Please note - for this article you will be shown how to test in iDevAffiliate, but the same principles of testing apply if you are manually integrating with an affiliate vendor. Read this article to learn how to manually integrate with an affiliate system.

Be sure that you have also properly configured your commission profile and your affiliate system.

Setting Up A Test Affiliate Account

First, to confirm that your affiliate tracking is setup and functional, you will need to create a testing affiliate user to use. You can do this within your affiliate dashboard.

1. Login to your Affiliate Admin Dashboard.
   
   
2. Once in, on the right hand menu, under 'Affiliates', click "Approved Accounts':
   
   
   
   
3. Click  in the top sub menu. Create a new testing affiliate.
   
   
4. One you have created this test user, you will have an affiliate ID that you can use for testing. The affiliate ID is located in the far left column:
   
   
   
   
5. Please note - the steps above are really the same as manually creating an affiliate link. Read this article to learn how to create an affiliate link.

Testing An Affiliate Purchase

1. Now that you have the affiliate ID, open a new tab and pull up a purchase link from your site to test (read this article to learn how to create a purchase link). You will append the URL by adding &idev_id= and the affiliate test ID from above. Example:
   
   &idev_id=144
   
   
2. Complete the transaction by visiting the checkout page via a purchase link. Your URL will be similar to this:
   
   www.URL.com/checkout/?rid=34dr2&idev_id=144
   
   
3. Log back into your iDevAffiliate Admin Dashboard. Check your pending commissions, and you should see a pending commission from your site with the testing email you used.
   
   
4. You can also check in the transaction area of the Manage Member's screen for the test user you made the purchase with. You will see a  icon next to the transaction, designating that the purchase was linked to an affiliate ID. You can hover over the icon to see the affiliate ID used:

Confirm the Affiliate Tracking via the Activity Log

1. Once you have made a test purchase, go to the Activity Log for the member you made the purchase with.
   
   
2. Using the Event Type filter, select "Affiliate Tracking"
   
   
3. This will display any requests that have been sent to your affiliate software, so you should see the commission request listed.   

The Affiliate Tracking will show you any initial commission requests, rebill commission request and terminate commission requests.