AffiliateWP - Leaderboard

Your ranking moves the day you pay, not the day you sell

An affiliate closes a good week, opens the ranking to see themselves on top and is still in the same spot. They assume something is broken and write to you. There is no error: in Leaderboard, the referral count only includes those with a Paid status, and pending or unpaid referrals do not add up.

That means your payout calendar is part of the game. If you settle at the end of the month, referrals from the last few weeks may stay out of the count until that day, and positions may change all at once when you mark the payments. The earnings shown in the table are the paid ones too. It pays to explain this next to the ranking, before someone takes it for a tracking failure.

Leaderboard is an AffiliateWP addon that publishes a ranked list of your top affiliates.

Where to place the table and which columns it shows

• Shortcode: [affiliate_leaderboard] places the ranking on any WordPress page.
• Widget: shows the ranking in your sidebar.
• Amount: with nothing specified the top 10 appear, and number="5" changes that figure.
• Data: referrals="yes", earnings="yes" and visits="yes" add referrals, paid earnings and visits. They can be combined.
• Order: by referrals unless you say otherwise, or by earnings or visits with orderby.
• Updates: in real time, with the paid rule applied to referrals and earnings.
• Design: customized with CSS within your theme.

Referrals, earnings or visits: three different contests

The orderby parameter decides what you are rewarding with visibility, so it is worth choosing with the behavior you want in mind.

• By referrals: orderby="referrals" puts on top whoever has piled up the most paid sales, regardless of their amount.
• By earnings: orderby="earnings" puts on top whoever has been paid the most, so one large sale weighs more than several small ones.
• By visits: orderby="visits" puts on top whoever sends the most traffic, even if those visits do not end in a purchase.

You can show all three columns and sort by just one. The shortcode [affiliate_leaderboard referrals="yes" earnings="yes" visits="yes" orderby="earnings"] combines those parameters. Try it on a draft page and check that the result is what you expected.

A table in plain sight, with no prizes or payments

Its features do not include automatic prizes, seasons or commission changes based on position: its role is to show the ranking. If you announce a prize for first place, you run that contest yourself.

It does not replace AffiliateWP either, which is where its data comes from. And before publishing the table, it is worth looking on a test page at what appears for each affiliate, because your affiliates will see that information exposed and you may prefer to warn them.

Installing the addon and publishing the first table

You need AffiliateWP installed and activated on your WordPress site. With that ready:

1. In the dashboard, go to Plugins, Add New and click Upload Plugin.
2. Select the addon zip file, install it and activate it.
3. Create a draft page and paste [affiliate_leaderboard] with the data you want to show.
4. Review the positions and adjust the look with CSS in your theme.
5. Write next to the table that only paid referrals count, and publish it.

Dashboard, pages and renewals for the rest of the program

Leaderboard needs AffiliateWP as its base. On top of it, Affiliate Portal gives your affiliates their own dashboard designed for mobile too, Affiliate Landing Pages assigns each one a page with a clean URL and Recurring Referrals records commissions on subscription renewals.

If you would rather reward recommendations without paying money, GamiPress Referrals rewards them with points, achievements or ranks.

Shortcode, widget and figures: quick answers

Why is an affiliate with sales not near the top?

Pending or unpaid referrals do not count. Their sales will add to the referral count once those referrals have a Paid status.

How many affiliates does it show if I configure nothing?

The top 10, sorted by number of referrals. With number you can ask for a different amount.

Can it go in the sidebar?

Yes, through the widget included with the addon.

Can I sort by earnings and show visits as well?

Yes. Parameters can be combined, for example [affiliate_leaderboard earnings="yes" visits="yes" orderby="earnings"].

Does it work without AffiliateWP?

No. It is an AffiliateWP addon, which must be installed and activated.