A4uforum User Guide
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Introduction
The Affiliates4U (A4U) forum is an industry site in which all of the major networks are registered and have created their own forums. Within these forums merchants, agencies and affiliates alike can share tips, ideas, news and feedback about any affiliate related topics.
It is an ideal platform for merchants to recruit affiliates, as well as for affiliates to keep up to date with merchant promotions.
Visit here to register today!
How to Register
To be able to post on this industry forum you must register with the site. You can then choose a unique ID and password to return in future.
• Simply click onto the register button • Fill in the registration form • Once completed the site will send your ID and password to your nominated e-mail address.
When should I post on the forum?
As a merchant, you could initially use the forum to announce the launch of your programme. Many merchants advertise upcoming promotions, ask for advice or often get involved in industry debates which take interest.
As an affiliate you may wish to search for specific merchant programmes or by vertical (e.g., Travel, Mobile etc), offer advice to other affiliates (whether publicly or via private message) or search for solutions to common problems you may encounter.
Launch Post (for merchants)
We would suggest that you write a post on the actual day your programme goes live. Please ensure this includes a good description of your brand, product/commission structure and emphasise your affiliate incentives and any introductory offers/competitions.
Promotion Post (for merchants)
It is recommended that you make your post approximately one week before any promotion begins, and then one more; a couple of days before it starts.
Your post should include the start date of the promotion, which will inform affiliates of when to begin pushing your brand. It will also allow affiliates who are not yet on your programme to sign up and get banners, links and other creative in place by the correct time.
To link affiliates to your Affiliate Window sign up page (once your programme is live!) please use this URL, replacing {merchant_id} with your own merchant id:
https://www.affiliatewindow.com/signup/index.php?merchant=[merchant_id}
Regularly posting on this forum will help you to build a relationship and direct communication with your affiliates, as well as new affiliates.
The 2 main forums
There are 2 main forums which you will need to take note.
Once you have clicked onto the forums page through the main menu bar along the top of the screen:
...a directory of forums will open; the 2 forums which you will need to take note of, as they will be forums you will be mainly posting on are the Affiliate Window forum and the Promotions & Incentives Forum.
Affiliate Window Forum
Promotions & Incentives Forum
Posting on the A4U
Once you have registered onto the site and received your username and password you will now be able to post onto the forum under any forum topics or starting a new thread within a forum.
Starting a new thread within a forum
As you can see below in the diagram you simply click on the ‘New Thread’ button to start a completely new thread within a forum.
Once you have clicked this button it will bring you through to a new window illustrated in the diagram below:
• At this point you’ll fill in the title with an appropriate header for your post • Fill in the body with text as you wish • At the bottom you will be able to preview the post before posting your thread live on the website forum • And for fun you can add a picture icon next to your subject heading which highlights the feeling of the post. • However if you scroll down there are additional options
Additional options are very straight forward and are broken into 5 areas, these are:
• Miscellaneous options • Attach files • Thread subscription • Post a poll • Trackback
Once you have added your new additional options you can again preview your post before submitting your new thread.
Adding images to forum posts
To add an image on your forum post you need to have the image URL. To find this you need to:
Using Internet Explorer browser
• Right click on the image • Click on properties
• Copy the URL
NOTE: For specific product images you may also look up the URL within the merchant datafeed.
• To display the image on the post you will need to use the following piece of Bulletin Board (BB) coding (or follow the shortcut buttons if enabled):
[img]IMAGE URL HERE[/img]
Paste the image URL over ADD URL, therefore the code for the image should look like this:
[img]http://www.prezzybox.com/data/media/13951.jpg[/img]
Using Firefox browser
• Right click on the image • Click on ‘Copy Image Location’
Then repeat instructions as per Internet Explorer.
Adding a deeplink to the forum post
To add a deeplink into a forum post you need to do the following:
• Paste the deeplink into the post
An example of a deeplink is below:
• Replace the Affiliate ID (highlighted in red above) with !!!id!!!
Therefore the deeplink should now look like this:
• Highlight the deeplink and click on the ‘PHP’ button (circled in red below)
• Click on Preview Post, it should look like this:
NOTE: On the post you will need to say something in the lines of ‘please replace !!!id!!! with your Affiliate ID.’ The affiliate id has to be present in the deeplink so the transaction/lead can be traced to the referring affiliate.
Posting a reply to a thread
Posting a reply within a thread which has already been started in one of the A4U forums is identical to posting a thread in a forum. Firstly when you enter a thread you will see in the diagram below a button which says ‘Post Reply’
Once you click the button ‘Post reply’ this will bring you back to a post reply page which is identical to the post a new thread page and you will go through the exact same process of posting a new thread.
As you can see the reply thread goes through the same process as the posting a new thread process:
• Fill in the body of text • Add any icons you wish to express the mood of the thread • Go through the additional options if you wish • Preview the post • Submit reply
Private Messaging Users via their ID
As a registered member you are able to send a private message (PM) to other registered members. This works in much the same way as a normal post, where you can send a message directly to anyone found in the members list (list of registered users). See below for a breakdown of the procedure:
1. From within a message, click on the users name (top of the message) 2. A drop down menu will now appear. 3. Click on the option ‘Send a private message to user’s name’ 4. You will now be taken to an email facility, where you will need to enter a subject title and message. 5. Clicking submit will send the message to the member. 6. The message will now be available for the member to read next time they log into the forum
Structure of your post to get an effective message across
There are several ways that can help you post an effective message which will get it noticed by the forum users:
1. Use a clear and attention grabbing subject title.
2. Ensure your message is relevant to the forum you are posting in, and that it is detailed but concise.
3. Make sure your text and promotion is innovative and as appealing as possible.
4. Give the reader something to think about – encourage discussion!
5. You can include attractive graphics, just make sure they are relevant to the message you are trying to convey.
6. Think about who your audience is and what is most likely to keep them reading and encourage interaction.