---
title: "Publisher playbook"
description: "What a publisher does day to day — add a site, organize it into zones, create placements, take the ad tag, link the demand, share what you own, and read what the inventory earned."
type: "concept"
audience: [publisher]
keywords: [publisher, inventory, sites, zones, placements, ad tags, playbook, read-only, can view, sharing, templates, revenue, header bidding, bid floor, permissions, what your network controls, ads.txt, consent, scheduled report, payout]
ui_path: "Account → Publishers"
---

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.

# Publisher playbook

As a publisher you run the **supply side**: your sites, the zones that organize them, the
placements that hold the ads, the tags that go on your pages, and the reports that show what
those placements earned. This page walks through that work in the order you usually do it and
points to the guide for each step.

It describes the **stock Publisher role**, the one a new network gives its publishers. Your
network can widen or narrow it; [What your network controls](#what-your-network-controls) lists
what is off by default and who switches it on.

## Where you work

A stock Publisher has four tabs:

**Dashboard · Publishers · Analytics · Preferences**

![Your Publishers tab: the site tree, and the selected site's Basic info and Pre-targeting cards](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/publisher/publisher-view.webp)

**Publishers** is where you spend the day: a tree of sites, zones and placements, with the edit
page for whatever you select beside it. **Dashboard** and **Analytics** show performance, and
**Preferences** holds your own settings. Further tabs, such as Header Bidding, Advertisers, Shares
or Templates, appear when your network adds them to your role.

## 1. Add a site

Use **New site** on the rail beside the Publishers tree. A site you create is yours as **Is
Owner** straight away. The stock role has no **Category** field; your network assigns categories.

A new site usually starts **Approved**. If yours shows an amber **Pending** or red **Rejected**
badge in the page header, the network has not signed it off yet. A pending site still serves
ads, but it is left out of search suggestions and, on networks that generate placements
automatically, gets none until it is approved.

See [Sites](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/sites.md).

## 2. Organize it into zones

Select the site and click **Add new zone** in its header (or the **New zone** icon on the rail). A zone is just a grouping: a name, an Active switch and a
description. See [Zones](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/zones.md).

## 3. Create placements

Select a zone and use **Add new placement...**, then pick the placement type. The stock role
creates **Site Placement**s, the standard display slot on a web page. Other types (Mobile Site,
Non-standard, Video, Native, Application, Email) are created for you by the network unless your
role includes them; once one exists under your site you work with it like any other placement.
The type decides which cards and settings the placement gets. See
[Create placements](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/placements-create.md) and
[Placement types](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/reference/placement-types.md).

On a placement you can set its size (or a flexible size), auto-refresh, its Active switch,
[pre-targeting](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/targeting/pretargeting-blocking.md) and a **Default code** that is
returned when nothing fills the slot — your passback. The order in which the demand linked to
the placement is tried (daisy chaining) is a network setting; see
[Daisy chaining and passback](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/delivery/daisy-chaining-passback.md).

## 4. Take the ad tag

Open the placement's **Ad tags & API** card, pick the tag tab and **Copy**. The **Copy ad tag**
icon copies a placement's tag without opening it: in the **Grids** view it is on every Site,
Mobile Site, Non-standard, Video and Email row, while the tree shows it only on placements that
have had traffic recently — never on one you have just created. On a Non-standard placement it
copies **Direct URL** rather than Universal JS, so take that tag from the card.

What the card offers depends on the placement type:

| Placement type | Tabs a stock Publisher gets |
|---|---|
| Site, Mobile Site | **Universal JS**, plus **Settings** |
| Non-standard | **Universal JS** and **Direct URL**, plus **Settings** |
| Video | **Video Player** and the **VAST tags** |
| Email | **Email** |
| Native, Application | **API** — the request URL and parameters, no snippet |

Universal JS appears only once the network has an ad-serving domain; on a network without one, a
Site or Mobile Site placement has no **Ad tags & API** card at all, and a Non-standard one offers
only **Direct URL**. The card also disappears while the placement's **Active** switch is off.

See [Ad tags & API](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/ad-tags-and-api.md) and
[Invocation codes](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/reference/invocation-codes.md).

## 5. Put the tag on your page

Paste the Universal JS tag where the ad should appear. On a page with several slots, keep one
copy of the `<script>` and one `<ins>` per placement. For WordPress and other site builders, see
[Install a tag on WordPress or another CMS](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/ad-tags-and-api.md#install-a-tag-on-wordpress-or-another-cms).

The slot fills once demand is linked to the placement, which the network does — by hand or
through its matching rules. Until then it returns its Default code, or stays empty.

Before you go live, check how the tag treats consent on your pages and add the lines your network
gives you to your `ads.txt`. See [Privacy signals and ads.txt](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/privacy-and-ads-txt.md).

## 6. Sell through header bidding (if your network does)

If your network sells your pages through Prebid, it sends you a script and one container per ad
position, a `bids` entry for your own Prebid.js, or a set of slot ids for your app. See
[Header bidding: what a publisher installs](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/header-bidding-for-publishers.md).

## Watching what it earns

The **Dashboard** is the publisher dashboard: one **period** control in its header drives the
**Revenue**, **Impressions**, **eCPM**, **Clicks** and **CTR** tiles, a trend chart, and a
**Publisher/Zone/Placement** tree with **Requests**, **Fill rate**, Impressions, Clicks, Revenue,
CTR and eCPM per site, zone and placement. **Revenue** is what you are paid, unless your network
adjusts the figures shown to you; if a statement differs, ask your network manager. It has no widgets to add or move — the widget dashboard
belongs to roles with the base report columns, such as the stock Network Manager. See
[Dashboards](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/dashboards.md).

On **Analytics**, keep **Type of reports** on **General**, set the date range and grouping, and
cut the report to a site, zone or placement with the **Publishers filter**. Save a set-up you
want again. See [Run a report](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/run-report.md).

> **Corner case:** a site missing from the Publishers filter is usually inactive. Turn **Hide
> inactive** off above the filter tree.

Your earnings are what the network pays you per site, zone and placement, after its revenue share
or fixed price. The network sets those terms; the pricing cards are not on your pages. Payment
dates and methods are agreed with your network, not set in the product — see
[When and how am I paid?](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/troubleshooting/faq.md#when-and-how-am-i-paid).

**Sending the numbers to a partner.** The stock role cannot create logins for other people, but
any saved report can be e-mailed on a schedule to any address: save the report on **Analytics**,
then add a schedule and recipients. See
[Schedule recurring emails](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/saved-and-scheduled.md#schedule-recurring-emails).

## Sites shared with you

Every site in your tree comes at one of three levels, and the **Sharing type** filter above the
tree narrows to each:

| Level | What you can do |
|---|---|
| **Is Owner** | Everything your role allows — what you get on a site you created |
| **Can Edit** | Open and change it, add zones and placements under it |
| **Can View** | Open it, take its tags and report on it; nothing can be changed |

A **Can View** site opens completely, but every card carries a **Read-only** pill and there is no
Save or Reset button. The tree does not mark read-only sites, so open one to tell. If you need to
change it, ask your network manager for **Can Edit**.

![A site you hold as Can View, with the Read-only pill on Basic info](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/publisher/publisher-readonly-site.webp)

> **Corner case:** **Delete** on the tree rail stays enabled, and the server refuses it after you
> confirm: on a read-only site, zone or placement, and on any of them for the stock Publisher role,
> which cannot delete inventory.

An empty tree means nothing has been shared with you yet and you have not added a site. Ask your
network manager which sites you should have.

## When your network grants more

These sections apply once your role has the matching permission.

**Selling your own demand.** With the **Advertisers** tab you sell campaigns directly:
**New advertiser** starts the chain. A banner competes for a placement only once the two are
linked, which needs the link permission as well; **Banners probability** then splits traffic
between the linked banners. See [Advertisers](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/advertisers.md) and
[Hierarchy and linking](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/concepts/hierarchy-and-linking.md).

**Sharing what you own.** Pass on a site from its own **Sharing settings** card, up to your own
level, or use the **Shares** tab for several sites and users at once. The Shares tab lists only
what you hold as **Is Owner** and only users you created; a Can View site cannot be passed on.
**Actions → Create user & share** on a site creates a statistics account with a Can View share on
it and e-mails an invitation to choose a password. See
[Shares](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/shares.md).

**Templates.** A **Placement Content Adapter** template, picked in a placement's **Adapter
template** field, lets native creatives render in a display, mobile, non-standard or application
slot. See [Templates](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/templates.md).

**Header Bidding tab.** Build the header-bidding tags for sites you can edit yourself instead of
receiving them. See [Header bidding](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/header-bidding.md).

## What your network controls

| Capability | Stock Publisher | Who switches it on |
|---|---|---|
| Create sites, zones and Site placements; pre-targeting, Default code, auto-refresh, flexible size | Yes | — |
| Scheduled e-mail reports to any address | Yes | — |
| Pick a site **Category** | No — the field is not shown | Your network manager assigns categories |
| Create Mobile Site, Non-standard, Video, Native, Application or Email placements | No | Your network manager |
| Universal JS tag | Yes, on Site, Mobile Site and Non-standard placements | The network needs an ad-serving domain — ask your network or Epom support |
| Mount JS, Simple Iframe, Direct URL on Site and Mobile Site, API on Site, Mobile Site and Non-standard | No | Your network manager |
| Link or unlink banners | No — there is no **Linked banners** card | Your network manager, or the network's matching rules |
| Delete sites, zones or placements | No | Your network manager deletes, or grants Delete |
| Share sites, **Create user & share**, **Shares** tab, default share settings | No | Your network manager |
| Header Bidding, Advertisers and Templates tabs | No | Your network manager |
| Revenue share, pricing, CPM threshold, limits, capping, daisy chaining | No — the cards are not shown | Your network manager |
| [Bid floor](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/delivery/pricing-bid-floor-and-margin.md#set-a-bid-floor) | No | Your network manager, who asks your network administrator |
| Banners probability card, matched and linked banners | No | Your network manager |

The internal names of these permissions — for example *Manage Publisher Revenue Share*,
*Link Placements to Banners* or *Bid Floor Management* — are what your network manager sees when
editing your role. You do not need them; describe what you want to do.

## Placeholder names

If your network gives your role inventory or campaign masking, entities you do not own show as
placeholders such as `SITE_12` or `BANNER_2290`. Sizes, types and statuses stay visible; only the
name is withheld. The stock Publisher sees real names. See
[Sharing & permission model](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/concepts/sharing-permission-model.md).

## Preferences

On the stock role **Preferences** holds a login IP whitelist, your notification subscriptions and
extra recipients, and your scheduled events. There is no Change password card: reset your password
from **Forgot password?** on the sign-in page, or ask your network manager to set a new one. See [Preferences](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/preferences.md).

## Related

- [Quick start for publishers](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/start/quick-start-publisher.md)
- [Roles, permissions, and sharing](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/roles.md)
- [Sites](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/sites.md)
- [Zones](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/zones.md)
- [Create placements](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/placements-create.md)
- [Ad tags & API](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/ad-tags-and-api.md)
- [Privacy signals and ads.txt](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/privacy-and-ads-txt.md)
- [Saved and scheduled reports](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/saved-and-scheduled.md)
- [Header bidding: what a publisher installs](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/inventory/header-bidding-for-publishers.md)
- [Advertisers](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/advertisers.md)
- [Templates](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/advertising/templates.md)
- [Shares](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/shares.md)
- [Run a report](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/run-report.md)
- [Dashboards](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/analytics/dashboards.md)