Getting referrer script to land at home page

[Ianh]

Just wondering if this is possible ?

I have now got the referrer script working on my site, in readiness to launch an affiliate programme. The problem is, it is set up to land visitors from other sites at the destination page

.../acatalog/shop.html

This however is not my home page (which is a brochure page) is it possible to change the script to land on my home page ? and still track any sale the visitor might make ? the destination page would then be

....co.uk/

Thanks

Ian

[cdicken]

Try using a 'DESTINATION' value of

DESTINATION=%2e%2e%2findex%2ehtml

i.e. ../index.html

[Ianh]

Referrer code still not working

Chris,

Thanks for your help so far, unfortunately the referrer code does not show the actual referrer in any of the sales reports.

Ian

[cdicken]

Was it showing the referrer in the reports before you made the change I suggested?

[Ianh]

referrer code

Chris,

No referrer was not showing in the reports.

Thanks,

Ian.

[cdicken]

OK, well let's get the referrer script working before worrying about getting customers landing on your home page.

Here's the code from the AUG:

Presuming the following settings:

URL of your cgi-bin folder - http://www.myserver.com/cgi-bin/
URL of acatalog directory - http://www.myserver.com/acatalog/
CGI-Script ID - 1
Path from cgi-bin to the acatalog folder - ../htdocs/acatalog
Page you want people to land on - Section_Page.html
Text string to indicate where people have come from - 123

The call to referrer.pl would be as follows:

http://www.myserver.com/cgi-bin/rs000001.pl?SOURCE=123&DESTINATION=Section%5fPage%2ehtml&PATH=%2e%2e%2fhtdocs%2facatalog&BASEURL=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2etmyserver%2ecom%2facatalog%2f

There are four values you pass to the referrer script:

SOURCE= The text string to indicate where people have come from.

DESTINATION= The page in your 'acatalog' folder you want people to land on

PATH= The path from your cgi-bin folder to your 'acatalog' folder

BASEURL= The URL of your acatalog directory
The values can be anything as long as they follow the x-www-form-urlencoded standard (%XX where XX is the hex code for the special character like spaces, & , ?, etc.). The text string is limited to 255 characters.

For example, http://www.myserver.com/acatalog/ will appear as: http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emyserver%2ecom%2facatalog%2f

If you give me the settings mentioned above, I will be able to generate you a working referrer call.

[Ianh]

Referrer code not working

Good morning Chris,

These are the the settings taken from Advanced network settings.

Catalog URL: http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/acatalog

CGI-Bin URL: http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/CGI-Bin/

Path from CGI-Bin to acatalog Directory: ../acatalog/

CGI script id number: 999

Codebase : ./


My home page is a brochure page and not in the acatalog directory it is: www.bigbrownbox.co.uk/


Many thanks

Ian

[cdicken]

First of all, we're going to get your referrer script working and landing on:

http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/acatalog/shop.html

We'll worry about the home page later.

From your settings there, try:

http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/CGI-Bin/rs000999.pl?SOURCE=TEST&DESTINATION=shop%2ehtml&PATH=%2e%2e%2facatalog&BASEURL=http%3a%2f%2fbigbrownbox%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2f

... as the URL of the referrer link.

[Ianh]

Referrer script

Morning Chris,

Using the script you put together, the REFERRER is now appearing in sales reports and on the Misc tab of the order. Landing page is ...shop.html


Regards


Ian

[cdicken]

Using the script you put together, the REFERRER is now appearing in sales reports and on the Misc tab of the order.

It was nothing.

Landing page is ...shop.html

... so let's try the fix I mentioned before.

The following URL lands you in the correct place. Hopefully the referrer will still be downloaded with the order:

http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/CGI-Bin/rs000999.pl?SOURCE=TEST&DESTINATION=%2e%2e%2findex%2ehtml&PATH=%2e%2e%2facatalog&BASEURL=http%3a%2f%2fbigbrownbox%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2f

Note: the difference is that it uses a landing page of ../index.html (2e%2e%2findex%2ehtml)

[Ianh]

Nearly there

Chris,

The script lands on the home page, which loads with no problems. But if you then click on the "shop" button in the navigation bar, IE tries to load a doubled up address (it adds the page address twice) this then gives a 404 not found error.

If you click on the picture on the home page this will allow you to enter the shop. But at the checkout stage images refuse to load.

REFERRER does show up on the order and in sales reports.


Thanks

Ian

[cdicken]

Sorry Ian, but it is not going to work. I did try for you, but the referrer script can only land you on a page within the 'acatalog' folder.

All I can suggest is you create a dummy page within the 'acatalog' folder that automatically forwards people to the home page of your site e.g.

<HTML>
  <HEAD>
    <META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" CONTENT="0; URL='http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/'">
    <TITLE></TITLE>
  </HEAD>
  <BODY>
    <P>Please wait to be forwarded to our site or press 
    <A HREF="http://bigbrownbox.co.uk/">here</A>. </P>
  </BODY>
</HTML>

Save this as 'page.html' (or something) within your acatalog folder and then use this as the DESTINATION= value in the referrer link.

[Ianh]

Success

Chris,

Have just uploaded the page you suggested, it all now works successfully. Know anyone who wants to be an affiliate ?



Many thanks

Ian