Captive promo banners

Promote offers on the captive portal

Open Communications → Promo banners. These campaigns render promotional placements on captive pages and count views and clicks. They do not send SMS/email.

Creative fields

• Name: required, maximum 120; internal reporting label.
• Type: banner (scrolling text, the default), image or video. For a banner, the Name is the text subscribers see.
• Placement: top or bottom of the captive page. Campaigns saved with an older placement (middle, sidebar) now show at the bottom.
• Destination/media URL: optional, maximum 500; meaning depends on type.
• Media upload: optional; uploaded file takes precedence over URL.
• Display size: small, medium, or large for media: up to 120, 200 or 300 pixels tall. Medium is the default.
• Start/end: optional; blank start begins now and blank end runs indefinitely.

Supported media:

• images: PNG, JPEG, WEBP up to 2 MB (SVG is refused because it can carry scripts);
• video: MP4, WEBM up to 10 MB.

End must be on or after start.

Create a campaign

1. Choose a clear internal name.
2. Select type and placement.
3. For a link/banner, use a destination reachable by captive users.
4. For image/video, upload sanitized optimized media or use a trusted HTTPS URL.
5. Choose display size and preview on mobile/desktop captive layouts.
6. Set a deliberate run window.
7. Save and test from a real captive network.

Walled-garden considerations

A destination or hosted media URL may be unreachable before authentication unless the router allows it. Prefer controlled domains, keep the allowlist narrow, and test without using an already authenticated browser session.

Performance

A view is counted when the portal shows the creative, once per device every 10 minutes. The operator’s theme preview does not count. Views are saved in batches about every 5 minutes, so the campaign list trails the portal slightly.

Views and clicks allow a click-through-rate calculation. They measure portal interaction, not completed purchase or revenue unless another analytics path links the outcome. Compare campaigns with similar audience/window before drawing conclusions.

Find and track campaigns

The list shows four cards: All campaigns, Live now, Impressions and Clicks with the click-through rate. Tabs filter by All, Live, Scheduled and Ended. A campaign with no start or end date shows Always as its window.

Each slot on the portal shows one active banner of each type. The list of active banners refreshes every 60 seconds, so a change can take up to a minute to appear. Clicks are counted on image and video creatives.

Remove media

The edit form’s Remove action persists deletion of the saved creative. After removal, save the campaign and confirm the portal no longer renders the old cached asset.