---
title: "Template banners"
description: "Render a rich-media template your network prepared — interstitial, catfish bar, interscroller, native block — from the properties you fill in per banner, including file uploads, From link and the Media library, and what to do when the Template list is empty."
type: "howto"
audience: [network-manager]
keywords: [template banner, rich media, template properties, catfish, interstitial, interscroller, HTML5 zip, from link, media library, template list empty]
ui_path: "Account → Advertisers → campaign → Add new banner"
---

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. Append .md to any documentation page URL to get its markdown version.

# Template banners

A **Template** banner renders a rich-media template your network prepared — interstitial,
catfish bar, interscroller, native block — from the properties you fill in per banner: artwork,
click URL, numbers, files. It is valid on Site, Non-standard, Mobile site and Application
placements. The templates themselves are authored in [Templates](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/templates.md); the other
markup type, [HTML Code banners](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template-html-code.md), serves markup you paste.

**Example.** For a seasonal catfish bar, Northwind Media's campaign uses a Template banner: pick
the network's *Catfish* template, upload the 970×90 artwork and the click URL into its
properties, and the template does the rest.

## Typical scenarios

| You want | Set | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A catfish bar, interstitial or interscroller built by your network | Banner type **Template** → pick the template → fill its properties (artwork, URL, numbers) | Add new banner → Site / Non-standard / Mobile site / Application |
| An HTML5 ZIP creative | A Template whose property is a ZIP upload — [HTML5 ZIP creatives](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/html5-zip-creatives.md) | Template properties |
| The artwork already in the Media Library | **Media library** on an HTML5 ZIP property; **From link** for a file hosted elsewhere | Template properties |

## Step by step

### Template

1. **Add new banner** → the placement type. Template is valid on Site, Non-standard, Mobile site
   and Application placements — **not Video, not Email, not Native**.
2. Set **Banner type** to *Template*, then pick a **Template**. Required. The list holds the
   templates enabled for that placement type — and can come back empty on Mobile site and
   Application (see caveats).
3. Fill in **Template properties**. The fields come from the template itself: text, numbers with
   their own min/max, dropdowns, checkboxes and **file uploads** (including HTML5 ZIP bundles —
   [HTML5 ZIP creatives](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/html5-zip-creatives.md)). A file field can also take a link (**From
   link**): the file is downloaded once when you save and stored as if uploaded. An HTML5 ZIP
   field can also take a ZIP from the [Media Library](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/media-library.md) (**Media library**).
   Links typed into text fields are never downloaded.
4. Pick the **Ad unit** where shown. For Template banners it is never required.
5. On Site and Non-standard placements, optionally enable passback — see
   [Set up passback](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template-passback.md).
6. **Save**, then **Preview**.

   ![Template properties on a saved Template banner](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/banner-html-and-template/template-properties.webp)

## Caveats and exceptions

**Template is offered where no template may be enabled.** On Mobile site and Application
placements you can reach a form with a required *Template* field and an empty list, and the
banner cannot be saved. Check the catalog first.

**Template URL properties are validated as URLs.** A reserved documentation domain like
`something.example` is rejected with *Must be a valid URL*; the banner's own click **URL** is not
validated that way, so the same address can be fine in one field and refused in the other.

The caveats that apply to both markup types — who can do this, the Ad unit rules per placement,
what switching the type and saving deletes — are on
[HTML code and Template banners](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template.md#caveats-and-exceptions).

## Not working?

| Symptom | Check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| **Template** combo is empty | No template enabled for this placement type | [Templates](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/templates.md): enable one for the type |
| No **Template** in the Banner type combo | Stock Advertiser role; the network manager grants Template banners | User roles & permissions |
| *Must be a valid URL* on a template property | URL properties are validated; the click URL field is not | Use a real, resolvable address |
| Save fails on a required property | A template property marked required is empty | Template properties |

The rest of the list — passback, the type switch, a creative that renders in Preview but not on
the page — is on [HTML code and Template banners](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template.md#not-working).

## Reference

Which placements take a Template banner and which fields each asks for:
[What each placement asks for](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template.md#what-each-placement-asks-for) and
[Options and fields](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template.md#options-and-fields).

## Related

- [HTML code and Template banners](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template.md)
- [HTML Code banners](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template-html-code.md)
- [Set up passback on a Code or Template banner](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/banner-html-and-template-passback.md)
- [Create and manage banner templates](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/templates.md)
- [Serve an HTML5 creative from a ZIP bundle](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/html5-zip-creatives.md)