Referral links are how your affiliates send you traffic: every affiliate in Affiliate and Referral Program for WooCommerce gets a personal code, and any store URL carrying that code credits them for what the visitor buys. This guide covers where affiliates create links, linking to specific products, the built-in sharing buttons, and the settings you control as the store owner. Part of the plugin documentation.
What a referral link looks like
↑ Back to topA referral link is an ordinary page on your store with the affiliate’s code attached — the affiliate’s dashboard shows their Referral Code and ready-made Referral Link at the top. When someone opens the link, the visit is recorded and the affiliate is remembered for the rest of your cookie window; how that credit is decided later is covered in How Referral Tracking and Attribution Work.
The code parameter in the URL is named rtwapwcm_aff by default. To brand it — for example partner or ref — change Slug in Affiliate Link at WooCommerce > Affiliate & Referral > Advanced Features > General. Existing links with the old slug stop resolving, so pick the name before your affiliates start promoting.
Turn any page into a referral link
↑ Back to top- The affiliate opens their dashboard and goes to the Affilate Tools menu (the plugin’s own spelling) and its link generator.
- Under Enter Url and generate your link, they paste any URL on your store — a sale page, a category, a blog post.
- The generated link appears with their code attached, ready to copy.
Next to the generated link, sharing buttons post it straight to Twitter, Facebook or WhatsApp, or open an email draft — those four channels, no others. Links shared this way carry a share marker, so they can also earn the affiliate a sharing bonus if you pay one; see Affiliate Bonuses and Incentives. The buttons appear when Social Media Share Buttons is enabled under Advanced Features > Bonus.
Link a specific product
↑ Back to topProduct links live on the dashboard’s banner tab, where your catalog is searchable: the affiliate types a name into Search Products, narrows by category if they like, and clicks Search. Each matching product offers a link action that produces a referral link straight to that product’s page — the natural choice when they are reviewing or demonstrating one item. The same cards can also become styled ad creatives; see How to Create Affiliate Banners and Creatives.
Product links can also narrow what earns commission. With Commission for only the URL opened? enabled on the Commission screen, a product link pays commission only on that product — anything else the visitor buys in the same order is not credited. The setting applies to referral links only; it has no effect when the customer uses a referral code, or when lifetime commission ties them to the affiliate already.
QR codes for offline sharing
↑ Back to topAny generated link can become a downloadable QR code with Create QR code — for flyers, packaging or a market stall. That flow, including the setting that enables it, has its own guide: QR Codes for Referral Links.
Affiliates should always share links made by the generator. Tracking works by resolving the personal code in the link — a hand-assembled URL with a username or a guessed parameter will open the page but credit nobody.
FAQ
↑ Back to topCan an affiliate link to any page of my store?
↑ Back to topYes. The generator accepts any URL on your site, so affiliates can send traffic to exactly the page that fits their audience — not just product pages.
Do the sharing buttons pay a bonus?
↑ Back to topThey can. If you set a Sharing Bonus amount, shares made through those buttons are eligible, with daily, weekly or monthly caps under your control — see Affiliate Bonuses and Incentives.
What happens if the visitor uses a coupon code after clicking a link?
↑ Back to topAn affiliate-assigned coupon takes over the credit from an earlier link click — the most recent action wins. The full picture is in How to Track Affiliate Sales with Coupon Codes, and more questions are answered in the Affiliate and Referral Program: FAQ.