This page describes what an affiliate sees and can change in the affiliate portal, for merchants supporting affiliates. The affiliate portal lets each affiliate see their links, earnings, payout status, and payout contact details on their own. Point affiliates to the portal instead of sending links by hand.
Dashboard sections
The affiliate Dashboard has these sections:
- Getting started: a checklist with a step count and a status chip (Awaiting approval or Action needed). It appears only until the affiliate completes onboarding. On phones it comes first; on wider screens it sits beside Promote this campaign.
- Promote this campaign (Share your promo code in promo-code-only programs): the referral link or promo code, campaign details, the landing page when the campaign has one, and the merchant’s campaign instructions and resources.
- Earnings and payout summary: Available to payout, Pending review, Processing, and Paid (30 days), with a View payouts link and the program’s payout terms.
- Performance: a 7 days, 30 days, or 90 days range (30 days by default). The metric row shows Clicks, Leads, Conversions, Conversion rate, Earnings per click, and Avg order value for the chosen range. Chart tabs show daily Earnings, Visits, and Conversions for the same range.
- Activity: the latest entries on the Payouts, Referrals, and Commissions tabs, with View all referrals and View all commissions links to the full lists.
The Promote this campaign section (Share your promo code in promo-code-only programs) shows what the affiliate shares:
- In link-mode programs, affiliates copy their referral link from the campaign card. A Make a link for each prompt points them to Links.
- In promo-code-only programs, the promo code is the primary asset and the referral link is not shown.
If the merchant added portal content for the campaign, this section also shows campaign instructions and labeled resource links. External resources open in their original service, so access depends on the sharing permissions the merchant set there.
Payout terms
Under the earnings summary, Payout terms tells affiliates how long commissions wait before they can be paid, from the campaign’s review period, and the campaign’s minimum payout when one is set. It also says that the program owner sends payouts, so affiliates know payouts follow your payout runs rather than a fixed schedule. Change these on the campaign to change what affiliates see.
Links
Link-mode programs have a Links page in the portal navigation. Promo-code-only programs don’t.
Each affiliate’s Main link is listed first, with any links they add after it. For each link, affiliates see a Copy button and how many Visitors, Leads, and Conversions it brought, so they can tell which channel works.
Once you’ve approved them, affiliates add a link by filling in New link, then choosing Create link:
- Name: what the link is for, like “YouTube review” or “Newsletter”. The affiliate and your team see it; visitors don’t.
- Page: any page on your campaign’s website, as a path like
/pricingor a full address on the same site. Leave it blank for the campaign’s main page. Pages on other websites are not accepted. - Link name (optional): shown only when the campaign has Let affiliates choose their link names turned on. It sets the name in the link, like
?via=jane-reviews: 3 to 40 lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes. Names already used by another link or by one of your promo codes, and a few reserved words such as “admin” and “official”, aren’t available. Left blank, or when the setting is off, the link gets a generated name.
Each affiliate can have up to 25 active links, and 50 in total including archived ones. They can Archive a link they no longer use; it stops tracking new visitors, its past referrals stay in their history, and its link name stays reserved. The Main link can’t be archived.
New links track like the main link, on any page of your site that runs the tracking script. No setup change is needed. You see each affiliate’s links, with their names and counts, on the affiliate’s profile.
Referrals and commissions
The portal navigation has Referrals and Commissions pages with the affiliate’s full history, newest first:
- Referrals lists everyone who arrived through the affiliate’s link or code: first visit, status (with the customer underneath once there is one), visits, when they became a lead, when they converted, and when tracking ends. Affiliates can filter by Visitors, Leads, or Conversions.
- Commissions opens with two totals, Due next payout and In review, each shown per currency. The status filters (All, In review, Due, In a payout, Paid, Voided) show a count for each status. The list shows the customer, sale amount, commission, status, and a date that matches the status: when review ends, when it became due, or when it was paid or voided. A date for a commission in a payout links to that payout’s details. On phones, each row shows the commission with its status underneath.
- Payout history opens with Paid to you and Not paid yet totals, with status filters and the same per-currency amounts.
Customer names
By default, affiliates see an anonymous label such as “Customer 1D46BE” instead of the customer’s name or email. The label stays the same for that customer, so affiliates can still match a customer’s referral to their commissions. To show names and emails, turn on Show customer names and emails to affiliates on the campaign. See Create and Configure Campaigns.
Exports
Affiliates can download their referrals and commissions with Export CSV on each page, and their payouts with Export CSV on the Payouts page. Exports include dates, statuses and amounts. Customer names and emails are included only when the campaign shows them to affiliates; otherwise exports use the same anonymous labels.
Payout statements
When a payout is paid, its payout details show Download statement (PDF). The statement lists the payment and every commission it covered, so affiliates have a record for their bookkeeping. It is proof of payment, not a tax invoice. See Affiliate Payout Runs and Reconciliation.
Getting started and approval
Public applicants see Awaiting approval in Getting started while their application is pending. The merchant approves applicants from Affiliates -> To review, then Affiliate actions -> Approve affiliate.
For automatic promo-code campaigns, approval requests a code using the campaign’s selected Stripe discount. For individually managed codes, the merchant assigns a code after approval. Existing individual assignments are preserved.
If a code is not ready after approval, the merchant should check the campaign’s generation mode, selected discount, and sync status, then use the recovery action shown instead of creating a duplicate code. Once the merchant resolves the problem, the affiliate can refresh the page. Do not ask the affiliate to invent or substitute a code.
Settings
The portal Settings page has these sections:
- Profile: First name and Last name, saved with Save profile. Email is shown but locked; affiliates who need a different sign-in email ask you to change it. An optional About you part holds their website or main profile, company, country, where they’ll promote, and how they’ll promote the program. You see these on the affiliate’s Profile in your dashboard.
- Payout details: PayPal email and Wise email, saved with Save payout details. You use these emails for PayPal and Wise payout exports. The Set up payout details step in Getting started links here, or to Stripe payouts when the program pays through Stripe.
- Stripe payouts: shown only when the program pays through Stripe. Described below.
- Password: affiliates change their password by entering their current password and the new one, then choosing Change password. Changing it signs them out on their other devices.
Affiliates choose which emails they get under Email notifications in the portal navigation.
When the program pays through Stripe, the settings page shows a Stripe payouts section with the affiliate’s status: Not set up, In review, Action needed, Ready for payouts, or Unavailable. The affiliate chooses Country of your bank account, then Connect with Stripe, and completes Stripe’s sign-up form. Stripe collects their identity and bank details directly; AffiliateBase never sees them. If they leave before finishing, Continue in Stripe picks up where they left off.
Stripe can pay the affiliate only once their status is Ready for payouts. If Stripe can’t pay them with your program, for example because their country isn’t supported, the section shows Unavailable. They then add a PayPal or Wise email, choose it under Pay me by, and select Save payout method. You pay them with the PayPal or Wise export.
See Get paid through Stripe for the affiliate’s steps and each status.
Affiliates in more than one program
An affiliate can join several programs that use AffiliateBase with one login. Signed in, they open another program’s signup link and choose Join program. If they apply while signed out, the form tells them their email already has an AffiliateBase account and to sign in first; the Sign in link brings them back to the application.
Once they belong to more than one program, the top of the portal sidebar shows the current program’s name. Selecting it lists their programs, and choosing one opens that program’s portal.
Links, referrals, commissions, payouts, payout details, profile details, and email notifications are separate for each program. Their name and password are shared, so a change in one program’s Settings applies to all of them.
What affiliates cannot do
Affiliates cannot:
- change campaign commission rules
- mark commissions or payouts paid
- create payout runs
- approve fraud-review outcomes
- create API keys or webhook endpoints
Only the merchant can do these, from the merchant dashboard.
After a ban
If the merchant bans an affiliate, the portal shows only a notice that they are no longer part of the program and a read-only list of their past payouts. The dashboard and settings are no longer available. If they also belong to other programs, they can still switch to those from the sidebar.
Troubleshooting
Affiliate cannot access the portal
Check:
- The affiliate completed public signup, accepted an invitation, or was onboarded directly.
- The affiliate is not archived or removed.
- Your account’s affiliate portal subdomain is configured.
- The affiliate is signing in through your account’s portal host.
Affiliate payout details are missing
Ask the affiliate to open portal settings and complete the details for your account’s payout method. For PayPal or Wise, they save the matching email. For Stripe payouts, they choose Connect with Stripe or Continue in Stripe and finish what Stripe asks for, or choose PayPal or Wise if their status is Unavailable.