linkshare automated link generator errors

judahraine · 11-30-2012, 05:03 AM

Hi there,

I'm busy setting up our bookstore which is essentially linked to Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. The first two are a cakewalk, but B & N use a linkshare affiliate system which has my little brain boggled.

I've done some research and it seems I can build an automatic link generator on my site. They are kind enough to provide sample code and from my limited understanding it seems that it might be possible to build this into my submission form, but the how to do it escapes me. I have created a module for this as it seemed better to display a module on the form page rather than try to incorporate it into the form itself. I can get the module to display, and can get the advertiser number (Barnes and Noble) to be automatically included (rather than have my submitters try to remember this).

The problem is that when I click on the submit button, I get a 404 page not found error. If I include the second set of code in the module, the module itself displays an error to the effect that the link is missing. While I do see that the sample code indicates creating two pages (at least, that's how I interpret it) there is no indication as to where or how these should be incorporated into the site. I have emailed them, but their response is that they do not support php script issues.

I would be most grateful for any and all assistance, as I need to have this in place three days ago

Thank you!

To explain: It's a simple form with following fields:

Book Cover
Book Blurb (summary)
Genre (filter)
Author Name
Book Name
Buy Amazon
Buy Smashwords
Buy Barnes and Noble

Adding the code to link the Amazon and Smashwords products has not posed a problem, just Barnes and Noble.

I have copied their tutorial and pasted below. I would really appreciate it if you could advise me on this. Thank you! (Another major learning curve)

PHP Sample Code
The Automated LinkGenerator is a Web Service that allows you to create LinkShare click links for any page on an advertiser's site. The code samples in this document demonstrate how to do this using PHP.

First, we need to create a page that allows the user to enter an Advertiser URL and an Advertiser ID, and to click on submit to get the results.

[CODE]<html>
<head>
<title>LinkShare Automated LinkGenerator</title>
</head>
<body>
<form method="post" action="AutoLinkGenProc.php">
Sample to use the Automated LinkGenerator Web Service <br /><br />
Enter Advertiser URL:<input type="text" name="AdvURL"><br />
Enter Advertiser ID:<input type="text" name="mid"><br />
<input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>[CODE]

Here is what this will look like:

We also need a page to send the query to the LinkShare server and process the response.

This is the sample code demonstrating how to do this:

[CODE]<html>
<body>

<?php

"http://getdeeplink.linksynergy.com/createcustomlink.shtml?token=<token-ID>&mid=<MID>&murl=<URL-from-merchant>";
$url = "http://getdeeplink.linksynergy.com/createcustomlink.shtml";
$token = "5849bcc2fd3a5f3fd9dc2f7d9c08d8924143983a2745f393bf45534b171d9807"; //Change this to your token
$advURL=$_POST["AdvURL">;
$MID=$_POST["mid">;
$resturl = $url."?"."token=".$token."&mid=".$MID."&murl=".$advURL;

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $resturl);

$response=curl_exec($ch);

if (curl_errno($ch))
{
print "Error: " . curl_error($ch);
}
else
{
print $response;
curl_close($ch);
}

?>
</body>
</html>[CODE]

Here is the result this returns:

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=KgGHO0LswUU&subid=&offerid=102327.1&type=10&tmpid=2405&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirec t.com%2Fapplications%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D2450694%2526Sku%3DA179-15081

You should be able to use this response to build an image link:

<a href=" http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=KgGHO0LswUU&subid=&offerid=102327.1&type=10&tmpid=2405&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirec t.com%2Fapplications%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D2450694%2526Sku%3DA179-15081"><IMG alt="TigerDirect" border="0" src="http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/A179-1508CA-main-ca.jpg"></a>

Custard7A · 12-01-2012, 03:44 AM

What's with the string going solo? It seems more like an example of the structure than something that should be running in the code.

PHP Code:


			


<?php



"http://getdeeplink.linksynergy.com/createcustomlink.shtml?token=<token-ID>&mid=<MID>&murl=<URL-from-merchant>";

Your POST variables are weird..

PHP Code:


			




$advURL=$_POST["AdvURL">;

$MID=$_POST["mid">;



// Should be more like..



$advURL=$_POST["AdvURL"];

$MID=$_POST["mid"];

Make sure you're connecting the second lot of code to the first (the form part), in the form action..
Using the below that would mean you would put the second lot of code in a file called "AutoLinkGenProc.php".

Code:


<form method="post" action="AutoLinkGenProc.php">

judahraine · 12-01-2012, 05:48 AM

Thank you for responding. I confess I am an utter novice at php. The code is the sample code provided by linkshare so I assumed it must be correct

I will keep your response in mind and relook the code on these lines.

Having said that, I believe your final comment with the php page is perhaps what I have been trying to find - the key to linking the form to the action. I am most grateful, thank you. I will certainly advise you if this has worked for me.