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Troubleshooting Ad Inserter: Why Your Ads Aren't Showing on the Homepage

8 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Ad inserter – ad manager & adsense ads

Content

One of the most common issues users encounter with the 'Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads' plugin is ads not appearing on their WordPress homepage. This can be frustrating, but the cause is often related to a few specific settings or theme compatibility. Based on community support threads, here are the most effective solutions to get your homepage ads displaying correctly.

Why This Happens

The homepage of a WordPress site is often structured differently than standard posts or pages. Many themes use unique templates and hooks for the homepage, which can affect how and where Ad Inserter is able to place ads. The issue is rarely a bug in the plugin itself but rather a configuration that needs to be adjusted for your specific theme and setup.

Common Solutions

1. Verify Your Homepage Setting

The most basic check is to ensure the ad block is actually enabled for the homepage. In the Ad Inserter settings for your block, navigate to the Page / Post Filter section and make sure the Homepage checkbox is ticked. A frequent mistake is accidentally blacklisting the homepage URL in another filter, which would override this setting. Ensure no URL blacklists are active if you intend to show the ad on the homepage.

2. Check Your Theme's Hooks (Positions)

Automatic ad insertion works by placing code into specific theme hooks (positions). If your theme doesn't use a standard hook on its homepage, the ad will not appear. A common finding in support threads is that the Before content position often only works on single posts and pages, not the homepage.

How to troubleshoot:

  1. Enable Ad Inserter's debugging function. In the plugin's global settings, turn on Debugging and Show positions.
  2. Visit your homepage while logged in. You will see a list of available positions that your theme outputs on that page.
  3. Reconfigure your ad block to use one of the positions that are actually available on your homepage.

3. Use a Widget or Shortcode for Sidebar Ads

If you are trying to insert an ad into a sidebar that is site-wide but only want it to show on the homepage, automatic insertion might not be the best method. Instead:

  1. Create your ad block in Ad Inserter.
  2. Use the provided shortcode (e.g., [adinserter block="1"]) for that block.
  3. Add a Text widget to your sidebar and paste the shortcode inside it.
  4. Use a widget visibility plugin to control the widget, restricting it to appear only on the homepage.
This method gives you precise control over the ad's placement without relying on theme hooks.

4. Ensure Remote Debugging is Enabled When Seeking Help

If you've tried these steps and still need help from the community, the 'Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads' team and other experts will almost always ask you to first enable remote debugging. This allows them to see your configuration and diagnose the problem. This is a crucial step before asking for assistance in forums.

Conclusion

Ads not showing on the homepage is typically a configuration issue, not a permanent error. By methodically checking your homepage settings, verifying your theme's available positions, and considering alternative insertion methods like widgets, you can almost always resolve the problem yourself.

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