[ic] can we link directly to a product page and track affiliate info?

Carl Bailey carl at endpoint.com
Wed Jul 22 15:26:00 UTC 2009


On Jul 22, 2009, at 10:55 AM, Natalia Usselman wrote:

> Hi, I am just starting to work with Interchange. I have a client  
> that is
> wanting to do more with affiliates on their website. We want to let  
> the
> affiliates link to a specific product page.
>
> I have looked at Interchange documentation and I am under impression  
> that
> the products CAN be linked to directly and the affiliate name can be  
> passed
> in the URL, so from URL
> https://www.shopthevalley.ca/cgi-bin/shopthevalley? 
> mv_pc=KelownaEvents the
> variable mv_pc should be passed down to individual products.
>
> However, this is not happenning. When I enter the website at the  
> affiliate
> URL and get to individual products, the variable in URL changes
>
> http://www.shopthevalley.ca/cgi-bin/shopthevalley/THOR-011.html?id=vIb6IyeZ&mv_pc=595
>
> Could you please explain to me how the affiliate information is  
> tracked in
> Interchange? I took the URL of the product and stuck the  
> mv_pc=KelownaEvents
> at the end of it instead of 595 number and did a test purchase, but  
> the sale
> did not record as affiliate sale.
> Natalia

Natalia,

The use of the mv_pc variable for this purpose is deprecated.  Please  
use mv_source=KelopwnaEvents instead for your incoming links. (ref: http://www.interchange.rtfm.info/icdocs/Special_form_variables.html#mv_pc) 
.  The mv_pc variable is also used as a "page counter" to prevent  
proxy servers from caching the page, which explains why you see  
mv_pc=595 in your example link above.

The source/affiliate code information is not maintained/echoed in the  
url on every page.  After the first (landing) page, it is recorded in  
the customer's session information.  In a typical IC demo store setup,  
this information is then recorded in the transactions table in the  
"affiliate" field. You can also check on any page by adding this tag  
[data session source].  If that variable is not being set in your  
session then we can look at other possibilities for the cause.

If the affiliate source is not being recorded at your site check to  
see what is being specified for the affiliate field in etc/ 
log_transaction.

Regards,
Carl
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Carl Bailey
t: 919-323-8025
carl at endpoint.com
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




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