Setup Wizard

The wizard is the fastest way to a working program. It sets the handful of options that have to be right before an affiliate link can earn anything, and skips everything you can tune later.

Open the wizard

It runs on its own the first time you open DevDiggers Plugins → Affiliates after activating. To run it again later, add &setup-wizard=true to the plugin’s admin URL.

You can leave at any point with Skip Setup. Nothing you have already saved is undone.

Step 1: Welcome

The first screen just introduces the wizard. Click Let’s Get Started.

Step 2: Basic Configuration

• Enable Affiliate System is the master switch. Leave it on.
• Default Affiliate Status is the status a new signup lands on.
• Affiliate Dashboard Page is the page holding the dashboard shortcode. Activation created one called Affiliate Dashboard. Pick it.

Pro feature

Default Affiliate Status is a Pro field. In the free version every new affiliate lands on Pending and you approve them by hand from the Affiliates screen.

Step 3: Referral Tracking

• URL Parameter is the query string that carries the affiliate token. The default is ref, which produces links like https://yourstore.com/?ref=12.
• Cookie Life (Days) is how long a click keeps earning. The default is 7 days. A visitor who buys inside that window still credits the affiliate.
• Overwrite Existing Cookie decides whether a second affiliate’s link replaces the first one.

Pro feature

Overwrite Existing Cookie is a Pro field. The free version always overwrites, so the last link a visitor clicks is the one that earns.

Step 4: Commission Rates

• Default Commission (%) is the percentage every affiliate earns. The default is 10.
• Allow Self-Referrals lets an affiliate earn on their own orders.

Pro feature

Allow Self-Referrals is a Pro field. Self-purchases never earn in the free version, and there is no way to turn that off.

Step 5: Payout Configuration

• Payout Initiation chooses who starts a payout: you, the affiliate, or a monthly schedule.
• Minimum Withdrawal is the balance an affiliate needs before a payout can run.
• Holding Period (Days) is how long a commission has to age before it can be paid, which gives refunds time to land.

Pro feature

This whole step is Pro. The free wizard runs five steps, not six, and free payouts are always created by an administrator with no minimum and no holding period.

Step 6: Ready

The last screen confirms the program is live. Everything the wizard set is editable afterwards under Configuration.

What to do next

The wizard does not build your signup page or approve anyone. Two things are left.

1. Publish the affiliate dashboard page, or add the registration shortcode to a page of your own. See How to Create the Affiliate Signup Page.
2. Approve your first affiliates from the Affiliates screen. Nothing tracks until an affiliate is approved.

Where to go next

• Dashboard Overview to read the numbers the wizard just started collecting.
• General Settings for every field the wizard skipped.