How to integrate Post Affiliate Pro (Network) with 3rd party affiliate systems?

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There have been several customers (merchants owning Post Affiliate Pro or participating in Post Affiliate Network) who are members (affiliates) of different 3rd party affiliate networks (further referenced as 'Other Network'), just like CJ, HasOffers, etc. and were wondering how they could have their own affiliate program by which they could have other affiliates to help them to promote their offers (affiliate link(s) from 3rd party affiliate networks). 

 
It is essential to clarify that such integration is possible only if the Other Network supports the following requirements listed below. If so, you need to be able to clarify the answers to these questions:
  • what are additional URL parameters (in general called 'get parameters' or 'subIDs') possible/supported to use in their affiliate links (further referenced as offer links)
  • what is your 3rd party POST BACK URL
  • what are variables by which the values set in the additional URL parameters (get parameters/subIDs) of the offer link are available to be used in the POST BACK URL

Please note that if you come and ask our support about any 3rd party integration, we can only ask you the questions above and you need to be able to answer them. If you are unsure of the answer, you can ask directly your 3rd party support. If you are unable to answer the points mentioned above, we are unable to help you any further. 

If the above mentioned criteria is met, then let's proceed to step-by-step description on how the integration of Post Affiliate Pro (PAP) or Post Affiliate Network (PAN) with some Other Network would look like. Please, read this description as many times as necessary until you understand the process, since this is the only feasible and most convenient way to explain it. 
 
 
The solution would be as follows:
 
Let's say your offer link (your affiliate link you got from the Other Network) would be as following
https://some.site.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=xyz
Part 1. in Post Affiliate Pro/Network (PAP/PAN) you have to set the 'affiliate linking method' in the merchant panel at "Configuration >Tracking settings" to "Standard links (redirect links)" so that every campaign in PAP uses that linking method

Part 2. then for each of your 'Other Network' offer links you have to create a banner in PAP/PAN in which you set your 'Other Network' offer link as the destination URL in a special way:

Sample: if your  'Other Network' offer link is https://some.site.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=xyz and the 'Other Network' supports some additional URL parmeters (get parameters), just like: additionalData1, additionalData2 then the Destination URL of the banner in PAP/PAN would be:
https://some.site.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=xyz&additionalData1={$visitorid}&additionalData2=HereComesThePANaccountID
The "additionalData2" is essential ONLY in case you use Post Affiliate Network, in that case, the "HereComesThePANaccountID" has to be replaced with the account id of particular PAN merchant account (the PAN owner can see it at Accounts > Account Manager in the ID column). Network owner account has ID default1 and it doesn't need to be used in the URLs.

Part 3. in the 'Other Network'  set the POST BACK URL for the campaign from which you got your Other Network offer link to something like this:

https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost=VariableRepresentingTheOfferCost&OrderID=VariableRepresentingTheOrderId&visitorId={additionalData1}&AccountId={additionalData2}
If you should want to pass also some additional details in the PostBack call to PAP/PAN or you should have doubts about the parameters already present in the URL like TotalCost, OrderID, visitorId, AccountId then feel free to read through the description of the available parameters in the lower half of this article.
 
Additional note:
In the above given POST BACK URL we assume that:
 
  • URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro - is replaced with URL of your Post Affiliate Pro or Post Affiliate Network installation. For example something.postaffiliatepro.com.
  • VariableRepresentingTheOfferCost  is the proper variable of the Other Network that holds the real cost (price) of the ordered (purchased) offer. 
In case you are trying to track just kind of a lead (signup/registration) that involves no cost (no purchase price), then do not use the TotalCost paramater in the POST BACK URL and in your campaigns inside PAP/PAN in the 'Commission settings' tab  (in the 'per Sale' or 'per Action' commission setting) turn on the "Save transaction also for zero orders (Total Cost = 0)" option.
  • VariableRepresentingTheOrderId  is the proper variable of the Other Network that holds the order ID (order number) of the placed order concerning the particular offer
  • {additionalData1}  returns the value of 'additionalData1' URL parameter that was dynamically set by PAP in the "Destination URL" of the banner when the affiliate retrieved the banner code from his/her affiliate panel in PAP
  • {additionalData2} returns the value (Post Affiliate Network merchant account ID) that you defined for the 'additionalData2' URL parameter in the Destination URL when setting up the banner in Post Affiliate Network
 
This way, if an affiliate goes to his panel and hits 'Get banner code' under a banner then he will get a code which does not include the 'Destination URL' directly, but instead of it points to something like this:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/click.php?a_aid=ReferralidOfAffiliate&a_bid=bannerIdGeneratedByPAPorPAN

But if a customer clicks such a banner, then he will be redirected to the "Destination URL" of the banner, more exactly to the same site where originally your affiliate link from the Other Network (in our example "https://some.site.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=xyz")  redirects, however it will also include required parameters for PAP/PAN tracking which the Other Network should capture in the additional parameters:

https://some.site.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=xyz&additionalData1=UniqueVisitorID&additionalData2=PANaccountID

And once the customer places an order and it is tracked by the Other Network, then the Other Network is supposed to execute the POST BACK URL that holds the essential values (values of variables mentioned) above and based on this call PAP will generate a commission (transaction) for the correct affiliate.

That's it.
 
 
Examples for different affiliate network software
  1. Post Affiliate Pro
  2. Has Offers
  3. CAKE
  4. Awin
  5. zanox
  6. Tradedoubler
  7. MaxBounty
  8. PeerFly
  9. Appsflyer
 
We would be very grateful to all customers who are using this kind of tracking for providing real examples of your links so we can update this article with more examples and help other customer set this up easier. You can provide your examples in the same fashion as below either on chat or by sending an email to support@qualityunit.com with subject 3rd party example

 

Post Affiliate Pro:

for affiliates who own their own copy of Post Affiliate Pro and would want to promote offers from other Post Affiliate Pro/Network users with their own affiliate program.

Example offer link:

https://shop.merchant.com/?a_aid=YourAffiliateID&a_bid=IDofTheBanner
Example banner destination URL in your PAP:
https://shop.merchant.com/?a_aid=YourAffiliateID&a_bid=IDofTheBanner&data1={$visitorid}
Example Affiliate Sale Tracking Code which you would set in your affiliate panel in PAP with which you are affiliated:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost={$totalcost}&OrderID={$orderid}&visitorId={$firstclickdata1}
 
Note: Depending on "Overwrite cookie" setting in the PAP which you are promoting you would either need to use {$firstclickdata1} or {$lastclickdata1}. If cookies are NOT overwritten then you use {$firstclickdata1} if they are then you use {$lastclickdata1}

 

HasOffers:

Example offer link:

https://demo.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=1&aff_id=1
Example banner destination URL in PAP:
https://demo.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=1&aff_id=1&aff_sub={$visitorid}&aff_sub2=HereComesThePANaccountID
Example POST BACK URL in HasOffers for PAP versions higher then 5.4.13.2: 
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost={sale_amount}&OrderID={transaction_id}&ProductID={offer_id}&visitorId={aff_sub}&AccountId={aff_sub2}

 

CAKE:

Example offer link:

https://CakeBaseURL.com/?a=CakeAffID&c=CakeCreativeID
Example banner destination URL in PAP:
https://CakeBaseURL.com/?a=CakeAffID&c=CakeCreativeID&s1={$visitorid}&s2=HereComesThePANaccountID
Example POST BACK URL in CAKE for PAP: 
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost={sale_amount}&OrderID={offer_id}&visitorId=#s1#&AccountId=#s2#

 

Awin:

To set a callback URL navigate to Advanced> Transaction Notification. For Callback method chose GET.

Example offer link:

https://www.awin1.com/pclick.php?mid=3&id=14895&clickref=linklefttop&clickref2=user
Example banner destination URL in PAP:
https://www.awin1.com/pclick.php?mid=3&id=14895&clickref=linklefttop&clickref2=user&clickref3={$visitorid}&clickref4=HereComesThePANaccountID
Example POST BACK URL in Awin for PAP: 
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost=!!!transactionAmount!!!&OrderID=!!!transactionId!!!&visitorId=!!!clickRef3!!!&AccountId=!!!clickRef4!!!

 

zanox:

To set a callback URL navigate to Links & Tools> Shared Tracking and add new tracking URL.

Example offer link:

https://ad.zanox.com/ppc/?1234c5678
Example banner destination URL in PAP:
https://ad.zanox.com/ppc/?1234c5678&zpar0={$visitorid}&zpar1=HereComesThePANaccountID
Example POST BACK URL in zanox for PAP: 
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?visitorId=##zpar0##&AccountId=##zpar1##&TotalCost=##total_price_program_currency##&OrderID=##tracking_id##&Currency=##program_currency##

 

Tradedoubler:

Example offer link:

https://clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=123456&a=1234567&g=12345678

Example banner destination URL in PAP:

https://clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=123456&a=1234567&g=12345678&epi={$visitorid}
Example POST BACK URL in Tradedoubler for PAP:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?visitorId=${epi}&TotalCost=${publisherCommission}&OrderID=${orderNumber}&ProductID=${productId}

 

MaxBounty:

Example offer link:

https://www.mb14.com/lnk.asp?o=12345&c=123456&a=654321&k=11AA22&l=10101

Example banner destination URL in PAP:

https://www.mb14.com/lnk.asp?o=12345&c=123456&a=654321&k=11AA22&l=10101&s2={$visitorid}&s3=HereComesThePANaccountID
Example POST BACK URL in MaxBounty for PAP:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost=#RATE#&OrderID=#OFFID#&visitorId=#S2#&AccountId=#S3#

 

PeerFly:

Example offer link:

https://trkur2.com/123456/789123?i=112233

Example banner destination URL in PAP:

https://trkur2.com/123456/789123?i=112233?s1={$visitorid}
Example POST BACK URL in PeerFly for PAP:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost=%commission%&OrderID=%offer%&visitorId=%subid1%

Appsflyer:

For more info about AppsFlyer setup see our Mobile apps tracking guide

Example offer link:

https://app.appsflyer.com/com.appsflyer.sample?pid=mediaName_int

Example banner destination URL in PAP:

https://app.appsflyer.com/com.appsflyer.sample?pid=mediaName_int&clickid={$visitorid}
Example POST BACK URL in Appsflyer for PAP:
https://URL_TO_PostAffiliatePro/scripts/sale.php?TotalCost={revenue}&OrderID=UNIQUE_ID_OF_EVENT&visitorId={clickid}
Updated:

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