Shopping Portal Authentication
Before we get started, it's important to understand what a tracking code(TC) is and why it is used.
When a user activates offers from the shopping portal, we need a way to identify the user to affiliate when they activate cash back through your extension, in order to attribute them properly when the sale completes its lifecycle. This is done at Wildfire by attaching a TC query parameter at the end of your affiliate url. Once the sale completes its lifecycle, you can retrieve the value within the TC parameter. By going in to the admin tool, and posting the data to your callback URL.
Example of a vanity URL with a TC parameter:
Example of an offline vanity URL with a TC parameter:
For this method we will leverage your existing authentication system. The extension will send the user to the partner's login page with a URI included as a query parameter.
Example of login URL
After the user is successfully authenticated the partner will redirect to the provided URI and include the user's UUID as a query parameter.
Example of redirect URL
At this step the portal will store the UUID and include it as the tracking code on all affiliate link activations.
When passing a UUID ensure that each UUID is unique to a single user, does not change, and is a valid UUID. Each individual user should only have one UUID.
For an OAuth implementation you can use this same flow, but instead send us the relevant tokens as query parameters to the URI. We will then need documentation for how to integrate with your OAuth system.
For partners that operate exclusively within a mobile app and do not support web-based logins, authentication should be handled within the app before opening the shopping portal.
- Launch the Portal with a User ID Since the user is already authenticated in the partner’s app, open the portal URL with the user’s unique identifier (UUID) appended as a query parameter:
User Tracking
- The portal will store the UUID and use it as a tracking code for all affiliate link activations.
- This ensures that purchases made through the portal are correctly attributed to the authenticated user.
If the app-based partner also has a website that links to the shopping portal but does not support web-based logins, follow this process:
- Redirect to the App for Authentication
- When a user attempts to log in, redirect them to the app using an app-deep link (e.g., app://) instead of a web-based login flow (https://).
- Return to the Browser with User ID
- Once the user is authenticated in the app, redirect them back to the browser with the UUID appended to the URL:
Maintaining Authentication Across Tabs
- The shopping portal will store the UUID in local storage.
- This allows the new tab to be logged in automatically.
- If the user refreshes the original tab, it will also reflect a logged-in state.
User Tracking
- The portal will store the UUID and use it as a tracking code for all affiliate link activations.
- This ensures that purchases made through the portal are correctly attributed to the authenticated user.
