Instructions for CAP(tm) Associates: Using ga.pl

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CAP™: Instructions for Using ga.pl

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Associate Gateway Software (ga.pl)

Participants in Creativyst's Associates Program (CAP™) must use the gateway software link (ga.pl) when linking visitors to creativyst. Associates will not be credited for purchases made unless buyers are referred by the associate through the gateway link.

The gateway program takes your associate number as a parameter along with the URL within Creativyst.com where you wish to direct the visitor you are referring. If you omit the URL parameter the gateway program will direct the visitor to our homepage. In either case, the linkage to the associate is maintained. The linkage back to the associate is usually maintained even if the visitor explores our site's static page. In cases where the visitor bookmarks our static page and then uses the bookmark to return later, the linkage to the associate will be maintained for up to six months.

There are however, some instances where the linkage to the associate can not be maintained. Please see the Creativyst Associates Program Terms and Conditions document for more specific information on this.

Using the Associate Gateway (ga.pl)

The associate gateway wraps accesses to static pages with associate information

Usage:

  <A 
    HREF=
"http://www.creativyst.com/cgi-bin/a/ga.pl?an=11&au=Prod/14/&apn=14"
>buy it</A>

Parameters (all must be lower case):
?an=11&au=Prod/14/&apn=14
an	Associate Number The associate number from who's site the linkage is made. If the link is from the associate's registered domain, this number is not technically required to change (it may be left at 1) though it is recommended you set it, since it may be required in the future.
au	Associate URL The URL the associate site is directing their visitor to. This can be any STATIC page within Creativyst's site. It is often the purchase page for the product being sold. The URL you specify here will start at http://www.creativyst.com. That is "au=" will go to our home page, and "au=Prod/ProdTop.htm", will go to http://www.creativyst.com/Prod/ProdTop.htm. You should not link directly to a dynamic page (i.e. a page inside cgi-bin) unless it is a purchase page. Only purchase pages and static pages should be used when making the first linkage from your site.
apn	Associate Product Number The product the associate is selling. The visitor may ultimately change which product s/he wants and the associate will still be credited. This is the product s/he originally wanted to buy from the associate's site. This is required only when you are connecting a visitor directly to a product page, otherwise it is optional.

Extra information may be collected through this link in the future.

example of above link: buy it

Connecting Directly to a Purchase Page

Normally the first connection from the associate must be to a static page in order for the associate to be credited, but the purchase page is a special case exception to this rule. The purchase page is named PurchPg.pl and is found under the cgi-bin directory. You may link directly to this page but heed the following two rules when you do.

Include the apn (Associate Product Number) parameter in your link.
Don't try to pass any parameters directly to PurchPg.pl. The au= parameter should end with PurchPg.pl (note, nothing after the ".pl").

Here's an example link:


html:

  <A 
    HREF=
"http://wwwcreativyst.com/cgi-bin/a/ga.pl?an=11&au=/cgi-bin/Prod/15/PurchPg.pl&apn=15"
>buy it</A>

example:

buy it