ReCurr Pro Tutorial Series — Part 3: Affiliate Program Setup

ReCurr Pro feature — Requires an active ReCurr Pro licence (RECPRO-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and the ReCurr Pro plugin installed alongside the ReCurr base plugin.

The ReCurr Pro Affiliate module lets you run a full affiliate program directly from your WooCommerce store. Affiliates earn commissions by referring new customers to your subscription products. There is one level — your store, and the affiliates who refer its customers: an affiliate earns on the sales they refer, and nobody earns on anyone else’s. In this tutorial, you will learn how to enable the affiliate program, configure registration, create commission programs, and manage affiliates.

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Before You Begin

• ReCurr Pro is installed and your Pro licence key is active
• You are familiar with the CRM module (Pro Tutorial 1)
• You have at least one subscription product published

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Step 1: Access Affiliate Settings

1. Go to Subscriptions > Settings in your WordPress dashboard
2. You will see the affiliate-related menu items: Affiliates, Commission Programs, Creatives, Payouts

Alternatively, affiliate settings are available under Subscriptions > Settings (Affiliate tab).

Screenshot 1: WordPress dashboard sidebar showing the Subscriptions menu expanded with Affiliates, Commission Programs, Creatives, and Payouts sub-items.

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Step 2: Configure General Affiliate Settings

Navigate to Subscriptions > Settings and find the Affiliate settings section. Configure the following:

Registration Settings

Setting	Description	Recommended
Enable Affiliate Registration	Allow users to apply to become affiliates	Enable
Auto-Approve Affiliates	Automatically approve applications without admin review	Disable (review manually at first)
Registration Page	The page where the affiliate registration form is displayed	Select or create a page

Tracking Settings

Setting	Description	Recommended
Cookie Duration	How long the referral tracking cookie lasts (in days)	30 days
Attribution Model	First-touch (credits the first affiliate) or Last-touch (credits the most recent)	First-touch
Cookieless Tracking	Enable IP + user-agent fallback tracking when cookies are unavailable	Enable

Payout Settings

Setting	Description	Recommended
Minimum Payout	Minimum earnings balance before an affiliate can request a payout	R100.00
Holding Period	Days a referral commission is held before it can be paid out (fraud protection)	14 days

Screenshot 2: The Affiliate settings page showing registration, tracking, and payout configuration fields.

Click Save Settings when done.

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Step 3: Create a Commission Program

Commission programs define the rates affiliates earn when they refer customers. You can create multiple programs for different products or categories.

Create Your First Program

1. Go to Subscriptions > Commission Programs
2. Click Add New Program
3. Fill in the program details:

Field	Description
Program Name	Descriptive name (e.g., “Standard Referral Program”, “Premium Partner Program”)
Commission Type	How commission is calculated
Product Targeting	Which products this program applies to
Recurring Commissions	Whether affiliates earn on renewal payments too

Commission Types

Type	Description	Example
Percentage	Affiliate earns a percentage of the sale amount	15% of R159 = R23.85 per sale
Flat	Affiliate earns a fixed amount per sale	R25 per sale regardless of order amount

The commission is always earned by the affiliate who referred the sale, and by nobody else.

Screenshot 3: The Add New Commission Program form with the commission type dropdown showing the Percentage and Flat options.

Product Targeting

Choose which products the commission program applies to:

Option	Description
All Products	Commission applies to any product purchase
Specific Products	Only selected products qualify for commission
Specific Categories	Only products in selected categories qualify

Screenshot 4: Product targeting section with “Specific Products” selected and a product search field showing subscription products.

Recurring Commissions

Enable this to reward affiliates on every renewal payment, not just the initial sale:

Setting	Description
Enable Recurring	Affiliates earn commission on each renewal
Recurring Limit	Maximum number of renewal commissions (0 = unlimited/lifetime)

For example, with a 15% commission and recurring enabled:

• Initial sale of R159/month → R23.85 commission
• Each monthly renewal → R23.85 commission
• If limit is set to 12, the affiliate earns on the first 12 renewals then stops

Screenshot 5: Recurring commission settings with Enable Recurring ticked and Recurring Limit set to 12.

Click Save Program.

A programme set up in an earlier version of ReCurr Pro may carry its own saved rate for the referring affiliate. That rate is still the one commissions are worked out at, and the programme’s edit screen shows it under Rate in use.

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Step 4: Manage Affiliate Applications

When Auto-Approve is disabled, new affiliate applications appear in your queue for review.

1. Go to Subscriptions > Affiliates
2. Filter by Status: Pending to see new applications
3. Click on an affiliate name to review their details
4. Click Approve or Reject

When approved, the affiliate receives a unique referral code and can immediately start sharing their referral link.

Screenshot 6: The Affiliates list filtered by “Pending” status, showing applicant details with Approve and Reject action buttons.

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Step 5: Review the Affiliate List

The Affiliates page shows all affiliates with key information:

Column	Description
Name	Affiliate name and email
Status	Pending, Active, Suspended, Rejected
Referral Code	Unique code used in referral URLs
Total Referrals	Number of customers referred
Total Earnings	Cumulative commissions earned
Balance	Current unpaid balance

Screenshot 7: The Affiliates list showing several active affiliates with their referral codes, earnings, and balances.

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Step 6: Set Custom Commission Rates (Optional)

You can override the default program rates for individual affiliates:

1. Open an affiliate’s profile
2. Find the Commission Override section
3. Select Custom (instead of Default)
4. Enter the custom rate — either a percentage or flat amount
5. Click Update

This is useful for rewarding top-performing affiliates or negotiating special rates with influencers.

Screenshot 8: Affiliate profile showing the Commission Override section with Custom selected and a 20% rate entered.

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Step 7: Configure PayFast Split Payments (Optional)

If your affiliates have their own PayFast merchant accounts, you can enable Split Payments to pay commissions automatically at the point of sale.

How Split Payments Work

Instead of tracking commissions and processing payouts manually, PayFast splits the payment at transaction time:

• The customer pays R159
• PayFast automatically sends R23.85 (15%) to the affiliate’s PayFast account
• The remaining R135.15 goes to your PayFast account
• The commission is recorded in ReCurr and marked as paid

First payments are split this way. Renewal commissions for PayFast Split affiliates go into your normal approve-and-pay-out queue until renewal splits are turned on — see Pro Tutorial 4. And if a commission is ever larger than the payment it comes from (a flat commission on a small first payment, for instance), no split is sent: the whole commission goes into the payout queue instead.

Setup

1. The affiliate must provide their PayFast Merchant ID
2. Open the affiliate’s profile
3. Enter their PayFast Merchant ID in the designated field
4. Set their Payment Method to “PayFast Split”
5. Click Update

Screenshot 9: Affiliate profile showing the PayFast Merchant ID field and Payment Method dropdown set to “PayFast Split”.

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Important Notes

• Commission programs are flexible. You can create multiple programs targeting different products or categories. The system matches the most specific program to each referral.
• Holding period protects against fraud. During the holding period, commissions remain in “pending” status. If the customer refunds during this window, the commission is automatically clawed back.
• Refund clawback is automatic. If an order is refunded or cancelled, any pending or approved commissions are reversed and the affiliate’s balance is adjusted.
• Self-referral prevention is built in. Affiliates cannot earn commission on their own purchases. The system checks user ID, email, and IP address.
• Referral codes are permanent. Once generated, an affiliate’s referral code does not change. Referral links use the format: yourstore.com/?ref=CODE
• CRM integration is automatic. Every affiliate is linked to a CRM contact. Affiliate events (approved, referral made) can trigger CRM automations.

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What’s Next?

Up next: Pro Tutorial 4: Affiliate Commissions & Payouts — Understanding the referral tracking flow, managing commissions, and processing payouts.

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Quick Checklist

• [ ] Accessed Affiliate settings
• [ ] Configured registration, tracking, and payout settings
• [ ] Created at least one commission program
• [ ] Configured commission type (percentage or flat)
• [ ] Set product targeting for the program
• [ ] Enabled or disabled recurring commissions
• [ ] Reviewed and approved/rejected a test affiliate application
• [ ] Configured PayFast Split Payments (if applicable)

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This is Part 3 of the ReCurr Pro Tutorial Series.

Tutorial	Topic
Pro 1. CRM Getting Started	Contacts, lifecycle stages, tags, tasks
Pro 2. CRM Automation & Campaigns	Automated workflows, email campaigns, merge tags
Pro 3. Affiliate Program Setup	Enabling affiliates, registration, commission programs (you are here)
Pro 4. Affiliate Commissions & Payouts	Referral tracking, commissions, payout processing
Pro 5. Affiliate Portal & Creatives	Frontend portal, banners, links, QR codes
Pro 6. Reports & Analytics	CRM dashboard, affiliate reports, revenue insights