Getting Started

HeldSway is an affiliate and referral tracking platform that helps businesses recruit partners, track their referrals, manage commissions, and send payouts — all from one dashboard.

How It Works

When an affiliate shares their unique HeldSway link and a visitor clicks it and makes a purchase, HeldSway records the click, connects it to the affiliate, and creates a commission record. You approve that commission and pay the affiliate using PayPal, bank transfer, or any method you configure.

HeldSway sits alongside your existing store or SaaS product. It does not replace your checkout or payment processor — it acts as the tracking and payments layer between your website and your affiliates.

Who HeldSway Is Built For

• eCommerce brands running ambassador or influencer programs
• SaaS companies paying affiliates recurring commissions on subscription referrals
• Course creators and coaches building referral networks around digital products
• Agencies managing affiliate programs for multiple clients from one dashboard

The Three Core Workflows

Track — Affiliates get a unique link. When someone clicks it, HeldSway records the visit and attributes any resulting purchase to that affiliate.

Manage — You review commission records, approve or reject them, and communicate with affiliates directly from inside your dashboard.

Pay — HeldSway calculates what each affiliate is owed and pays them via your chosen payout method — manually on demand or on an automated recurring schedule.

What HeldSway Does Not Do

HeldSway is not a marketplace where affiliates discover your program on their own. You recruit affiliates and invite them. HeldSway provides the infrastructure — tracking, the portal, and payments — but affiliate recruitment is led by you.

Related: How to Set Up Your Affiliate Program | HeldSway Quick-Start Checklist

This article walks you through the complete setup process — from creating your HeldSway account to configuring your commission rate, cookie window, affiliate registration, and branding — ready to accept your first affiliate.

Part 1 — Create Your HeldSway Account

Step 1 — Start Your Free Trial

Go to heldsway.com and click the "Start Free Trial" button in the top-right navigation bar, or the blue "Start Free Trial" button in the page hero.

No credit card required. Every plan includes a 30-day free trial.

Step 2 — Choose Your Account Type

You will land on the account type selection screen at accounts.heldsway.com/auth.

Select Brand / Advertiser — "You sell or promote products and want affiliates to drive sales/leads" — and click "Get started".

Step 3 — Enter Your Email Address (Step 1 of 4)

Enter your business email address and click "Continue". Use a real, accessible email — a 6-digit verification code will be sent to it in the next step.

Step 4 — Create Your Brand Account (Step 2 of 4)

Fill in all required fields:

A password strength meter confirms your password is Strong when all criteria are met. Click "Create brand account" when ready.

Step 5 — Verify Your Email (Step 3 of 4)

HeldSway sends a 6-digit verification code to your email address. Check your inbox for an email from HeldSway with the subject "Your Verification Code". Enter the code on the verification screen and click "Verify".

If you don't receive a code within a minute, click "Resend code".

Step 6 — Enter Your Business Details (Step 4 of 4)

Fill in your business information:

The Subdomain field is important. Your HeldSway dashboard will be permanently accessible at [your-subdomain].heldsway.com/dashboard. The field shows a green "Available" label if the subdomain is not already taken.

Click "Create Business" to complete your account.

You will land on your HeldSway dashboard. 🎉

Part 2 — Configure Your Affiliate Program Settings

Once inside your dashboard, configure your program through Business Settings. In the left sidebar, click Business Settings, then click General.

Navigation: Dashboard > Settings (URL: /settings)

Step 1 — Set Your Default Commission Rate

Under General Settings, locate the Commission Rate field.

• Enter your default rate in the number field (e.g., 20).
• Use the dropdown to choose the commission type:
  • Percent — the affiliate earns a percentage of each referred order total
  • Fixed — the affiliate earns a flat dollar amount per referred order regardless of order value
• Leave the field empty to use the platform default rate.

Note: Per-affiliate rate overrides always take priority over this setting. You can set a custom rate per affiliate at any time.

Step 2 — Set Your Cookie Duration

Under Cookie Duration (days), the default value is 30.

This is how long the affiliate tracking cookie lasts after a link click. Any conversion within this window is attributed to the referring affiliate. You can increase this — longer windows (e.g., 60 or 90 days) can improve conversion rates for products with longer decision cycles.

Step 3 — Enable Affiliate Registration (Optional)

Under the Affiliate Registration section:

• Check "Allow public self-registration" to let anyone sign up as an affiliate at your public join URL: /affiliate/join
• When enabled, new self-registered affiliates receive "Pending" status automatically and must be approved before they can track referrals.
• Leave unchecked if you only want to add affiliates manually.

Step 4 — Configure Auto-Approval Rules (Optional)

Under Auto-Approval Rules, check "Enable auto-approval" to automatically approve conversions that match set criteria — reducing your manual review workload.

Step 5 — Save Your Settings

Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the General Settings section to apply all the above configurations.

Part 3 — Brand Your Affiliate Portal

In the left sidebar, go to Business Settings > Branding.

Navigation: Dashboard > Settings > Branding

1. Upload your Logo — click "Upload Logo" and select your logo file. Supported formats: JPG, PNG, SVG, WebP. Recommended size: 200×200px, max 2MB.
2. Set your Primary Color — enter your brand's hex color code (e.g., #0052CC) in the color input field. This color is applied to buttons, links, and highlights across your affiliate portal.
3. Click "Save Branding" to apply your changes.

What's Next After Setup?

Related: How to Invite Your First Affiliate | HeldSway Quick-Start Checklist

By default, your affiliate portal lives at yourprogram.heldsway.com. This article shows you how to replace that with your own branded subdomain like partners.yourbrand.com.

Why Use a Custom Domain

A custom domain removes all HeldSway branding from your affiliate portal. Your affiliates only ever see your brand — building trust and giving your program a professional, polished feel.

Step 1 — Choose Your Subdomain

Most programs use one of these formats:

• partners.yourdomain.com
• affiliates.yourdomain.com
• refer.yourdomain.com

Step 2 — Add the Domain in HeldSway

1. Go to Settings > Domains.
2. Click Add Custom Domain.
3. Enter your chosen subdomain.
4. Click Save. HeldSway displays the CNAME record you need to add to your DNS provider.

Step 3 — Update Your DNS Records

Log in to your domain registrar and add the CNAME record HeldSway provides.

GoDaddy: Go to My Products > DNS > Add > CNAME.

Namecheap: Go to Domain List > Manage > Advanced DNS > Add New Record > CNAME.

Cloudflare: Go to DNS > Add Record > CNAME. Set proxy status to DNS Only (grey cloud — not orange/proxied).

Step 4 — Verify the Connection

DNS changes typically complete within 30 minutes but can take up to 48 hours. Return to Settings > Domains and click Check Status. Once confirmed, HeldSway issues an SSL certificate automatically — no action needed from you.

Troubleshooting

Still Pending after 48 hours: Check the CNAME record for extra spaces or characters and ensure it matches exactly what HeldSway displayed.

SSL error: Wait 30 additional minutes, then refresh. Contact HeldSway support if the issue persists.

Related: How to Customize Your Affiliate Portal Branding | Set Up Your Program

Doc Reference: Part 4 — Affiliate Program Management · Part 5 — Referral Links

Adding your first affiliate is a two-part process in HeldSway. First, you add the affiliate to your program from the Affiliates page. Then, you create a Referral Link for them from the Referral Links page — the unique tracking URL they share with their audience to drive traffic and earn commissions.

Part 1 — Add an Affiliate to Your Program

Navigation: Sidebar → Affiliates | URL: /affiliates

The Affiliates page is your central hub for managing all affiliate partners. At the top, four summary cards give you a live count of your program:

HeldSway gives you two ways to bring affiliates into your program:

Method A — Manually Add an Affiliate

Use this for someone you have already recruited — a brand ambassador, loyal customer, or direct partner.

1. In the left sidebar under Affiliate Program, click Affiliates.
2. Click "+ Add Affiliate" in the top right corner of the page.
3. Complete the affiliate's details:
   • Name — their full name or business name
   • Email — email address used to access the affiliate portal
   • Commission Rate — set a custom rate (Percent or Fixed), or leave blank to apply the default from Business Settings > General
   • Notes — optional internal notes, visible to your team only
4. Click Save.

The affiliate is immediately added to your Affiliates table with the following columns visible:

Tip: Use the search bar to find any affiliate by name, email, or referral code. Use the status filter dropdown to view All, Active, Pending, or Suspended affiliates.

Method B — Allow Public Self-Registration

Navigation: Sidebar → Business Settings → General | URL: /settings

To let affiliates apply to join on their own without you adding each one manually:

1. In the left sidebar, click Business Settings, then General.
2. Under Affiliate Registration, check "Allow public self-registration".
3. Click "Save Changes".

Once enabled, anyone can sign up as an affiliate at:

[your-subdomain].heldsway.com/affiliate/join

All self-registered affiliates are automatically assigned "Pending" status and appear under the Pending count on the Affiliates page. They cannot track or earn commissions until you manually approve them — unless you also enable Auto-Approval Rules on the same General Settings page.

Part 2 — Create a Referral Link for Your Affiliate

Navigation: Sidebar → Referral Links | URL: /links

An affiliate account alone does not track referrals. Every affiliate also needs at least one Referral Link — the unique tracking URL they share with their audience. When a visitor clicks it, HeldSway records the click and attributes any resulting conversion to that affiliate.

Referral Links Page — Summary Cards

How to Create a Referral Link

1. In the left sidebar, click Referral Links under Affiliate Program.
2. Click "+ Create Referral" in the top right corner.
3. Configure the link with these fields:

4. Click Save to generate the link.

The link is immediately live and listed in the Referral Links table.

Referral Links Table — Column Reference

Tip: Use the search bar on the Referral Links page to search by link slug, destination URL, campaign name, or affiliate name.

Related: How to Set Up Your Public Affiliate Join Page | Affiliate Program Management Docs

Doc Reference: Part 9.1 — General Settings · Part 9.5 — Join Page

The public affiliate join page lets motivated affiliates apply to your program without you personally adding each one. This article covers how to enable self-registration, write your join page welcome message, configure approval rules, and share your public join URL.

Step 1 — Enable Public Self-Registration

Navigation: Sidebar → Business Settings → General | URL: /settings

1. In the left sidebar, click Business Settings.
2. Click General from the sub-menu.
3. Scroll to the Affiliate Registration section.
4. Check the box: "Allow public self-registration".

When enabled, anyone can sign up as an affiliate at:
[your-subdomain].heldsway.com/affiliate/join

5. Click "Save Changes" to apply.

What happens immediately after enabling:

• Your public join page goes live at the /affiliate/join URL.
• Anyone who visits the link can submit an application to join your program.
• All applicants are assigned "Pending" status automatically — they cannot generate referral links or earn commissions until approved.
• Pending applicants appear in your Affiliates page under the Pending summary count.

Step 2 — Customize Your Join Page Welcome Message

Navigation: Sidebar → Business Settings → Join Page | URL: /settings/join-page

The Join Page settings page lets you write a custom welcome message that displays on your public affiliate signup page — communicating the value of your program and encouraging quality applicants to apply.

1. In the left sidebar, click Business Settings, then Join Page.
2. The screen heading reads "Join Page Settings" with the description: "Customize the public affiliate join page for your business."
3. Locate the Welcome Message card. Its description reads: "This message is displayed on the public affiliate join page to attract potential affiliates."
4. Click inside the Welcome Message text field and type your message.

Character limit: Up to 1,000 characters. A live character counter (e.g., 31 / 1000) updates as you type.

What to write in your welcome message:

5. Click "Save Join Page" (blue button). A "Saved." status label appears immediately next to the button, confirming your message is live.

Step 3 — Configure Affiliate Approval Rules

Navigation: Sidebar → Business Settings → General | URL: /settings

After enabling public registration, decide how incoming applicants are processed.

Option A — Manual Approval (Default)

All self-registered affiliates wait in Pending status until you review and approve them individually from the Affiliates page. Use this when brand fit and quality control matter.

Option B — Auto-Approval

To automatically move applicants directly to Active status without manual review:

1. Go to Business Settings → General.
2. Scroll to the Auto-Approval Rules section.
3. Check "Enable auto-approval".
4. Click "Save Changes".

When auto-approval is enabled, affiliates who register through /affiliate/join are immediately activated and can generate referral links right away.

When to use each: Choose Manual Approval when you want to vet affiliates for brand alignment. Choose Auto-Approval when you want to grow your affiliate base quickly and filter by performance later.

Step 4 — Share Your Public Join Page

Your public affiliate join page URL is:

[your-subdomain].heldsway.com/affiliate/join

Place this link wherever your ideal affiliates are likely to find it:

Related: How to Add Your First Affiliate and Create Their Referral Link | Business Settings Docs

Use this checklist to confirm everything is in place before your affiliate program goes live.

✅ Step 1 — Account Setup

• [ ] Create your HeldSway account and verify your email address
• [ ] Enter your business name and contact details at Settings > Account
• [ ] Upload your logo and set your brand color at Settings > Portal

✅ Step 2 — Commission Configuration

• [ ] Create your program at Programs > Create New Program
• [ ] Set your default commission rule (percentage or fixed amount)
• [ ] Set your cookie duration (30 days minimum recommended)

✅ Step 3 — Tracking Installation

• [ ] Install the HeldSway tracking snippet on your website OR install the Shopify / WooCommerce app
• [ ] Place a test order to confirm conversions are recording correctly
• [ ] Verify the test conversion appears in Conversions > Recent

✅ Step 4 — Domain & Branding

• [ ] Add your custom domain at Settings > Domains
• [ ] Confirm the domain is live and SSL is active

✅ Step 5 — Payout Setup

• [ ] Connect your payout method at Settings > Payouts (PayPal or bank transfer)
• [ ] Set your automated payout schedule and minimum threshold

✅ Step 6 — First Affiliates

• [ ] Send at least one direct affiliate invitation
• [ ] Confirm the invited affiliate can log in and see their tracking link

✅ Step 7 — Go Live

• [ ] Share your affiliate application page publicly
• [ ] Set notification preferences at Settings > Notifications

You're live. Start tracking, managing, and paying your affiliates from your HeldSway dashboard.

Related: How to Set Up Your Program | How to Connect Your Custom Domain