Django Affiliate System

A flexible, production-ready Django package for managing affiliate marketing programs with referral tracking, commissions, and payouts.

Features

• 🔗 Referral Link Management - Create and track custom referral links
• 📊 Detailed Analytics - Track clicks, conversions, and revenue
• 💰 Commission System - Flexible commission rules (percentage or flat rate)
• 💳 Payout Management - Handle affiliate payouts with multiple methods
• 🏢 Optional Multi-Tenancy - Support multiple platforms with isolated data
• 🎯 Attribution Models - First-click, last-click, or custom attribution
• 🔒 Secure & Production-Ready - Built with Django best practices

Installation

pip install django-affiliate-system

Quick Start

1. Add to Installed Apps

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... other apps
    'django_affiliate_system',
]

2. Configure Settings

# settings.py
AFFILIATE_SYSTEM = {
    # Required
    'DOMAIN_PROTOCOL': 'https',  # or 'http' for local dev
    'DOMAIN': 'yourdomain.com',

    # Optional - Defaults shown
    'DEFAULT_COMMISSION_RATE': 10.0,  # 10%
    'COOKIE_DURATION_DAYS': 30,
    'DEFAULT_REDIRECT_URL': '/',
    'ENABLE_MULTI_TENANCY': False,  # Set True for multi-tenant
    'ENABLE_SESSIONS': False,  # Set True for multi-touch attribution
    'DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTION_MODEL': 'last_click',
    'DEFAULT_PAYOUT_THRESHOLD': 50.0,
    'AUTO_APPROVE_COMMISSIONS': False,

    # CORS (if tracking from different domains)
    'ALLOWED_CORS_ORIGINS': [
        'https://yourdomain.com',
    ],
}

3. Add Middleware (Optional)

# settings.py
MIDDLEWARE = [
    # ... other middleware
    'django_affiliate_system.middleware.AffiliateTrackingMiddleware',
    # Optional: Only if using multi-tenancy
    # 'django_affiliate_system.middleware.TenantMiddleware',
    # Optional: Only if tracking from different domains
    # 'django_affiliate_system.middleware.CORSMiddleware',
]

4. Include URLs

# urls.py
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    # ... other urls
    path('affiliates/', include('django_affiliate_system.urls')),

    # Referral link redirect handler
    path('r/<slug:slug>/',
         'django_affiliate_system.views.ReferralLinkRedirectView.as_view(),
         name='referral-redirect'),
]

5. Run Migrations

python manage.py migrate

Usage

Creating an Affiliate

from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
from django_affiliate_system.models import Affiliate

User = get_user_model()
user = User.objects.get(email='[email protected]')

# Create affiliate (code is auto-generated if not provided)
affiliate = Affiliate.objects.create(
    user=user,
    code='MYAFFILIATE',  # Optional: auto-generated if omitted
    is_active=True,
    payout_threshold=50.0,
    payout_method='paypal'
)

Creating Referral Links

from django_affiliate_system.models import ReferralLink

link = ReferralLink.objects.create(
    affiliate=affiliate,
    slug='summer-sale-2024',  # Must be unique
    destination_url='https://yourdomain.com/products',
    campaign_name='Summer Sale 2024'
)

# Full referral URL: https://yourdomain.com/?ref=summer-sale-2024

Tracking Events

Use the public API endpoint to track clicks and conversions:

import requests

# Track a click
requests.post('https://yourdomain.com/affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/', json={
    'referral_code': 'MYAFFILIATE',  # or 'referral_slug': 'summer-sale-2024'
    'event_type': 'click',
    'metadata': {
        'source': 'email_campaign',
        'utm_source': 'newsletter'
    }
})

# Track a conversion
requests.post('https://yourdomain.com/affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/', json={
    'referral_code': 'MYAFFILIATE',
    'event_type': 'purchase',
    'is_conversion': True,
    'conversion_value': 99.99,
    'metadata': {
        'order_id': '12345'
    }
})

Setting Commission Rules

from django_affiliate_system.models import CommissionRule

# Percentage-based commission
CommissionRule.objects.create(
    name='Purchase Commission',
    action_type='purchase',
    is_percentage=True,
    value=10.0,  # 10%
    min_value=5.0,  # Minimum $5
    max_value=100.0,  # Maximum $100
    is_active=True,
    priority=1
)

# Flat rate commission
CommissionRule.objects.create(
    name='Signup Bonus',
    action_type='signup',
    is_percentage=False,
    value=25.0,  # $25 flat
    is_active=True,
    priority=1
)

API Endpoints

All endpoints require authentication except tracking endpoints.

Affiliate Endpoints

• GET /affiliates/affiliates/ - List affiliates (or get own profile)
• GET /affiliates/affiliates/stats/ - Get affiliate statistics
• POST /affiliates/affiliates/ - Create affiliate (admin only)

Referral Link Endpoints

• GET /affiliates/referral-links/ - List referral links
• POST /affiliates/referral-links/ - Create referral link
• GET /affiliates/referral-links/{id}/ - Get referral link details

Tracking Endpoints (Public)

• POST /affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/ - Track any event

Commission Endpoints

• GET /affiliates/commissions/ - List commissions
• POST /affiliates/commissions/{id}/approve/ - Approve commission (admin)
• POST /affiliates/commissions/{id}/reject/ - Reject commission (admin)

Payout Endpoints

• GET /affiliates/payouts/ - List payouts
• POST /affiliates/payouts/request/ - Request payout (affiliate)

Getting Affiliate Statistics

# Via API
GET /affiliates/affiliates/stats/?date_from=2024-01-01&date_to=2024-12-31

# Response includes:
# - total_clicks, total_conversions, conversion_rate
# - total_earnings, pending_earnings, paid_earnings
# - top_links, traffic_sources, etc.

Frontend Integration

JavaScript Tracking Example

// Track clicks automatically
document.querySelectorAll("a[data-affiliate-link]").forEach((link) => {
  link.addEventListener("click", async (e) => {
    await fetch("/affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        referral_code: e.target.dataset.affiliateCode,
        event_type: "click",
        metadata: {
          page_url: window.location.href,
          referrer: document.referrer,
        },
      }),
    });
  });
});

// Track conversion after purchase
async function trackPurchase(affiliateCode, orderValue) {
  await fetch("/affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      referral_code: affiliateCode,
      event_type: "purchase",
      is_conversion: true,
      conversion_value: orderValue,
    }),
  });
}

Advanced Features

Multi-Tenancy

Enable multi-tenancy to support multiple platforms:

# settings.py
AFFILIATE_SYSTEM = {
    'ENABLE_MULTI_TENANCY': True,
    # ...
}

# Add middleware
MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django_affiliate_system.middleware.TenantMiddleware',
    # ...
]

# Create tenants
from django_affiliate_system.models import Tenant

tenant = Tenant.objects.create(
    name='Platform A',
    slug='platform-a',
    subdomain='platforma',  # platforma.yourdomain.com
    destination_url='https://platforma.com',
    owner=admin_user
)

Multi-Touch Attribution

Track user journeys across multiple touchpoints:

# settings.py
AFFILIATE_SYSTEM = {
    'ENABLE_SESSIONS': True,
    'DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTION_MODEL': 'first_click',  # or 'last_click'
}

# Track with session ID
requests.post('/affiliates/api/referral-actions/track/', json={
    'referral_code': 'MYAFFILIATE',
    'event_type': 'click',
    'session_id': 'user-session-123',
    'use_sessions': True
})

Custom Commission Logic

Override commission calculation:

# your_app/services.py
from django_affiliate_system.services.commision import create_commission
from django_affiliate_system.models import Commission

def create_custom_commission(action):
    # Your custom logic here
    commission = Commission.objects.create(
        affiliate=action.referral_link.affiliate,
        referral_action=action,
        amount=calculate_custom_amount(action),
        rate=0,
        status='pending'
    )
    return commission

Admin Interface

The package automatically registers all models in Django admin with:

• List/filter/search functionality
• CSV export
• Inline editing where appropriate

Access at: /admin/django_affiliate_system/

Testing

# Run tests
python manage.py test django_affiliate_system

# With coverage
coverage run --source='django_affiliate_system' manage.py test
coverage report

Security Considerations

1. Always use HTTPS in production
2. Set secure cookie settings:

   # settings.py
   SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
   CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True

3. Implement rate limiting on tracking endpoints
4. Validate referral codes to prevent abuse
5. Use environment variables for sensitive settings

Performance Tips

1. Use database indexes (already included in models)

2. Cache affiliate lookups:

   from django.core.cache import cache
   
   affiliate = cache.get(f'affiliate_{code}')
   if not affiliate:
       affiliate = Affiliate.objects.get(code=code)
       cache.set(f'affiliate_{code}', affiliate, 3600)

3. Use select_related/prefetch_related for queries

4. Consider async tasks for commission calculation:

   # With Celery
   from celery import shared_task
   
   @shared_task
   def process_commission(action_id):
       action = ReferralAction.objects.get(id=action_id)
       create_commission(action)

Troubleshooting

Referral codes not being tracked

Check that:

1. AffiliateTrackingMiddleware is installed
2. Cookies are enabled in browser
3. Domain matches cookie domain

Commissions not being created

Verify:

1. Commission rules exist for the action type
2. Rules are active (is_active=True)
3. Check logs for errors

Multi-tenancy not working

Ensure:

1. ENABLE_MULTI_TENANCY is True
2. TenantMiddleware is installed
3. Subdomain DNS is configured correctly

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add tests for new features
4. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

• Documentation: [docs link]
• Issues: [GitHub issues]
• Email: [email protected]

Changelog

1.0.0

• Initial release
• Core affiliate tracking
• Commission system
• Payout management
• Optional multi-tenancy
• Multi-touch attribution