Custom Affiliate Slugs addon

Would you like to give your affiliates the ability to personalize their referral URLs? The Custom Affiliate Slugs addon allows affiliates to create their own unique “slug,” which is the part of the referral URL that would typically display the affiliate’s username or ID. By allowing custom slugs, affiliates can make their referral links more memorable and easier to share, providing a personalized touch to their marketing efforts.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to install and set up the Custom Affiliate Slugs addon for AffiliateWP, so your affiliates can start customizing their URLs.

Installing the Custom Affiliate Slugs Addon

Before we get started, be sure to install and activate AffiliateWP on your WordPress site.

Once you’ve got AffiliateWP installed and your license is verified you’ll be able to quickly install and activate the Custom Affiliate Slugs addon.

Setting up Custom Affiliate Slugs

To configure the Custom Affiliate Slugs settings navigate to AffiliateWP » Settings and then click on the Custom Affiliate Slugs tab.

Allow Custom Affiliate Slugs

Enable this option if you’d like all affiliates to be able to add a custom slug. Leave this option unchecked if you only want to enable custom slugs on a per-affiliate level (see below).

Show Custom Slug

If your Default Referral Format in AffiliateWP » Settings » Affiliates is set to ID or Username you can enable this option and the affiliate’s custom slug (if they have one) will be shown on the Affiliate URLs tab of the Affiliate Area, (however the URL generator will continue to work only for the ID or Username). If you set the Default Referral Format to Custom Affiliate Slug, the affiliate ID or Username will not be shown, the affiliate’s custom slug will be shown in place of their ID and username, plus they will be able to use the URL generator to generate a referral URL with their slug in it.

Auto-create Custom Slugs

Enable this option if you’d like custom slugs to be automatically generated for your affiliates when:

1. An affiliate registers via the affiliate registration form
2. The Auto Register New Users option is enabled from AffiliateWP » Settings » Affiliates and a user is automatically registered as an affiliate
3. An affiliate is added manually via the AffiliateWP » Affiliates » Add New screen

When this option is enabled an Auto-create Slug Settings section will appear with the following options:

Slug Preview

This will show the admin an example of what an automatically generated slug could look like. This preview will dynamically update as you alter the slug type and slug length as mentioned below.

Slug Type

Choose between an alphanumeric (letters and numbers) or alphabetic slug (letters only).

Slug Length

Set the length of a newly generated slug (the maximum length is 60 characters as per WordPress’ default username standards).

Setting the Default Referral Format

If you’ve been using AffiliateWP for some time, we’ve added settings to make Custom Affiliate Slugs more seamless without disrupting your affiliates’ experience.

If your default referral format is set to ID or Username, this is what affiliates will be used to seeing in the Affiliate URLs tab of the Affiliate Area. By enabling the Show Custom Slug option in AffiliateWP » Settings » Custom Affiliate Slugs, the affiliate will still see their ID or username as normal, however, they will also now see their custom slug, and a custom slug URL they can use above their ID or username. If they use the URL Generator, this will continue to generate a URL for the affiliate using their ID or username (depending on which default referral format you have set).

When you install and activate Custom Affiliate Slugs, a new Custom Affiliate Slug option will also appear in the Default Referral Format dropdown in the AffiliateWP » Settings » Affiliates tab. This allows you to show an affiliate their referral URL with their custom slug, rather than the ID or username. The affiliate will also be able to generate a referral URL using the generator with their custom slug (their ID or username will not be visible).

• Go to AffiliateWP » Settings » Affiliates tab of the settings
• Scroll down to the Default Referral Format dropdown menu and select Custom Affiliate Slug
• Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page

Once this option is enabled, the URL shown in the Affiliate URLs tab of the Affiliate Area will include the affiliate’s custom slug. If an affiliate does not have a custom slug, or they remove it themselves, it will fallback to showing their username as the default referral format.

Per-Affiliate custom slugs

As an admin, you can allow specific affiliates to create custom slugs on a per-affiliate basis. To do this, navigate to AffiliateWP » Affiliates, select the affiliate from the list, and enable the Allow Custom Slug checkbox. Click Update Affiliate to save your changes.

Changing an existing affiliate’s slug as an admin

If you need to modify an affiliate’s custom slug, go to the AffiliateWP » Affiliates screen and click on the affiliate’s name. In the Custom Slug field, you can either enter a new slug or remove the current one. Once the changes are made, a confirmation checkbox will appear after the slug validation passes. Click Update Affiliate to save the new custom slug.

Adding a custom slug while adding a new affiliate

When adding a new affiliate, you can specify a custom slug directly from the Add New Affiliate screen. Go to AffiliateWP » Affiliates and click the Add New button. After selecting the user and filling in the necessary details, enter the custom slug in the Custom Slug field.

If no slug is entered, and you have enabled the Auto-create Custom Slugs option, a slug will automatically be generated.

Exporting a .CSV file of affiliates and their custom slugs

As an admin, you can export a .CSV file that includes a list of all affiliates and their corresponding custom slugs. To do this, go to AffiliateWP » Tools and click on the Export/Import tab. Under Export Affiliates, choose the affiliate status you want to export, then click Export. A prompt will appear to download the .CSV file, which will contain a new column titled Custom Slug.

Adding a custom slug as an affiliate

Affiliates can create their own custom slug directly from the Affiliate Area by navigating to the Settings tab. In the Custom Affiliate Slug input field, affiliates can enter their desired slug, confirm it by entering it again in the confirmation field, and click Save Profile Settings. Once saved, their personalized slug will be available for use in referral URLs.

Frequently Asked Questions

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That’s it! By allowing your affiliates to create personalized referral URLs, you not only enhance their experience but also provide a unique branding opportunity. Custom Affiliate Slugs can make referral links more memorable and professional, potentially increasing affiliate engagement and conversions.