- What version of Perl is required?
- Have you encountered any host setups that
your software did NOT work on?
- Please explain "static" and
"dynamic" pages . . .
- How big can the replicated sites be?
- Can the URL directory be stipulated by
the user?
- Does your script allow for the inclusion
of affiliate contact information on each affiliate's replicated web site?
- What is involved with "preparing"
template files? How is an HTML file changed to a template file?
- How hard is it to add another page and
update all the affiliate sites?
- Does the update script update the order
page or just the index page.
- What is meant by "affiliate level"?
Is this in reference to a multi-level marketing structure?
- Can I customize the email confirmation
that a new affiliate receives when first signing up?
- How are affiliate passwords generated?
- If someone doesn't end up buying anything
the first time they visit an affiliate site, will they automatically be
taken to the affiliates site the next time they visit my home page?
- Can the same affiliate be credited for
several products, although the products are purchased from separate order
forms?
- How hard is it to add more products after
the initial installation?
- Do you provide some type of template so
we can add products without having to bother you?
- Will I be able to offer different products
with different commission levels?
- Can your script handle variable shipping?
- Does the script automatically format the
order comfirmation emails for sendmail?
- Is it possible to "turn off"
the email that sends the order information to the webmaster (site owner),
and just keep it on the log file, on the secure server?
- Does your system work with real-time
credit card processing services?
- I have ShopSite shopping cart doing my
transactions. Will your software work with it?
- Does this program develop a mailing list
of affiliates and customers so that I can send email updates about new
products offered?
- Does your software work with a secure
server?
- Does your script work with SSIs?
- If I order today-how long till I get the
software and installation instructions?
Q. What version of Perl is required?
A. Any Perl 5.xx or higher version should work
Q. Have you encountered any host
setups that your software did NOT work on?
One thing to look out for: In some hosting setups, all "secure"
documents must reside in a particular folder or sometimes must be uploaded
to a completely different FTP account! This kind of
setup will NOT work with my software. All of the component parts
of my software MUST reside in the same place, and MUST be able to access
files created by the other component parts. For related information, see "Does your software work with a secure server?"
Q. Please explain "static"
and "dynamic" pages . . .
A. My software will allow you to have "static" or "dynamic"
pages -- or a combination of both. All static pages are ".html"
files that are kept in your "templates" directory. Whenever someone
signs up, these static pages are copied into their web site directory.
"Dynamic" pages end with ".txt" and are also kept
in your templates directory. They are "delivered" to the user's
browswer via a CGI script (much like an SSI-delivered page) which is included
in my software package.
Whenever you change the contents of a "dynamic" page template
file, those changes are seen immediately by anyone going to that page on
an affiliate site. If you have static pages, you first change them in the
template, then run the "update" function of the administration
program (part of my package). The "update" function then copies
all "*.htm" and "*.html" files from the template directory
to all the affiliate directories (substituting correct "coding"
information into each page before copying it, of course).
Q. How big can the replicated
site be?
A. As big as you want. But keep in mind that every "static"
page will be duplicated one time for every affiliate -- if you have a few
thousand affiliates, this could really add up! If you expect to have a large
number of affiliates, I'd recommend using dynamic pages for all except the
"index.html" file . . .
Q. Can the URL directory be stipulated
by the user?
A. No, the affiliate program administrator determines what the "root
affiliate directory" will be named, and all affiliate directories are
subdirectories of this root directory. The affiliate's "affiliate number"
is used as that affiliate's directory name. The affiliate CAN specify their own
affiliate number though, if you want to give them that option.
Q. Does your script allow for
the inclusion of affiliate contact information on each affiliate's replicated
web site?
A. Yes it does. You can set it up to embed the affiliate's name, address, email,
phone, web site, etc. into the pages.
Q. What is involved with "preparing"
template files? How is an HTML file changed to a template file?
A. The only difference between a template file and the original HTML
file is how the "links" are set up. For instance, all graphics
image source links must be "absolute" links rather than
"relative" -- instead of saying <IMG SRC="images/smile.gif">
you'd need to change that to <IMG SRC="http://yoursite.com/images/smile.gif">
Links to other pages require some specific formatting. If you have a
static page called "index.html", and it will reference another
static page called "faq.htm", you could actually use a "relative"
link, because both pages will be in the same directory (remember, static
pages get duplicated -- copied to the affiliate's directory).
If you were linking FROM a "dynamic"
page to a static page (I'll use "faq.htm" in this example),
you'd use this format in your template file:
href="http://yoursite.com/affiliatesrootdirectory/yoap1/faq.htm"
Where "affiliatesrootdirectory" is the directory name you choose
when you setup the program. The "keyword" yoap1 will be replaced
with the affiliate's affiliate number by the script that delivers the dynamic
page.
Links TO dynamic pages would require this
format (I'll use "abc" as the example file):
href="http://yoursite.com/cgi-bin/d.cgi?abc-ap1234yh"
In this case, you would have a template file named "abc.txt"
in your templates directory, and this link would be for affiliate number
"ap1234yh" . . .
More details can be found in the installation guide . . .
Q. How hard is it to add another
page and update all the affiliate sites?
A. If it's a static page, you need to create a "template" file
for it. Then add it to the templates directory. If any of the other files
will be linking to the new one, those template files need to be changed
as well (just like regular HTML pages). Once your changes are made, use
the "update" utility -- just a click of the button, and you're
done!
Q. Does the update script update
the order page or just the index page.
A. The "update" script will update all static pages. Any ".htm",
".html" or ".shtml"page in your template directory will be copied into
each one of your affiliate's directories.
Q. What is meant by "affiliate
level"?
A. Each affiliate level is just a different commission rate.
For instance, you might have a "free" affiliate program that pays
20%. You could call all affiliates involved in the free program "Level
1" affiliates. Then you could offer an affiliate program where you
required a deposit, or the purchase of something before someone could participate
-- and perhaps you'd pay 33% commission to these affiliates -- you could
designate all affiliates in the "paid" affiliate program as "Level
2" affiliates. You can have as many of these different levels as you
want, and you can move affiliates from one program to the other just by
changing their "level" in their information file (this is done
from the web interface).
If you are using the "Two-Tier" mode of commission, you can set a commission rate for each level for "direct" sales, and another rate for "sponsored" sales.
Q. Can I customize the email
confirmation a new affiliate receives when first signing up?
A. Yes, this is easily done. There is a file in the "admin"
directory named "signup_email.txt" -- just change the contents of that
file. The text in that file will be send to your new affiliate.
Q. How are affiliate passwords
generated?
A. The sign-up script creates a password consisting of 8 random letters/numbers.
Both uppercase and lowercase letters are used. This password can be changed
by you at anytime, and if you allow it, each affiliate will also be able
to change their own password. There's also an option to allow the affiliate to set their own password when they first sign up.
Q. If someone doesn't end up buying
anything the first time they visit an affiliate site, will they automatically
be taken to the affiliates site the next time they visit my home page?
A. Yes. If you setup the "Affiliate Cookie System" (which is included with the
YOAP software), then affiliates can still get commissions even if a referred
visitor leaves the affiliate site and returns to your home page.
Q. Can the same affiliate be
credited for several products, although the products are purchased from
separate order forms?
Note: This only applies to cases where you're using the included order processing application.
Yes, you can use any number of order forms. You can have a separate order
form for each product, or you can have a single order form for all products
-- your choice!
Q. How hard is it to add more
products after the initial installation?
Note: This only applies to cases where you're using the included order processing application.
A. It's very simple -- just follow these steps:
- Add the template page(s) to your templates directory
- Modify any template files that need to link to this new page
- Add the required product identification, description, and price fields
to your order form.
- If any of the affected files are "static", use the "Update"
utility to update all the affiliate sites.
Q. Do you provide some type of
template so we can add products without having to bother you?
Note: This only applies to cases where you're using the included order processing application.
A. Yes, there is an order form template included in the program distribution
files.
Q. Will I be able to offer different
products with different commission levels?
A. There is no way to attach a commission to a particular product name.
However, you CAN assign different commission rates depending on the price
of a product. So you could set it up so all items costing $10 or less earn
a 10% commission, all items more than $10 but less than $50 earn 15% commission,
and all items $50 or more earn a flat rate of $15.
Q. Can your script handle variable
shipping?
Note: This only applies to cases where you're using the included order processing application.
A. Yes it can. Full details are given in "preparing your order form"
section of the installation guide.
Q. Does the script automatically
format the order comfirmation emails for sendmail?
A. I guess that depends on what you mean by "format". It sends
out an email that starts with a message you define in the "order_thanks.txt"
file (in the administration directory). Order details are appended to the
end of your message (including items ordered and cost).
Q. Is it possible to "turn
off" the email that sends the order information to the webmaster (site
owner), and just keep it in the log file?
A. Yes, you can choose to NOT have an email sent when an order is received.
However, if you do this, you should be sure to check your order history
page on a daily basis.
Q. Does your system work with real-time credit card processing services?
A. Yes, you can integrate YOAP with your shopping cart and/or real-time payment software by including an
image tag on the "thank you for your order" page displayed the system. All that is required
is that you have the ability to embed the amount of the sale into the HTML code for that page.
Most shopping cart and payment gateway systems have this capability, so YOAP should work fine
with just about all of them.
Q. I have ShopSite shopping cart
doing my transactions. Will your software work with it?
A. As long as ShopSite allows you to customize the "thank you for your order" page and allows
you to specify where in the HTML code the sales amount will be embedded, it should be compatible with YOAP.
Q. Does this program develop
a mailing list of affiliates so that I can send email updates?
A. Yes. You can download this data from the affiliate contact information screen and
from the order details screen. I'd also recommend you include a pre-populated auto-responder opt-in form on the "thank you" page your affiliate sees after they sign up.
Q. Does your software work with
a secure server?
A. Yes, as long as your web site host allows for the accessing of a single
file by secure and a non-secure methods.
This means if a file is created by a script running via a secure server,
the owner and/or group names assigned to that file need to be the same as
those assigned when a script is running via a non-secure server -- OR, you
have to open up your permissions . . . but that could be a security issue,
depending on how your ISP has things set up.
The issue that I've seen is when the secure server and the "non-secure"
server have different "identities" -- i.e. when they create files,
the files they create are assigned different owners and groups. The owner
and/or group of a file must be the same for both secure and non-secure servers
in order for the software to operate correctly and with full security .
. .
Here's the problem I've seen with a couple of web host companies: When
the "startup" script creates the files for a new affiliate (via
a non-secure server), the "login" name of the web
site owner is used as the owner and group for that file. But when the order
processing script runs via a secure server, the server has been set up with
an identity of "nobody" and belongs to the group "nobody"
-- so it can't read the files written by the startup script. And when it
creates files, those files can't be read by the administrative scripts (i.e.
order checking script).
There are 3 ways to get around this:
- Ask your web host provider to fix it on their end, so that scripts
running under a secure server can read/write files created with scripts
running under the "non-secure" server. This might be as simple
as adding you to the group "nobody" or changing the identity
under which the regular or secure server runs.
- Open up the permissions on the files so that anyone can read them (Security
issue!)
- Run the entire affiliate program from the secure server.
Option 1 is always the best, in my opinion . . . you should check with
your web host provider to see if this is something they need to address
-- just forward this explanation to them, they should understand the potential
problem after reading it.
One thing to look out for: In some hosting setups, all "secure"
documents must reside in a particular folder or sometimes must be uploaded
to a completely different FTP account! This kind of setup will NOT work
with my software. All of the component parts of my software MUST reside
in the same place, and MUST be able to access files created by the other
component parts.
Q. Does your script work with
Server Side Includes?
A. Yes, but only with "static" pages. Web servers will ignore any SSI directives
in a "dynamic" page.
Q. If I order today, how long
until I get the software and installation instructions?
A. You will receive an email immediately after your order is placed. This email will include a download link.
