Submitting a Postback URL to an Affiliate Network Platform (example)
Postback URL is a target URL used by an affiliate network platform to send information about conversion to Voluum. In order to create a postback URL, you have to get its template from Voluum, edit it to include affiliate network tokens and then provide it to your affiliate network platform.
I. Get a Postback URL from Voluum
- In Voluum, go to the Settings view.
- Go to the Tracking links tabs,
-
Click the Copy button in the Postback URL section next to either the standard postback URL or secure postback URL.
Voluum Info: To use a secure postback URL , you need to enable SSL for your Voluum dedicated domain. Read the Enabling SSL for a Dedicated Domain article to learn more.
You have now copied the postback URL to the clipboard. Your secure postback URL should look like this:
https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/postback?cid=REPLACE&payout=OPTIONAL&txid=OPTIONAL
Note that the postback URL is also available in an offer creation form and can be copied from there. It is the same link, as Voluum postback works on an account level only.
II. Edit the Postback URL
Right now you need to modify your postback URL to correctly pass information from an affiliate network platform to Voluum. To learn how information is passed in HTTP request URLs (such as postback URL) in general, read the How Information is Passed article.
Paste the copied postback URL to any tool where you can edit and specify the URL tokens.
Voluum Info: Keep in mind that the postback URL parameters should be updated with the corresponding tokens defined by your affiliate network. To find those tokens you need to refer to the affiliate network documentation.
Note that each affiliate network can use different names for what in Voluum is considered as a token. They might refer to it as "subIDs", "macros" or "tags", but whatever the name is, it has to refer to an automatically replaceable character string that will be substituted with concrete value. If you want to use more than one affiliate network, you need to set up the postback URL for each of them.
You have the following Voluum's specific parameter names in your postback URL:
-
cid : This is a mandatory parameter name used to record a conversion. It is dedicated to passing back the Voluum click ID value. You need to match it with a token specific for your affiliate network platform dedicated to passing the click ID value. Typically it has the same name as a parameter name used to pass this value in an offer URL, but in a different container.
Example:
If you have used the s2 parameter name to pass the click ID value with the Voluum
{clickid}token in an offer URL, then the whole parameter in the offer URL should look like this:s2={clickid}.In this case, s2 is associated with Voluum's click ID Value. Very often affiliate network platforms will use this name as a token to pass the click ID value back to Voluum, put in a certain container, such as
{}or#characters. So the whole parameter used to send the click ID value back to Voluum in the postback URL will look like this:cid={s2}. - payout : This is an optional parameter used to pass the revenue amount per conversion. You need to match it with an appropriate token used to pass this information if you have selected an automatic payout tracking in an offer element setup.
- txid: This is an optional parameter that you can use to pass a unique transaction ID for each conversion.
- currency: This is an optional parameter that you can use to pass payout currency. This overrides the currency setting from an offer.
Read the Parameters in Postback URLs article to learn more.
If you do not want to use optional parameters, you can delete them from the postback URL. Your edited postback URL should look like this:
https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/postback?cid={affiliate_network_clickid_token}&payout={affiliate_network_payout_token}&txid={affiliate_network_txid_token}
III. Paste an Edited Postback URL to an Affiliate Network Platform
When you have defined all the parameters in the postback URL, paste the URL on the affiliate network platform side. In each platform, it may look a little bit different. You can always refer to their documentation or support for help, but there are three points to consider that may clarify what options you have when it comes to submitting a postback URL:
- In affiliate network platforms, postbacks can work either on a campaign / offer level or on an account level. Depending on that, postback settings might be available in the campaign / offer settings, in the account settings or in both places. As Voluum uses only global postback that is valid for the whole Voluum account, we recommend setting a postback on an account level in an affiliate network platform, if you have an option to choose so.
- Some affiliate network platforms are already integrated with Voluum and you only need to provide a Voluum domain name. All tokens will be configured automatically,
- If you need more detailed instructions on how to set up a postback URL and how to track an offer from a concrete affiliate network platform, you can always check the Integrations section to find out if there is a guide for this affiliate network platform.
To check a postback URL, get a click ID value and substitute the {affiliate_network_clickid_token} with it in the postback URL template. Then activate the postback and see, if a conversion was recorded. If a conversion count has increased by 1, a postback URL test was successful.
