Before anything else, it is important to properly configure the basic settings of your Post Affiliate Pro account to make it ready for integration & initial tests.
Enter your main site URL
The main site URL is used to generate the general affiliate link, shown at the top of the affiliate panel. In general, it is recommended to use the URL of the site you want affiliates to promote (typically your home page). The URL can be set in Configuration > Tracking Settings > Main site URL field.
Select the default linking style
The linking style defines the format of affiliate links & banners. The default style can be selected in Configuration > Tracking Settings > Affiliate linking method. When needed, the linking style can also be set per campaign.
- Anchor links
https://mycompany.com/#a_aid=affiliate007
Standard type of links that include the tracking parameters in a URL anchor (after #). Not suitable for Instagram.- Short anchor links
https://mycompany.com/#affiliate007
Shortened, visually cleaner form of anchor links. Requires enabling "Support Short Anchor linking" option below the linking methods.
- Short anchor links
- New style links
https://mycompany.com/?a_aid=affiliate007
Standard type of links that include the tracking parameters directly in the URL query string (after ?). - Mod Rewrite links
https://mycompany.com/ref/affiliate007
Advanced linking style that enables tracking clicks even if the click tracking script cannot be added to your website. To set this style up, it is required to have access to the configuration of the server on which your website is hosted. - DirectLink style
https://mycompany.com/
This linking method allows attributing all traffic from a specific site (e.g. a website or blog owned by an affiliate) to a given affiliate, without the need to have tracking parameters in the URL of promoted links. Not recommended as the default linking method. - Redirect links
https://mycompany.postaffiliatepro.com/scripts/click.php?a_aid=affiliate007&a_bid=1234abcd
These links point the visitor first to a Post Affiliate Pro script which records the click and then redirects the visitor to the destination URL, optionally appending the visitor ID cookie value generated by the click in a URL parameter. This style is useful when promoting links from 3rd party software.
Set the cookie lifetime and overwriting
Define the default cookie lifetime in Configuration > Cookies. This value defines how many days after the click on an affiliate link the affiliate will receive commissions for purchases (or actions) made by the referred customer.
Choose whether cookies should be overwritten by selecting or leaving the "Overwrite cookie" checkbox in Configuration > Cookies. When a visitor clicks an affiliate link, the affiliate identification information is stored in a cookie. If the visitor later clicks a link of a different affiliate, the system can either overwrite the existing cookie (so the last affiliate receives the commission) or keep the original cookie (so the first affiliate receives the commission).
If your business model requires first-click attribution (first-touch), leave cookie overwriting disabled. If you prefer last-click attribution (last-touch), enable cookie overwriting.
Set up affiliate approval
Decide whether new affiliates are approved automatically or require manual approval. Configure this option in Configuration > Affiliate signup under "Affiliate approval". Automatic approval immediately grants access to the affiliate panel; manual approval keeps new signups in a pending state until you approve them.
Park your account on a custom domain
You can park your account on your own domain in Configuration > Domain settings to replace the default domain *.postaffiliatepro.com. Using a custom domain makes the program appear more integrated with your site and adds credibility to it.
The custom domain can also help prevent our integration scripts from being blocked by various ad blockers, increasing the tracking accuracy.
Suggested subdomain names are partners.yourdomain.com or network.yourdomain.com. It is recommended to avoid using affiliate.yourdomain.com or affiliates.yourdomain.com because scripts with these subdomain names are usually blocked by ad blockers.