Legacy Affiliate System

This section of the help file describes functionality related to affiliate management.

Affiliate Administration

The Affiliate area permits affiliate searches, affiliate/tracker status changes, locked IP clearing, account administration, and Affiliate information viewing.

Menu Functions

The links under the Affiliate Admin heading permit the administration of the Affiliates.

• Sign Up New Affiliates. Enlist Affiliates for your Affiliate Program.
• Email Affiliates. Send email to all active or inactive Affiliates.

To Set Subaccount:

1. If required, choose a Subaccount from the drop down menu in the Selection Pane.
2. Click Apply Changes to access the subaccount information.

To Find Affiliate Information:

1. Type an Affiliate ID in the Text Box to display a report for an individual Affiliate; or, leave blank to display a report for all Affiliates.
2. If CCBill Account Grouping has been set to one of the following:
   • Enabled. Click Lookup.
   • Disabled. Choose a subaccount with the Subaccount drop-down menu under the Merchant Information heading and click Apply Changes. Click Lookup to open the Affiliate's report.

Search

The Search dialog is displayed in the Selection Pane permitting the location of Affiliate account information.
To Search For Affiliate Account Information:

1. Type the main account number and/or subaccount number in the Merchant Accnum field (e.g., 900000 or 900000-0001).
2. Type the Affiliate ID number in the Affiliate ID field.
3. Using the Affiliate Status drop-down menu, select from the following options:
   • All. All statuses listed below.
   • Active. The accounts that have been turned on.
   • Deactivated by CCBill. The accounts that have been shut off by CCBill .
   • Deactivated by Webmaster. The accounts that have been shut off by the merchant.
   • Active Tracker. The trackers that have been shut off by CCBill .
   • Inactive Tracker. The trackers that have been shut off by the merchant.
4. Click Lookup to open the Affiliate Search Report.

Affiliate Click Setup

For Affiliate Click Setup:

1. Choose the subaccount you wish to administer.
2. Set the administration options desired:
   • Max Number of Pages - Choose the maximum number of pages that the affiliate should be able to view stats for. This should never be more than three without management approval.
   • Click Tracking - Allows you to choose the type of click tracking desired and define unique tracking for your Affiliates. You may choose Raw and/or one Unique option. Also choose from the drop-down menu the time frame (1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours) to use for breaking down the data collected. The title Click Tracking contains a drop-down menu with your Click Tracking history for the account. You can use this feature to view past settings for the account and re-activate those settings by clicking Activate. Click the X to close the history viewer. Raw is enabled by default and cannot be turned off.
   • Allow Affiliate to View the Following Clicks - Choose the level of detail you wish your affiliates to be able to view: Raw, Second Page, Unique (as you defined in Click Tracking above), or Form.

Account Info

To Set Account Info Options:

1. Click the Account Info check box to display the input fields.
2. Type the Check Name. The name for the account printed on the payee's payout check.
3. Type the Company. The account's company name or business name.
4. Type the Domain. The base URL of the Affiliate's website (e.g., http://www.example.com).
5. Type the Tax ID. The Affiliate's company tax ID number or personal SSN (Social Security Number).
6. Click Lookup to open the Affiliate Lookup Report.

Address Info

To Set Address Info Options:

1. Click the Address Info check box to display the input fields.
2. Type the Address. The address for the Affiliate's account. Payout checks are sent to this address.
3. Type the City. The city of the affiliate's mailing address.
4. Type the State. The state or province of the affiliate's mailing address.
5. Type the Zip code. The zip/postal code of the affiliate's mailing address.
6. Click Lookup to open the Affiliate Lookup Report.

User Info

To Set User Info Options:

1. Click the User Info check box to display the input fields.
2. Type the First Name. The account member's first name or given name.
3. Type the Last Name. The account member's last name or surname.
4. Type the Email. The affiliate's email address.
5. Type the Username. The Login ID or username for the account.
6. Type the Last Login IP. The last IP address from which the user logged in.
7. Click Lookup to open the Affiliate Lookup Report.

Grouping

Affiliate Grouping allows Merchants to create different payout settings for different types of Affiliates and assign them to different groups with different payout settings.

Additionally, you can personalize Bonus Level Tiering and send emails to Affiliate Groups from within the Admin Portal.

Settings are prioritized and applied in the following manner:

1. System Settings are the Default.
2. Individual and Affiliate Group Settings override the System Setup settings.
3. Individual Settings override Group Settings.

Create Affiliate Group

Follow these steps to create an Affiliate Group:

1. Sign in to the Admin Portal.
2. Click the Legacy Affiliate Mega Menu, then select Grouping.
3. Click Create New Group.
4. Enter a Group Name.
5. Click Add.

The new group will now display in the Grouping page (step 2 above). Links to the right of the group will allow you to Edit Payouts, Delete, or Rename the Group. Links to the left will allow you to Email a group or Assign Affiliates to a group.

Assign Affiliate an Affiliate Group

In order to assign an Affiliate to a group you have previously created, complete these steps:

1. Sign in to the Admin Portal.
2. Click the Legacy Affiliate Mega Menu, then select Grouping.
3. Click Assign Affiliates.
4. Select the Affiliates you want to add to the group and the group you wish to add them to from the list and drop-down menus.
5. Click Assign.
6. Click the hyperlink that says here.
7. Click Submit.

The final two steps are often missed, but forgetting to complete them will result in problems with overriding the system setup configurations for the affiliates.

Trackers

Trackers allow you to set up referrer-like accounts to track clicks, number of sales, and total sales coming from link and banner advertisements. Consumers click advertisements and are redirected through CCBill to your site. The tracker reports the number of sales from the signup referral.

Note that tracker referral links are treated differently than affiliate referral links and do not cause actual transactions to occur; trackers are for reporting purposes only.

Create a New Tracker

Use the Create New Tracker area to build an Ad Tracker. The only information required is a name for the tracker. The name is a short descriptive identifier for the tracker.

Type the new tracker name in the Text Box. Click Add to save to the CCBill's system.

After creating a new tracker the HTML code for the tracker will be displayed.

Copy the linking code for the new tracker just created from the page.

Delete Tracker

The Delete Tracker area allows you to remove a Tracker.

Choose the tracker name to remove from the Delete Tracker drop-down menu. Click Submit to remove the tracker from CCBill's system.

Setup

The Setup menu allows you options to set up your Legacy Affiliate System, edit email text, and enable advanced features such as Bonus Level Tiering and Payout Resetting.

Advanced Features

Use the Advanced Features area to customize the performance of the Affiliate Program. Before enabling any of these features, understand what they do to avoid overpaying the Affiliates. This area contains options that are very complex; contact Merchant Support for assistance.

If required, choose a subaccount from the drop-down menu in the Selection Pane. Click View to access the subaccount information.

Set up Advanced Features

1. Click the link next to a feature under the Action column to enable or disable it.

2. Click the link under the Status column next to the feature to edit its options.
3. Click the link next to a feature under the Action column to enable or disable it. This applies to all features except Set Cookie Expiration, where the Set to Default link is clicked to reset the cookie life expiration to three days. An additional setup page will be displayed for further options for Bonus Level Tiering, Payment Options, Sign Up Refreshing, Partner Bonus Program, and Set Cookie Expiration. Click the link under the Status column next to the feature to edit its options.

Menu Functions

To use any one of these features, click the Enable link.

• Bonus Level Tiering – Establishes a tier system for incentive payouts to Affiliates as a way of motivating them to refer sales. A sponsor can set five (5) separate levels of bonus percentage with various break amounts.
• Payment Options – Establishes recurring billing payments (trial or initial amount) and rebills payments.
• Payout Resetting – When enabled, an affiliate will start to qualify for each bonus level tier at the first day of every month; during the month, the transaction totals might qualify the affiliate to be moved to the next bonus level tier. When disabled, an affiliate has to qualify for each bonus level tier only once; transaction totals are calculated from the date the affiliate signed up for the program.
• Sign Up Refreshing – Specifies a user-defined URL where to send all new Affiliates after they complete the signup process.
• Allow Blocked Countries – When enabled, you will be allowed to receive Affiliate Sign Ups from all countries. When disabled, Affiliate Sign Ups from countries listed in the blocked or barred countries list will be disallowed.
• Multiple Redirects – When enabled, you can setup a custom location where consumers will be redirected. When disabled, you will redirect all consumers to the main redirect URL .
• Append Data on Redirect - When this function is enabled CCBill will append the Affiliate ID and Merchant Account Number to all consumer redirects. The Append Data on Redirect feature when enabled specifically adds ?PA=XXXXXXX&CA=XXXXXX-XXXX to the end of the redirect URL, where the PA= variable is the Affiliate ID and the CA= variable is the Merchants/Sponsors account and subaccount number.
• Partner Bonus Program – You can reward percentages to Affiliates for sending new Affiliates to your Affiliate Program. When this feature is enabled, if Affiliate B signs up for the program via Affiliate A's linking code and then makes a sale, a percentage of Affiliate B's income is given to Affiliate A.
• Set Cookie Expiration – You can specify the number of days to track a cookie before the life of the cookie expires. The cookie is saved in the surfer's browser when they click through a banner on an Affiliate's website. You can set anywhere between 1 and 255 days, while the default value is 3.
• Receive Rebill Emails – When enabled, the webmaster will receive an email each time a subscription rebills that was referred by an affiliate. When disabled, no emails will be sent for affiliate subscriptions that rebill.
• CCBill Account Grouping – When enabled, your affiliates can direct traffic to your subaccount Affiliate Programs. The option is only available in the "0000" subaccount or main account. When disabled, all new affiliates will have to individually sign up for each subaccount's Affiliate Program. Refer to the Affiliate Directs Setup portion of the help file to learn how to setup Multiple Redirects for your Affiliate Program. Multiple Redirects will direct traffic to all your subaccount sites if CCBill Account Grouping is enabled.

Set Email Text

All new Affiliate sign-ups receive an email about their registration. The Affiliate System gives you the option of adding a header and footer to the email sent to them. The header and footer are limited to 255 characters. The program automatically generates the body, and this is not adjustable.

If required, choose a subaccount from the drop-down menu in the Selection Pane:

1. Click the View button to access the subaccount information.
2. Enter the required information in the Header and Footer areas.
3. Click Submit to save the changes.
4. Click the Reset button to change the text to the default values.

Signup Template

The Affiliate System has a default, global Sign Up Form for new Affiliates to use to sign up with. To customize the Affiliate Sign Up Form, use the Sign Up Template, which has the necessary form fields already coded. There are precise instructions in the template HTML itself to allow you to get the form up and running quickly. Be sure to obtain the latest Sign Up Template from the Admin System.

If required, choose a subaccount from the drop-down menu in the Selection Pane. Click View to access the Sign Up Form for a particular subaccount.

The Sign Up Template displays the code for the Referral Sign Up form which you may use to start an Affiliate promotion program.

Copy and paste the HTML code into a text editor, save the file as an HTML file, and then upload it to the required subaccount website. Once the page is uploaded, it is possible to sign up Affiliates.

The latest version of the signup Template is much simpler and takes up less space on the site.

By entering a main affiliate account (current id) username and password, and clicking the Retrieve Data button on the form, new Affiliate accounts may be linked under an existing main Affiliate account. The Affiliate Sign Up Form will be prefilled automatically with the main Affiliate's data to speed up and simplify the process. The main Affiliate may access reports and functions for linked Affiliate accounts through a primary login ID.

The HTML provided in the Sign Up Template is for an existing subaccount Web site and works specifically with CCBill's system. Any changes made to this template could cause the merchant's Affiliate Sign Up Form to malfunction. All of the form field names and max lengths must remain unchanged. In order to customize the look of this template, change only the following fields below:

• page_background. Full URL to a background image.
• page_bgcolor. page background color.
• page_text. Color of text outside of table.
• page_link. Link color of all hyperlinks.
• page_vlink. Visited link color of all hyperlinks.
• page_alink. Active link color of all hyperlinks.
• table_left. Color of left side of table.
• table_right. Color of right side of table.
• table_text. Color of text inside of table.
• star_color. Color of the asterisks for required fields.

The CCBill account number and subaccount numbers will be automatically entered in the Sign Up Template, provided you copy it directly from the admin system before using it.

You may place a Group ID number or Group Name in the HTML code to automatically add new Affiliate sign-ups to a particular group. The Group must be already set up in the Grouping area for this option to work. Follow the steps listed below:

1. Go to Legacy Affiliate > Administration > Grouping. Choose a subaccount and click View.
2. Open the Group Report and click the Edit Payouts link for the group where you want to add new Affiliates.
3. On the Group Edit Payouts page, copy the Group ID number or Group Name.
4. Locate the HTML to modify in the Sign Up Template. Scroll down in the HTML until you find the GR value area. Refer to the following code example:

<input type=hidden name=GR value="">

5. Paste the Group ID number or Group Name you copied between the quote marks in the Sign Up Template's GR value area. For example, if you copied Group ID "1190", the code would look like the following when modified:

<input type=hidden name=GR value="1190">

6. Save the modified Sign Up Template and place it on the required Web site.

Refer to the Affiliate Sign Up Form Setup Guide for more information about the Affiliate Sign Up Form.

System Setup

Use this tool to customize options for the Affiliate Program and quickly set up banners and various payout values. This is where all the main data is stored for the program. Modify these values at any time without going through the entire setup process.

If required, choose a subaccount from the drop-down menu in the Selection Pane. Click the View button to access the subaccount information.

Enter the following information on the Sign Up New Affiliate page:

• Redirect URL. The redirect location. Use this URL for all traffic through the Affiliate Program. When consumers click on a banner that is located on an Affiliate website, they will be sent to the Redirect URL . Examples of valid Redirect URLs are, http://www.yourwebsite.com/index.htm and http://www.yourwebsite.com/tour/index.htm.
• Banner 1-10 URL. Enter the banner location for the banner number. Affiliates will be able to download these banners from the webmaster to promote a subaccount website. The Affiliate System has the ability to track "total clicks " on up to ten user-defined banners. The stats for these banners will be available to both the referring merchant and the affiliates. This URL points to the directory and file where the banner is located on the subaccount website. An example of a valid Banner URL is http://www.yourwebsite.com/banners/banner1.jpg. The ten available fields allow you to enter URLs pointing to ten different banners created for the Affiliate Program. You are required to enter one banner but have the option to enter up to ten different banners.
• Banner Farm URL. This is an HTML page on the host's server that will be displayed to new affiliates; it serves as a central location where the Affiliates can get the most current banners. Enter the Banner Farm location. Specify ten banners to track, a banner farm URL, or both. The Banner Farm URL specifies the merchant page location where a collection of banners reside. The banner farm must link to a specific file not a directory, e.g., http://www.example.com/banners.html.
• Telephone Billing Percent Payout. The Telephone Billing Percent is a fraction of the sales amount generated through telephone billing referrals; the percentage is paid to the referring affiliate. Enter percentages as 25, not 0.25.
• Base Percent Payout. The Base Percent is a fraction of the sales amount generated through affiliate referrals; the percentage is paid to the referring affiliate. To offer a combination of percentage and dollar amount per sale, enter values in the Base Percentage Payout and the Base Dollar Amount fields. Enter percentages as 25, not 0.25. *
• Base Dollar Amount. The base dollar amount is the flat payout rate for the sale. *
• Recurring Payment. Select Yes to offer a portion of the recurring sales to your affiliates. If No is selected, affiliates will only receive payment from the initial sale.
• Receive Sales Emails. Select Yes to receive an email for each sale that originated from an affiliate's referral to the subaccount Web site. This email contains the date of the sale, the amount, and other valuable transaction information. Select No if you do not want to receive an email for every referred sale. **
• Serve Banners. Links to merchant banners can be placed on Affiliate websites. If these banners are modified they will be automatically updated, guaranteeing that Affiliates always display the most recent banner versions. Select Yes to serve banners from the webmaster's site, otherwise select No. The merchant's server and Web site bandwidth are used to access and load banner images. This provides the freedom to change the look of the banners at any time. It is not necessary to ask others to change the information on their own pages. The Web site may use a lot of bandwidth depending on how many Affiliates use it.
• Receive Sign Up Emails. Select Yes to receive an email every time a new Affiliate signs up. Select No if you do not want to be notified of new affiliate signups. **
• Send Sign Up Emails. Select Yes to send a welcome email from the webmaster when a new Affiliate signs up; select No if you do not want to welcome new affiliates via email.
• Program Name. A short descriptive name for the Affiliate Program. Example: If the website's name is "E-cash", the program name could be "E-cash Affiliate Program". The system uses a default name when nothing is entered.
• Click Tracking. Allows you to choose the type of click tracking desired and define unique tracking for your Affiliates. You may choose Raw and/or one Unique option. Also choose from the drop-down menu the time frame (1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours) to use for breaking down the data collected. The title Click Tracking contains a drop-down menu with your Click Tracking history for the account. You can use this feature to view past settings for the account and re-activate those settings by clicking Activate. Click the X to close the history viewer. Raw is enabled by default and cannot be turned off.
• Allow Affiliate to View the Following Clicks. Choose the level of detail you wish your affiliates to be able to view: Raw, Second Page, Unique (as you defined in Click Tracking above), or Form.

Verify all the information and make changes as needed. The settings can be edited at any time but will only affect newly signed up affiliates; the existing affiliate's settings will not change.

Click Update to save all changes.

Click the Reset button to set the options on the page back to their default values.

* You can set the Base Percentage, Dollar Amount, or a combination of the two so that new Affiliates who sign up can immediately begin referring website traffic.

** Affiliate Sign Up and Sales emails will be sent to the Merchant Contact email address that was entered in the Subaccount area of the Admin System. If you do not specify a Merchant Contact email address, the default email entered during the Online Sign Up will be used.

Accounting/Split CCBill Fee

Accounting

Accounting permits you to specify whether or not to proportionately split the processing fee with merchant Affiliate accounts. Affiliates send traffic to merchants and are eligible to receive payments based on the sales they generate.

Merchants are charged a percentage of all qualified transactions processed through the billing service. If the fee is split with the affiliates, then the merchant and associated affiliates will divide the fee based on the payout percentage set for the program. If the fee is not split with the affiliates, the merchant will pay the entire fee. If more information is required regarding the fee, contact merchant support for assistance.

The processing fee may be divided between the merchant and affiliate accounts by clicking Split. If you do not want the fee to be divided, then click Don't Split. By default, the fee will be set to Don't Split

Page Views

The Additional Page Click Setup tool enables Administrators to set up tracking to determine how far into a site referred consumers browse.

1. Choose the Subaccount number that you wish to generate a Link Code for (this center field may be pre-populated if you chose a Subaccount number previously in the menu on the left).
2. Enter a Page Name.
3. Click Create New.