After six months in development, we are excited to share the new improvements in the upcoming 2.1 version of AffiliateWP. This is a major release that includes a number of new features and significant improvements, as well as numerous fixes.
Today we are releasing the beta version of 2.1 and then, in approximately two weeks, we will release the final version to all customers. To help ensure that there are no problems with 2.1, we would like to invite any and all customers to help test the beta version.
In 2.1, there are five new distinct features and a number of smaller improvements throughout the plugin. Let’s take a look at the five highlights.
CSV import for affiliate accounts
We have introduced a new option to import affiliate accounts from a CSV file. For sites that are migrating to AffiliateWP or simply importing existing accounts from another system, this tool will be supremely helpful in getting all of your affiliate accounts entered into AffiliateWP.
This new CSV import option is located in Affiliates → Tools → Export / Import.
CSV import for referrals
Along with CSV import for affiliate accounts, we have also introduced an import tool for referral records. This allows site owners to import existing referrals for new or existing affiliate accounts from other systems.
Export visits to CSV
Data portability is important, especially for site owners that wish to perform their own data analysis of affiliate traffic. In 2.1 we’ve added a new option that allows site owners to export visits from the AffiliateWP database to a CSV file.
Payout reports
One way to measure the success of your affiliate program is by the amount paid out to your affiliates. In AffiliateWP 2.1, we have introduced a new Payouts tab to the Reports screen.
This tab shows a number of valuable statistics:
- Total earnings paid out over all time
- Total earnings paid for a specified period, such as the current month
- Total earnings generated for a specified period, such as the current month
- Total number of payouts processed over all time
- The average payout amount for a specified period, such as the current month
- The average number of referrals included in each payout over all time
The Payouts tab also displays a trends graph to help you visualize the data presented. These statistics can be shown cumulatively for all affiliate accounts or for a particular affiliate’s account.
Individual affiliate reports
We have offered basic report views for individual affiliate accounts for quite some time, but in 2.1 they have been significantly improved by combing the single affiliate views with the standard report views. This means that all of the report options (Referrals, Visits, Payouts, Campaigns) are now available for each individual affiliate account, allowing affiliate program managers to easily view how well specific affiliates are performing.
Other improvements
Along with the improvements to reporting and CSV handling, there are a number of additional improvements in AffiliateWP 2.1.
- Affiliate registration form now uses HTML5 validation for form fields.
- A filter called “affwp_tracking_skip_track_visit” has been added to the visit tracking process.
- A link to the “Affiliate Area” has been added to the WooCommerce “My Account” page.
- Debug logging has been improved throughout the plugin to make it easier to track down issues when they occur.
- Registration date and URL fields are now available when manually creating affiliate accounts.
- The URL used by the PayPal Button integration for IPN processing can now be manually overwritten with the AFFILIATEWP_PAYPAL_IPN constant.
- The Affiliates → Referrals screen now supports searching by amount and description.
Bugs fixed
Eighteen distinct bugs have been fixed in version 2.1:
- Referrals less than 1.00 using a comma decimal separator create 0.00 referral amounts.
- Strings on login/registration not being localized/translated.
- Adding a new form in Contact Form 7 overrides the previous one.
- Contact Form 7 bypasses required fields when integration enabled.
- Referral link on homepage shows WooCommerce product message when Polylang is active.
- Credit Last Referrer does not work when fallback tracking is enabled.
- Fatal error/page not found depending on affiliate link structure with WP e-Commerce.
- Affiliate links show wrong page when “Front page displays” is set in WP e-Commerce.
- Page set as front page does not show with affiliate link when using BuddyPress Docs.
- Upgrade database notice appears on fresh installs.
- Restrict Content Pro’s Prevent Account Sharing option is redirecting affiliates when logging in.
- Filtering date range/affiliate in Affiliates, Creatives, Payouts, Referrals, and Visits screens displays the entire “All” count.
- Some options rows are not being cleaned up during uninstall.
- The username is being escaped twice in
affwp_get_affiliate_username(). - The Totals meta box on the Overview screen sometimes times out.
- Empty referral amounts in the Recent Referrals meta box don’t display properly.
- Rejected referrals not updated to Unpaid if associated order is completed.
- Integration code can cause fatal error if integration plugin is not activated.
Testing the beta
To help ensure that all new features are working properly and no new bugs have been accidentally introduced, we would love help with testing the beta version of 2.1.
If you have version 1.9.8 of AffiliateWP or later installed, you may opt into beta update notifications by navigating to Affiliates → Settings → Misc and checking the box for Opt into beta versions?.
Once opted-in, an update notification for the 2.1 beta will be shown in your Plugins page after the next plugins update check is run by WordPress.
At this time we anticipate the final release of 2.1 to be released on or near July 12, 2017.
If you have any questions or issues with the beta, please let us know by leaving a comment below or submitting a support ticket.
