> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/affiliate-referral-scheme/how-users-participate.md).

# How Users Participate

What the affiliate referral scheme looks like from your customers' side: the Affiliates page, sharing their link, tracking progress, the emails they receive and what new customers see.

This page walks through the referral scheme from your customers' point of view, so you can answer their questions with confidence. There are two kinds of customer involved:

* the **referrer**, an existing customer who shares their link, and
* the **referred user**, the friend who clicks the link and signs up.

***

### Finding the Affiliates Page

When your affiliate scheme is switched on, every logged-in customer has an **Affiliates** page in their account. To get there, a customer:

1. Logs in to your site.
2. Opens **My Account**.
3. Clicks **Affiliates** in the account menu.

{% hint style="info" %}
If the scheme is switched off, the **Affiliates** link and page are hidden from all customers. If you have [disabled a particular customer's participation](/affiliate-referral-scheme/managing-referrals.md#managing-individual-users), they still see the link, but clicking it simply takes them back to their **My Account** page.
{% endhint %}

***

### Step 1: Accepting the Terms

If you have written [Affiliate Terms & Conditions](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme.md#terms-and-conditions), the first time a customer opens the page they see a box headed **Affiliate Terms & Conditions** showing your terms, with an **I Accept the Terms & Conditions** button underneath.

* Their referral link is only shown once they click the button.
* They only need to do this once. They are not asked again on later visits, even if you change your terms.
* If you have not written any terms, this step is skipped and they go straight to their link.

***

### Step 2: Getting and Sharing the Link

Once past the terms, the customer sees a **Your Referral Link** box containing:

* **Their personal referral link.** It points to your homepage and includes their own referral code. The code is created for them automatically the first time they visit this page.
* A **Copy** button. Clicking it copies the link and shows a "Referral link copied!" message.
* A **Share Message** box with a short message they can edit before sharing.
* A **Copy Message & Link** button. Clicking it copies the message with the link on the line below, ready to paste into a text, email or social media post, and shows a "Message and link copied!" message.

The starting text in the **Share Message** box depends on your reward settings, so it never promises something you are not offering:

| Your settings                                                               | Default share message                                           |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Both **Referrer Reward Amount** and **Referred User Reward Amount** above 0 | Check this out! Sign up using my link and we both get rewarded. |
| Only **Referred User Reward Amount** above 0                                | Check this out! Sign up using my link and get a welcome reward. |
| No reward for the new customer                                              | Check this out! Sign up using my link.                          |

{% hint style="info" %}
Changes a customer makes to the share message are not saved. It goes back to the default the next time they open the page, so they should copy it straight after editing.
{% endhint %}

***

### Step 3: Tracking Their Progress

Below the link, four cards show how the customer is doing:

| Card                | What it shows                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Total Clicks**    | How many times their current referral link has been clicked. Click history is kept for about 90 days, so this reflects recent activity.                                                                                             |
| **Total Referrals** | How many people have created an account through their link.                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **Conversions**     | How many of those people have made a [qualifying purchase](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme/what-counts-as-a-qualifying-purchase.md). This includes referrals that are still waiting for approval or a hold period. |
| **Total Earned**    | The total site credit they have actually received as a referrer. Rewards that are still waiting are not included.                                                                                                                   |

Under the cards is a table of everyone they have referred, newest first, ten at a time with **Prev** and **Next** buttons:

* **Referred User** shows the friend's name.
* **Date** shows when the friend signed up.
* **Status** shows where the referral is up to. This column only appears if you have turned on **Require Manual Approval**.
* **Earned** shows the referrer reward once it has been paid, and a dash until then.

Before anyone has signed up, the table says "No referrals yet. Share your link to get started!"

{% hint style="info" %}
If you [reset a customer's referral code](/affiliate-referral-scheme/managing-referrals.md#reset-affiliate-code), their **Total Clicks** starts again from zero for the new code. Their referrals table and **Total Earned** are not affected.
{% endhint %}

***

### Referral Statuses

When the **Status** column is shown, customers see one of these:

| Status                | What it means for the customer                                                        |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**           | Their friend has signed up but has not yet made a qualifying purchase.                |
| **Awaiting Approval** | Their friend has made a qualifying purchase and you are reviewing the reward.         |
| **Held**              | The reward is confirmed and is waiting for your hold period to end before it is paid. |
| **Rewarded**          | The reward has been paid into their wallet.                                           |
| **Rejected**          | You decided not to pay a reward for this referral.                                    |

***

### How a Friend Gets Linked

When a friend clicks a referral link:

1. Your site remembers the referral in their browser for **30 days**.
2. If they create a new account within those 30 days, they are linked to the referrer and their referral starts as **Pending**.
3. The referrer is emailed to say someone has joined.
4. When the friend makes a qualifying purchase, the rewards are triggered, then paid straight away, after a hold period or after your approval, depending on your settings.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Ask friends to sign up with the normal registration form.** The referral is linked when the friend creates their account by filling in your sign-up form. Accounts created by signing in with a social account (such as Google or Facebook) are not linked to a referrer.
{% endhint %}

***

### Things Customers Often Ask

* **"My friend already has an account. Can I still refer them?"** No. Only brand new accounts can be referred.
* **"My friend clicked two people's links. Who gets the reward?"** The first link they clicked, as long as they sign up within 30 days of that click.
* **"Can I refer myself?"** No. Customers cannot earn a referral reward for their own account.
* **"My friend clicked my link on their phone but signed up on their laptop."** The referral is remembered in the browser where the link was clicked, so the friend was not linked. Ask friends to sign up on the same device and browser they used to open the link.
* **"My friend clicked my link weeks ago but only just signed up."** The link is only remembered for 30 days. After that, the friend signs up as a normal customer and is not linked to anyone.
* **"My friend has been playing but I have not been rewarded."** Their referral is probably still **Pending** because they have not yet paid for an order by card, or have not reached your minimum spend. See [What Counts as a Qualifying Purchase](/affiliate-referral-scheme/setting-up-the-scheme/what-counts-as-a-qualifying-purchase.md).
* **"How do I use my reward?"** Rewards arrive as site credit in **My Wallet** and can be spent at the checkout. See [Site Credit & Wallets](/additional-settings/site-credit-and-wallets.md).
* **"My friend deleted their account. Do I lose my reward?"** No. If the friend had already made a qualifying purchase, the referrer is still paid when the reward is released. The friend's name will show as "Pending" in the referrals table because their account no longer exists.

***

### How Rewards Appear in Wallets

Rewards are added to wallets as site credit, with a description customers can recognise in their **My Wallet** transactions:

* The referrer sees **Affiliate reward of** followed by the amount and the friend's name.
* The new customer sees **Referral welcome reward of** followed by the amount.

***

### What New Customers See

For the friend who signs up, the experience is simple. They create an account in the usual way and start playing.

* If you offer a **Referred User Reward Amount** and have no hold period, they are taken to a **Welcome Bonus** page straight after signing up, telling them about the reward waiting for them and what they need to do to unlock it.
* Otherwise, they go to your homepage as normal.
* Either way, their reward lands in their wallet once their referral is rewarded. They do not get a separate email about it, but they will see it in **My Wallet**.

{% hint style="info" %}
Want to know exactly when the Welcome Bonus page appears and what it says? See [The Welcome Bonus Page](/affiliate-referral-scheme/how-users-participate/welcome-bonus-page.md).
{% endhint %}

***

### Emails Referrers Receive

Referrers are kept in the loop by email. Each subject line starts with your site name.

| Email                     | Subject                                  | When it is sent                                                                                                                                                                                |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Someone joined**        | Someone joined using your referral link! | When a friend creates an account through their link. It names the friend and reminds the referrer they could earn a reward once the friend makes a qualifying purchase.                        |
| **Reward earned**         | You earned (amount) from a referral!     | When their referrer reward is actually paid into their wallet. It is not sent while a reward is **Held** or **Awaiting Approval**, and it is not sent if your **Referrer Reward Amount** is 0. |
| **Referral not approved** | Your referral was not approved           | When you reject a referral. It includes your reason if you gave one.                                                                                                                           |

See [Emails Your Customers Receive](/essential-settings/email-setup/customer-emails.md) for how all your customer emails are branded.