Ads are already in place and you should see them. If not, then there could be something wrong with the settings, although I did double-check the permissions yesterday.
As for ads being the "whole point" and "top priority", they really aren't. Anyone who has done websites and used Google Adsense knows that it won't make you rich.
Elements the Game gets many times more hits than our forum ever will, and you can ask Zanz how many cars he bought with Elements ad revenue.
Reality is that if you want to make some REAL money with online ads, you need a website with thousands and thousands of visitors each day. Money this site creates would probably not even be enough to pay for hosting.
I purposely kind of exaggerated the awesomeness of increased ad revenue when I proposed this idea because I knew that this was the best way to get people aboard. Of course every cent counts but if someone thinks this forum will generate hundreds of dollars each year, he is mistaken. The real "point of this exercise" is of course the community. Now we have full control over our own forums and we can customize it just the way we want. I have big plans for this community and new forums are just the first step.
As for text being difficult to read.. that's mainly because the forums are still under construction and things will change. I am well aware that the main navigation is impossible to read with pictures behind it but it was never my intention to leave it that way. It will be fixed. Just like some of that black text on dark background will, etc.
