# Post Affiliate Pro

[Post Affiliate Pro](https://www.postaffiliatepro.com/) is a popular affiliate marketing software that lets you manage your affiliate programs, track their performance, and boost your lead generation efforts.

RudderStack supports Post Affiliate Pro as a destination to which you can seamlessly send your customer data.

## Connection compatibility

{{< destination-config >}}

{{< info >}}
Based on your website's content security policy, you might need to [allowlist the domain]({{< ref "sources/event-streams/sdks/rudderstack-javascript-sdk/load-js-sdk.md#allowlist-destination-domain" >}}) you have defined in the **URL of Post Affiliate Pro** RudderStack dashboard setting to load the Post Affiliate Pro SDK successfully.
{{< /info >}}

## Get started

Once you have confirmed that your source platform supports sending events to Post Affiliate Pro, follow these steps:

* From your [RudderStack dashboard](https://app.rudderstack.com/), add the source. From the list of destinations, select **Post Affiliate Pro**.
* Assign a name to the destination and click **Continue**.

### Connection settings

The connection settings required to configure Post Affiliate Pro as a destination in RudderStack are listed below:

{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-connection-settings-1.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro connection settings" >}}
{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-connection-settings-2.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro connection settings" >}}
{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-connection-settings-3.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro connection settings" >}}

* **URL of Post Affiliate Pro**: Enter your Post Affiliate Pro tracking URL here.

{{< info >}}
 
For more information on getting the Post Affiliate Pro URL, refer to the [FAQ](#faq) section below.
{{< /info >}}

* **Account ID**: Enter your network merchant account ID here. 

{{< info >}}
 
Post Affiliate Pro owners will have this value set to `default1`.
{{< /info >}}

* **Param Name User ID**: If you have changed the **Affiliate ID / Referrer ID** parameter value by going to **Configuration** - **URL Parameter Names** in your Post Affiliate Pro dashboard, this new value should be entered here.

* **Cookie Domain**: Enter your cookie domain name here. You can find this setting by going to your Post Affiliate Pro dashboard and navigating to **Configuration** - **Cookies**:

{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-cookie-domain.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro cookie domain setting" >}}

* **Cookie to Custom Field**: Enter the ID of the field where the cookie will be written.

* **Campaign to Custom Field**: Enter the ID of the field where the campaign value will be written.

* **Affiliate to Custom Field**: Enter the ID of the field where the affiliate ID will be written.

#### Affiliate to Link settings

* **Affiliate Link ID**: Enter your affiliate link ID here, e.g. `affiliateId`. This refers to the ID of the DOM object where the Affiliate ID is added.

* **AffiliateId Parameter Name**: Enter your affiliate ID parameter name, e.g. `a_aid`.

Suppose you set the **Affiliate Link ID** to `affiliateId` and **AffiliateId Parameter Name** to `aff_id`. Then, the anchor link of the domain where you want to send the affiliate/referrer ID will be converted from: `[](http://abcd.com)` to:  `["id="affiliateId">](http://abcd.com/?aff_id=<the_affiliate_id>)`.

#### Cookie to Link settings

* **Cookie Link ID**: Enter your cookie link ID here. This refers to the ID of the DOM object where the cookie ID is added.

* **Cookie Parameter Name**:  Enter the cookie parameter name here.

{{< info >}}

These settings are similar to the **Affiliate to Link** settings, except that the cookie will be written in place of the `affiliateId`.
{{< /info >}}

#### Event tracking settings

* **Merge Products**: This setting determines if RudderStack should merge the product information while making a sale call to Post Affiliate Pro. If disabled, an individual sale object will be created for each product.

{{< info >}}

Refer to the [Merging product information during sales tracking](#sales-tracking) section for more information on this feature.
{{< /info >}}

* **Disable Tracking Method**: Disable this setting to disable flash cookie creation.

* **List of Events for Click**: For [Clicks Tracking](https://support.qualityunit.com/417400-Clicks-referrals-tracking), RudderStack will consider only the events listed in this field.

{{< warning >}}

Make sure the event names specified in this field are comma-separated.
{{< /warning >}}

* As this is a destination that supports sending events only via web device mode, the **Use device mode to send events** option will be always enabled.

Finally, click **Next** to complete the setup. Post Affiliate Pro will now be enabled as a destination in RudderStack.

## Identify

You can use the RudderStack `identify` method to set a unique customer ID. You can then use this ID to subsequently track the customer's activities.

A sample `identify` call is shown below:

```javascript
rudderanalytics.identify(
  "user001", // visitor Id
);
```

RudderStack calls the `setVisitorId` function of the Post Affiliate Pro SDK and sets the user ID provided in the `identify` call:

```javascript
PostAffTracker.setVisitorId("user001");
```

## Track

RudderStack supports two types of event tracking for Post Affiliate Pro:

* **Clicks tracking**: RudderStack initiates Post Affiliate Pro's clicks tracking mechanism for the events that are explicitly specified in the **List of Events for Click** field, while setting up the integration.

* **Sales tracking**: RudderStack initiates Post Affiliate Pro's sales tracking only for the **Order Completed** event.

### Clicks tracking

A sample `track` event for clicks tracking is as shown:

```javascript
rudderanalytics.track(
"User Clicked", //event name
{
      affiliateId: "affiliate id",
      bannerId: "banner id",
      campaignId: "campaign id",
      channel: "channel",
      data1: "data1",
      data2: "data2",
} //properties
);
```
{{< warning >}}

The **User Clicked** event must be explictly specified in the **List of Events for Click** field. Otherwise, the event will be discarded.
{{< /warning >}}

RudderStack maps the following properties to the Post Affiliate Pro click event properties:

| **RudderStack Event Property** | **Post Affiliate Pro Property** |
|:---------------------|:--------------------------|
| `data1`                         | `Data1`                   |
| `data2`                |  `Data2`                  |
| `affiliateId`                  | `AffiliateID`                      |
| `bannerId`                        | `BannerID`                          |
| `campaignId`                       | `CampaignID`                          |
| `channel`                       | `Channel`                          |

### Sales tracking

In case of sales tracking, RudderStack creates a Post Affiliate Pro `sale` object. For the properties in the event, RudderStack then calls the respective `sale` object function.

A sample `Order Completed` event sent to Post Affiliate Pro sales tracking is shown below:

```javascript
rudderanalytics.track(
"Order Completed", //event name
{
      checkout_id: "12345",
      order_id: "1234",
      affiliation: "aff_id",
      total: 17.45,
      fixedCost: 20.5,
      revenue: 15.0,
      customCommision: 15,
      campaign: "campaignId",
      channel: "channelId",
      coupon: "ImagePro",
      currency: "EUR",
      status: "A",
      data1: "something",
      data2: "something",
      data3: "something",
      data4: "something",
      data5: "something",
      doNotDeleteCookies: true,

      products: [
        {
          product_id: "123",
          sku: "G-5",
          name: "Product1",
          price: 14,
          fixedCost: 20.5,
          quantity: 1,
          customCommision: 10.23,
          category: "Miscellaneous",
          currency: "USD",
          commisionStatus: "A",
          url: "https://www.website.com/product/path",
          image_url: "https://www.website.com/product/path.jpg",
        },
        {
          product_id: "345",
          sku: "F-5",
          name: "Product2",
          price: 2.45,
          fixedCost: 5.0,
          quantity: 2,
          customCommision: 10.50,
          commisionStatus: "A",
          category: "General",
        },
      ],
} //properties
);
```

When the **Merge Products** option is enabled while configuring the destination in the dashboard, RudderStack merges the product information and sends the `sale` object as seen in the Post Affiliate Pro dashboard below:

{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-mergeproduct-true.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro sale object with combined product information" >}}

If this option is disabled, two separate `sale` objects are created and sent to Post Affiliate Pro:

{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-mergeproduct-false.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro separate sale objects" >}}

## FAQ 

#### Where do I get the Post Affiliate Pro URL?

To get your Post Affiliate Pro URL, follow these steps:

1. Log into your Post Affiliate Pro merchant website.
2. Then, click **Tools** and go to **Integration**.
3. Under **Main Integration Steps**, choose any one of the **Clicks tracking** or **Sales/Leads Tracking** options.
4. Finally, copy the `src` part as shown below: 

{{< image src="images/event-stream-destinations/pap-tracking-url.webp" alt="Post Affiliate Pro tracking URL" >}}