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Frequently asked questions – Technical integration

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Affilae offers several technical integration methods depending on your CMS: Shopify, Prestashop, WooCommerce, Google Tag Manager.

Each program has its own objectives and wants to track different events (old or new customer sales, sales by product category, leads). This page sets out what each method allows, and answers the most frequent questions.

Good to know: the method you choose determines which events you will be able to tell apart. Check this table before you create your commission rules, not after.

Comparing the integration methods

METHOD	HOW IT IS INSTALLED	WHAT YOU CAN TELL APART	LEADS	PROMO CODE	TOP PRODUCTS
Shopify	Manual script install, no technical skills needed.	Sales only, with no distinction between customer type or product category.	No	Yes	Yes
Prestashop (module)	Via a module, no technical skills needed.	Old and new customers, product categories, and both combined.	No	Yes	Yes
WooCommerce (module)	Via a module.	Old and new customers, product categories, and both combined.	No	Yes	Yes
WooCommerce (manual)	Manual script install, when a conflict blocks the scripts.	Sales only, with no distinction between customer type or product category.	No	Yes	No
Google Tag Manager	Custom integration, technical. Your GTM must be perfectly configured.	Any event, as long as you can configure it in your GTM.	Yes	Depends on your setup	Depends on your setup

Each method in detail

Shopify

Integrating scripts into Shopify is a manual process. The scripts are specific to Shopify but do not require any technical skills to install.

Integration applies to sales only, with no distinction between customer type or product category.
You cannot track leads via the Shopify integration.
Before moving on to the tracking stage, please contact the support team so that they can check your tracking at the same time.

The promo code and top products tracking options are available via this integration. See the Shopify integration documentation.

Prestashop

Prestashop scripts are integrated via a module. This integration does not require any technical skills. Here are the possibilities available.

Distinction between old and new customers.
Distinction by product category. In this case, the module is based on your Prestashop category settings.

You can combine these different events (customer type and categories). You cannot track leads via the Prestashop module integration. The promo code and top products tracking options are available. See the Prestashop integration documentation.

WooCommerce, via the module

Here are the possibilities of the integration via the WooCommerce module.

Distinction between old and new customers.
Distinction by product category. In this case, the module is based on your WooCommerce category settings.

You can combine these different events (customer type and categories). You cannot track leads via the WooCommerce module integration. The promo code and top products tracking options are available. See the WooCommerce module documentation.

WooCommerce, manual integration

Manual integration of scripts in WooCommerce comes into play when a conflict in your WooCommerce prevents scripts from being triggered. For example, this could come from page builder software such as Elementor, Divi or WP Bakery. The scripts are specific to WooCommerce but do not require any technical skills to install.

Integration applies to sales only, with no distinction between customer type or product category.
You cannot track leads via manual WooCommerce integration.

The promo code tracking option is available in this integration method. The top products option is not. See the manual WooCommerce documentation.

Google Tag Manager

Integration via Google Tag Manager corresponds to a custom integration. You can track any event as long as you can configure it in your GTM.

Please note that integration via Google Tag Manager is technical and that your GTM must be perfectly configured. For example, if you want to distinguish between old and new customer sales, you will need to create two separate scripts, one for each event. You will then need to set the parameters for triggering these scripts according to these specific conditions.

See our documentation for integrating scripts via GTM.

Best practices

Tip: list the events you want to reward first, then pick the method. Doing it the other way round means reinstalling the whole tracking because the chosen method cannot tell product categories apart.

One event to tell apart equals one commission rule, so one conversion script to install. Count your categories before you start.
On Shopify, contact support before you launch your tracking: the checks are run alongside your install.
If no method covers your need, go through Google Tag Manager, which does not have these limits.
Always test with a real order before opening your program.

Frequently asked
questions

In Affilae, an event, in this case the sale of a product in category X or Y, corresponds to a commission rule. If you want to distinguish sales by product category, you will need to create as many commission rules as there are categories to track. These are all conversion scripts that you will need to implement. Implementation then depends on the integration method you choose.

As with products, you will need to create two commission rules, one for old customers and one for new customers. Then, depending on your integration method, you will need to integrate and configure these two tracking scripts.

No. None of these integrations can track leads. For a lead objective, go through a custom integration with Google Tag Manager, which lets you track any event you can configure in your GTM.

If your requirements do not match the integration options on offer, we recommend that you integrate via Google Tag Manager, described earlier on this page.

First check that it is really necessary. If you only want to differentiate how your publishers are paid, stay with a single program and create different commission groups, or specific rules activated for one or more groups of publishers.

The only situation that requires two programs is when they use different attribution methods. Take a first program in « share » attribution mode and a second one in « last click » mode, here are the settings to apply.

Program 1, share mode: any type of link, and you integrate the clicks script as well as the conversion script or scripts.
Program 2, last click mode: redirect link type, and you integrate only the conversion script or scripts.

Technically, we cannot have two click scripts on the same domain name. This setup therefore avoids any conflict between these scripts and keeps the tracking working correctly.

No, provided you use one of the integration methods listed on this page. Affilae tracking scripts have been first-party for many years, and Google’s update only concerns third-party cookies.