> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/affiliate-networks/how-networks-work.md).

# How affiliate networks fit in

Cashback Tracker does not have relationships with shops. **You** do — through affiliate networks — and the plugin's job is to work with what those networks tell it.

Understanding that division explains most of what follows, including several things that look like faults and are not.

### You need your own accounts

Before any of this works you need:

1. **An account with an affiliate network** — Awin, CJ, Admitad, or another. You apply; they accept or decline.
2. **Approval from individual advertisers.** Being in a network is not being in every shop it carries. Each advertiser decides separately whether to accept your site.

Both of these happen on the network's own site, not here. The plugin only ever sees the shops you have already been approved for — which is why a brand you have applied to but not been accepted by simply does not appear.

{% hint style="info" %}
Networks generally want to see a real site before approving you. A cashback site with no content and no traffic is often declined. It is worth building something first, and using [the sandbox](/running-your-site/sandbox.md) to develop against in the meantime.
{% endhint %}

### What the plugin asks the network for

Three things, each on its own schedule:

**Shops.** The advertisers you are approved for, with their domain, logo where the network provides one, and the commission they pay. This is where your Shop catalog comes from.

**Coupons.** Voucher codes and offers, if you have coupon import switched on.

**Orders.** Sales made by your members, with the commission and the current status.

### The sub ID: how a sale finds a member

This is the mechanism the whole thing rests on.

When a member presses **Go to shop**, the link carries a short tag — the **sub ID** — that identifies them:

```
cbtrkr-412
```

The network stores that tag against whatever the visitor does next. If they buy something, the network reports the sale back with the tag attached, and the plugin knows the cashback belongs to member 412.

Two consequences worth knowing:

* **A member must be logged in** when they click. There is no tag for a logged-out visitor, so there is nobody to credit.
* **Sales with a different tag, or none, are ignored.** If you also promote affiliate links outside the plugin, those earnings are yours and are never handed to a random member.

### Why an order cannot appear before the network reports it

**Nothing is recorded when a member clicks.** The plugin does not know a click happened, and cannot.

The first it hears of a purchase is when the network reports it — usually hours later, sometimes a day. Until then there is genuinely nothing to show, and no screen anywhere will reveal it.

This is the single most common misunderstanding about how cashback plugins work, and it is worth putting on your own FAQ page: *"purchases usually appear within 24 hours."*

### Why approval takes weeks after that

The order arrives **pending**. The network will not confirm it until the shop's returns window has closed — typically 30 to 90 days.

You cannot speed this up, and neither can the plugin. See [The life of one cashback order](/how-cashback-works/the-life-of-an-order.md).

### Built-in networks and custom networks

**Built-in networks** — the [ten supported networks](/affiliate-networks/supported-networks.md) — have modules that know each network's API. You paste your credentials, and everything above happens automatically.

**A custom network** is for anything else: a smaller network, a direct arrangement with a single merchant, or a network with no public API. You add the shops yourself and the network sends you sales by [postback](/affiliate-networks/postbacks.md) rather than being polled.

Custom networks are more work to set up and more flexible. See [Building a custom network](/affiliate-networks/custom-network.md).

{% hint style="danger" %}
Do not build a custom network for a network that already has a module. Both would import the same sales, and **members would be credited twice**.
{% endhint %}

### Next

* [Adding a network](/affiliate-networks/adding-a-network.md)
* [Loading shops from a network](/affiliate-networks/loading-shops.md)
* [Importing orders](/affiliate-networks/importing-orders.md)