectly with her Mystic Moments nail polish.

V. Related Links

VI.A. Requirements: Data Model

10 The Data Model

10.1 a banner idea should have a unique identifier

10.2 a banner idea may have text

10.3 a banner idea may have a picture

10.4 a banner idea may have a link to more information

VI.B. Requirements: Administrator Interface

20 Administrator Interface

20.1 the administrator should be able to create new banner ideas

20.2 the administrator should be able to edit banner ideas

20.3 the administrator should be able to delete banner ideas

VI.C. Requirements: Developer Interface

30 Developer Interface

30.1 the banner ideas module should expose an API for developers

30.1.1 the API should include a function for displaying random banner ideas

30.1.2 the API should include a function for displaying specific banner ideas

VI.D. Requirements: User Interface

40 User Interface

40.1 the user should be able to see a banner idea where the administrator intends one to be shown

VII. Revision History

Document Revision #	Action Taken, Notes	When?	By Whom?
0.1	Creation	8/30/2000	Bryan Che

bryanche@arsdigita.com