My client has an in-house call center. Having this function in ViArt is great, but it doesn't allow any reporting by call center user ID, so they can't tell who recorded the order and therfore who gets commision.
 
I would like to use the affiliate module to have the in-house reps enter the site via their OWN affiliate code and place the order as the end user. It's not elegant, but I think that will work.
 
My probelm now is I can't seem to get the affilate code to work. I assumed if I entered the site with ?af=xxxx that entire session would log against the affiliate code, but it doesn't seem to capture any order activity. Does anyone out here have some experience with the affiliate module? I could use a few pointers.

This might help: http://www.viart.com/location_to_add_code_for_third_party_affiliate_software_dot_dot_dot_.html
 
It is for idevaffiliate, but should be applicable for other systems too.
 
Good luck!
 
DickS

Thanks for the tip, but I'm trying to use ViArt's own affiliate module to accomplish this rather than a third party. The coding should already be integrated into the cart. I tested this early on and it seemed to work but now it just doesn't capture any affiliate info. Maybe this is a support request issue.

Hi,
 
Have you made the order status one which release funds into the affiliate account e.g from "new order placed" to "paid" ?

Thanks. I thought that might fix it, but it didn't. I've added a custom field to track Call Center activity and figure "commission due" by exporting to Excel.
 
My concern now is: does my affiliate module work at all? I do want to use that going forward, but 've got some testing to do. Can anyone confirm the basic operation of the affiliate module is to have a user enter the cart via the "mydomain/index.php/?af=xxxxxxx" tag, and the entire session is captured for that affiliate? That's the way I understand it, but I've see a few forum postings mention putting the affiliate tag on a few other pages.

I have tested the affiliate module previously and can confirm that if I enter the site via the mydomain/index.php/?af=xxxxxxx and placing a paid status order that the affiliate commision is logged in the AFFILIATES account.
 
I must admit I had to play about a bit as I had obviously had to set 2 accounts up 1 for the affiliate and one for the user as as far as I know the afffiliate can not use his own code to place an order and gain a discount but not sure.
 
+ I am not sure if the system lods the ip address of the affiliate also to stop this.
 
You may be best submitting a ticket !

Ah - you've hit on something I did not consider. I have been trying to place affiliate sales from an affiliate account! When I first tested ViArt's affiliate module early on it worked properly with simple test users. So this "problem" may not be as severe as I thought. I'll go through a more basic test again. Thanks!