Test the Offers

Test the offer before real traffic reaches it. The steps differ depending on how the offer is promoted, but all three end the same way, with a transaction moving through its results.

Before you start

Testing runs into deduplication, which is working correctly and looks like a bug.

• Repeated clicks from the same machine collapse into one. Change network or browser between attempts, or wait out the window.
• Repeated leads with identical data are refused. Vary the form data.

See Origin Deduplication.

Testing an affiliate link

1. Open the offer and click Preview Offer, then the Link tab.
2. Choose the affiliate the link should belong to. The default one is fine.
3. Open the generated link. That creates a click.

The click gets an Origin ID, carried in the URL as pcid. You can read it from the URL, unless the advertiser strips it, and you will always find it in the click log.

On the advertiser’s site, complete whatever the offer is about, a form or a purchase. That is what creates the record on their side and makes them fire a pixel or a postback back to you.

Testing an iframe

1. Open the offer and click Preview Offer, then the iframe tab.
2. Choose the affiliate. The default one is fine.
3. Copy the code, embed it on a page of yours, open it, fill the form in, and submit. That creates a lead.

The lead gets its own Origin ID, which you will find in the lead log. After submitting you may see processing and then land on the advertiser’s site to finish the flow.

Once the advertiser accepts the lead it appears in their system, and from there the conversion comes back to you the same way as with a link.

Testing the API

1. Open the offer and click Preview Offer, then the API tab.
2. Choose the affiliate to get the API token. The default one is fine.
3. Copy the endpoint URL, build the request in Postman or any API client using the documentation shown on the offer, and send it. That creates a lead.

Read the response and follow the URL it returns to continue. From there it behaves exactly like the iframe test. See API integration.

Testing the results

However the conversion arrived, it usually lands as pending, because the advertiser does not know yet whether it will stand. If it matches your commission conditions, a transaction is created with that result.

Ask the advertiser to fire the same postback twice more:

1. Once with the result approved
2. Once with the result rejected

The transaction should move from pending to approved, then from approved to rejected. That confirms all three results are handled and that updates find the right conversion rather than creating new ones.

There is a simpler setup for lead based offers. Configure the commission to create the transaction as soon as the advertiser accepts the lead, and no pending postback is needed at all. See Auto-set transaction result.

When nothing appears

Work backwards through the logs:

• No click or lead: the click or lead log. If the row is not there, it never reached PalDock.
• The lead is there but never reached the advertiser: the integration log, one entry per request.
• The advertiser says they sent a conversion: the tracking log. If the request is not there it never arrived, and if it is, the result says what happened to it. See Tracking errors and reasons.
• The conversion is there but no transaction: the conversion log, then the commission. See How PalDock picks a commission.