For example, instead of the standard affiliate link: https://www.merchantsite.com/?a_aid=12345&a_bid=54321
you would use: https://www.yourdomain.com/myredir.html where myredir.html is the file generated by the cloaker, that will automatically redirect you to the original site (url).
The affiliate link protector is available in the affiliate panel in Promotion -> Advanced tools -> Affiliate link protector / cloaker.
How it works
The cloaker works very simply.
The settings of export to a file are there because of hiding the links of affiliates in the background.
With the PHP solution the server reads the code, finds the link the affiliate defined (it can be a simple https://www.google.com but also https://www.yoursite.com/shop/cart.php?prod=12&lang=en&a_aid=12345678&chan=miansite) and automatically redirects to this address via the header() function.
HTML works in a similar way, however, it doesn't use the header() function, but the meta tag that immediatelly redirects to the site defined by the affiliate.
Let's say an affiliate enters the following link into the "URL to protect / cloak" field:
https://www.merchantsite.com/?a_aid=12345&a_bid=54321
When the affiliate clicks "Generate", the a "file.php" file will be generated and offered to be downloaded.
After downloading the file the affiliate can rename it e.g. as discount.php
Now, the affiliate uploads that renamed file (discount.php) to his own server to the following location:
https://mysite.com/
so that he can provide anyone the following link:
https://mysite.com/discount.php
Now, if any customer clicks the link of "https://mysite.com/discount.php", then he/she will be redirected to https://www.merchantsite.com/?a_aid=12345&a_bid=54321
That's it.