FAQ
Welcome to the Digital-Folders Network Frequently Asked Questions page. In here we’ll try to answer some of the questions that more often are asked by our bloggers and visitors. If the answer to your question isn’t listed, just use our contact form and ask us directly. We’ll be more than glad to answer it.
For Bloggers
There are several advantages in joining a blogging network:
- Traffic: visitors of any blog in the network have connections available to every other blog in the network. This can generate more traffic for your sites than if you were alone.
- SEO: You’ll get a link from every other blog in the network.
- Ad Sales: it’s easier to sell your ad spaces if the contact with the potential advertisers is done through a network than if you do it on your own.
-Learning Opportunity: Through the tips and advices given by the network, you have a better change of making it in the mighty blogosphere.
-Relationships: Bloggers inside a network have open doors for interaction with the other bloggers. This can also be a good way of learning and solving problems.
-Technical Support: Not every blogger has the knowledge to solve every problem that might arise. Nor the network administrators, but definitely makes it easier to find the solutions.
How do I apply for the Digital-Folders Network?
We have an application page where we explain what we give and require from our bloggers. In there, you can also find our application form. Fill it and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Head on to our Bloggers Needed page.
Can I join the Digital-Folders Network with my current blog?
Sure. We call it integrating an existing blog into the network. Just go to our Bloggers Needed page and choose that option at the start of the application process.
How do I get a new blog in the Digital-Folders Network?
Same procedure as above. Just head to our application page and choose that option at the start of the application form.
What if I just want to write once in a while for an existing blog?
Then you’ll be a guest blogger. That option is also available in the application form of our Bloggers Needed page. From the blogs that make that option available, choose the one you want to write for. You’ll be given a contributor account on that blog and you can post as often as you want. If you wish, Adsense revenue from your posts goes in total directly into your Adsense account (you need to have one).
Who owns the content on the blogs?
The content of each post belongs to each author. The Digital-Folders Network holds no claim on it.
What is this time and revenue sharing you mention?
This applies only to the ad spaces reserved for the Digital-Folders Network and is distributed 50%-50% if we host the blog or 25%-75% if the blog is self-hosted. Time sharing applies to blogs integrated in the network and means that, until the ad space is sold, the number of impressions of the “in house” ads (adsense, affiliates, etc.) is distributed according to the above mentioned percentages. When the ad space is sold, turns into revenue sharing. The bloggers gets paid the percentage of the revenue given to us by the advertiser (50% or 75%).
How many ad spaces do I need to reserve on my blog?
If your blog is hosted and was set up by us, the ad spaces are already placed (one on the left sidebar, four on the right sidebar) and you don’t need to worry any more about it.
If the blog was integrated, we don’t have a minimum number as it’s something to be discussed having into account the blog template you currently have. A minimum of one is, as obvious, required.
Can I monetize my blog in any other way?
Sure. You have complete control of any other forms of monetization you wish to implement, and we’ll even give you advice on it. We only require that your forms of monetization be compatible with ours. This means, no clashes between the terms of service of the programs used. Oh, and please, no porn ads or any other fishy programs.
Do you also sell text link ads?
If you want us to, yes. We can include a number of text links positions (up to 4) available in your blog advertising page. These text links are placed on the sidebars and are sold on a monthly basis.
What we call “in house” ads are non-contracted advertisements. This means that the ad space is not sold to any advertiser and the ads placed there usually generate revenue if visitors interact with them. To this category belong contextual ads (adsense, etc.), affiliate ads (generate revenue if a visitor shops on the advertiser site, coming from your site), network ads, etc. They are used to fill the space and generate some revenue until the space is sold. These ads have low priority in our ad server and are automatically replaced as soon as the space is directly sold.
Why do “in house” ads also need to go through your ad server?
We chose this option to minimize your effort as soon as the ad space is sold. Basically, the code you need to place on your blog just asks our server “What ad should be displayed now?”. If the ad space is not sold, the server answers “in house ad x or y”. If the space is sold, the ad server replies with the respective ad. This way, independently of which “in house” ads you want to display for a certain space, you never need to change your blog’s template.
Do you provide advice on blogging and blog monetization?
Yes. We have a “Resources for Bloggers” page where we publish advice on the best blogging procedures. We also review monetization forms and help you implement them.
Since we don’t know everything, we’ll provide links to articles in other blogs specialized in metablogging (blogging about blogging) that can help you achieve your goals in blogging.
If you have questions, we can try to answer them to the best of our knowledge and experience or put you in contact with someone who can answer.
How do I get paid for the ads running on my blog?
If the ads running are “in house” ads, the payment is between you and the provider of the program you are using (e.g. Google for Adsense). We have no control on which ads you wish to run and we never see any money from them.
If the ads running were directly sold to an advertiser, you get your share through PayPal (you need a paypal account) as soon as the advertising plan is finished (e.g. if an advertiser buys 2000 impressions of an ad on one of your spaces, you’ll get paid as soon as that number is reached).
For Advertisers
Advertising on blogs is a proven method to expose your brand, product or site to a highly targeted audience. Visitors come to our blogs to read content specific to a certain subject and thus are more open to related advertisement.
Besides, your ads will be displayed site-wide, in every page of the blog. This can have huge effects in your SEO efforts.
Are your spaces exclusive or do you rotate banners?
When you buy a space in our blogs, the space is yours for the time (or plan) contracted. We do not rotate ads in that space and the only ad you and our visitors will see is yours.
How can I order ads on your blogs?
We tried to make the process as easy and intuitive as possible. In our advertising page you can see a list of all our blogs. Click on the logo of the blog you wish to advertise on and you’ll be taken to a schematic page with the positions available as well as the prices for each advertising plan we offer for each position (CPM or monthly flat-rate). Click on the respective button for the position you wish and you’ll be taken to a form where you can fill in your details and upload your creative for that space. After processing you’ll be sent an invoice for payment through PayPal. Your ads will start running as soon as the payment is cleared.
What are the advertising plans you offer?
For the time being we offer two types of advertising plans: Number of impressions (the number of times your ads will be displayed), or a monthly flat-rate (number of months your ads will be displayed, independently of impressions or clicks).
What kind of ads / creatives can I run?
We allow for image creatives only (no video or flash animations). The files should be no bigger than 20kb and the image size should fit to the ad space contracted. Bigger images will be resized to fit the space. The image links to your landing page of choice.
Can I see how my ads are doing?
As soon as your ads start running, you’ll be given a username and password to access our ad server. There you’ll be able to see almost in real-time (updated hourly) the statistics for your ads (impressions, date, visitors, clicks, etc.). You’ll also receive weekly reports by email.
What if I want to change my creative in the middle of the plan?
For that you need to contact us. We allow changes in creatives as long as they reflect the same product or site as the initial one. The landing page must also be the same.
As mentioned above, when you fill our advertising form, you’ll be sent an invoice to pay via PayPal. You don’t need a PayPal account to be able to execute the payment and you can pay via direct debit to your bank account or credit card. The processing is always done by PayPal.
What if I want more than one ad on the same blog?
You just need to go through the ordering process again and choose the space you want your second (or more) ad on. It all depends on the availability of the space.
I want a certain space but it’s currently occupied. What can I do?
In the advertising order page you can see which ad spaces are available. If the one you want is currently occupied, depending on the plan contracted by that advertiser, you may see the next date it will be available on. Just order normally and your ad will be placed on queue for that space. It will start running as soon as the contract with the previous advertiser expires.
Can I advertise in the whole network?
This is hard since not every blog has the same spaces available at the same time. Nonetheless, contact us and explain us your idea and we’ll get back to you with a list of the blogs that have the desired spaces available for the time period you need.
General Questions
A blogging network is a group of blogs that are interconnected, share the same principles and abide by the same rules.
There are many types of blogging networks around. Some require all blogs to have the same template, some allow for diversity (like us); Some pay bloggers per post have time contracts while others (like us) share the revenue; Some are dedicated to a specific subject, others (like us) group their blogs into subject channels (also called vertical channels).
What is the Digital-Folders Network?
The Digital-Folders Network is a blogging network. This means that each individual blog with us is connected to the others and shares some common principles and standards.
To read more about the Digital-Folders Network, follow to our about page.
How can I subscribe to your posts?
Currently, we only have enabled RSS subscriptions (email subscriptions to come very soon). Meanwhile, click on the orange RSS feed icon that you can find on each individual blog, or on our main page. You’ll be taken to a page where you can choose to add the feed to your web based reader or other. Don’t know what a RSS feed is? Here is a good explanation.
The quick answer? Your information is safe with us.
The long answer? In our Privacy Policy page.
Can I use content from your blogs?
If you ask, we might look into it and give you a reply, but the final answer is always up to the owner of the blog. In any case, all the content is copyrighted and you can’t use it without permission.
Just use the contact form link you see on the top of every page (just bellow the logo). To contact specific bloggers, use the contact form on each individual blog.
What is the “U Comment - I Follow” badge some of your blogs display?
The 
image shows the readers that the blog has joined the “U Comment - I Follow” movement.
Most of the blogs around, in order to avoid spam, have a “nofollow” tag on all the links placed by readers in the comments panel. This means that search engines will not follow through these links and the comment will not influence the page rank of the page where it links to.
This is a way to avoid spam but also doesn’t bring any value to the person who wrote the comment. With very good spam blockers around for blog comments, there is no need not to reward the readers and people who actually take the time to comment on the posts with some “link love”.
So, by showing you this icon, the blogger is telling you that he has removed the “nofollow” from the comments panels. Any link to your web sites that you include on your comment will be followed by search engines and will add to the link count that influences your page rank.
We don’t enforce this procedure to our bloggers, but we certainly recommend it.
What if I have more questions?
We tried to give you a list of answers long enough to satisfy even the toughest visitors. But if there was something that we oversaw, just use our contact form as ask as much as you want. Every question is answered.
