Affiliates – FAQ

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How can I show affiliates their affiliate link?

Embed this shortcode on a page:

[affiliates_url]

This will render a link to your site with the affiliate ID appended.

If you want to link to a certain page, you can use this shortcode:

[affiliates_url]http://www.example.com/somepage[/affiliates_url]

If you want to show how a link would look like, you can use the shortcode within HTML as well, for example:

<a href=”[affiliates_url]”>[affiliates_url]</a>

Remember to use HTML entities for < and >.

Earnings … How can I show affiliates information about their performance?

Your affiliates will want to know how much they will and have earned and how many referrals they have made.

Use the [affiliates_referrals] shortcode to show how many referrals an affiliate has made and how much the affiliate has earned.

The [affiliates_referrals] shortcode will show the total number of referrals that have been accepted or closed for the affiliate.

To show the number of referrals for an affiliate by status, embed it like this:

Examples:

– Accepted referrals: [affiliates_referrals status=”accepted”]
– Closed referrals: [affiliates_referrals status=”closed”]
– Pending referrals: [affiliates_referrals status=”pending”]
– Rejected referrals: [affiliates_referrals status=”rejected”]

If you add the show=”total” attribute to that shortcode, it will make a list of earnings by currency:

Examples:

Total amount for paid and unpaid referrals: [affiliates_referrals show=”total”]

– Total for unpaid referrals: [affiliates_referrals show=”total” status=”accepted”]
– Total for paid referrals: [affiliates_referrals show=”total” status=”closed”]
– Total for referrals pending approval: [affiliates_referrals show=”total” status=”pending”]
– Total for rejected referrals: [affiliates_referrals show=”total” status=”rejected”]

Is it possible to show content for affiliates or non-affiliates only?

* Embed the content that you want to show to affiliates like this:

[affiliates_is_affiliate]

This is visible to affiliates who are logged in only.

[/affiliates_is_affiliate]

* For content to show to non-affiliates use this:

[affiliates_is_not_affiliate]

You can see this if you are not logged in as an affiliate.

[/affiliates_is_not_affiliate]

Can we generate affiliate links for our partners?

Yes.

This is one of the most important features.

Can we track visits to our site through our partners’ sites?

Yes.

This is also one of the most important features and what the plugin is intended for, besides recording referrals and transaction data.

Can we record referrals automatically when, for example, an order is placed?

Yes.

The API provides the means to suggest referrals and record them.

I am an affiliate of ACME and they provided me with an affiliate link. Is this plugin for me?

No it isn’t.

This plugin is for sites that need to manage their affiliates.

Can I automatically store additional referral and transaction data?

Yes you can do that through the plugin’s API functions.

I need to keep track of all transactions, including those that have not been initiated via an affiliate. Is this possible?

Yes!

Referrals that are not attributable to an affiliate can be stored along with arbitrary transaction data and associated with the site owner.
There is a dedicated entry for that, called *Direct* in the affiliates list, representing the site owner.

What about timezones?

The plugin provides timezone-independent recording and retrieval of hits, visits and referrals.
Data is stored with reference to the server’s settings and shown adjusted to the timezone settings in your WordPress site.

How flexible is data recording and retrieval for referrals?

You can store any information you need along with referrals.

How ugly are affiliate links?

Not very and there are several options including pretty permalinks.

Automatic affiliate id removal : the affiliate id is removed from your site’s URL after the visitors land on your site.

Is it possible to have permalinks that include affiliate data?

Yes.

Is it possible to have affiliate links to specific posts?

Yes.

How fine-grained are permissions?

The plugin provides role-based permissions to access gathered affiliate data, administer affiliates and administer options.