> 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/start-here/quick-start.md).

# Quick start

The shortest path from a fresh install to a working cashback site. The goal is one shop live on your site, one member clicking through to it, and one order arriving in your admin.

Allow an hour. Most of that is waiting for a network to send you data.

{% hint style="info" %}
**No network account yet, or still waiting for approval?** Do the whole of this with [the sandbox](/running-your-site/sandbox.md) instead. It behaves like a real network — fake shops, fake orders that approve on a timer — so nothing here changes.
{% endhint %}

### 1. Set your site currency

`Cashback Tracker` → `Settings` → `General` → **Currency and cashback**. Every piece of cashback is converted into this and stored in it, so choose the currency you actually pay members in — it cannot be meaningfully changed later. See [Currency and exchange rates](/how-cashback-works/currency.md).

{% hint style="info" %}
**Upgraded from version 2?** A yellow card at the top of the page asks for the currency instead, along with what to do with your existing order history — and nothing is recorded until you complete it. See [Upgrading from version 2](/start-here/upgrading-from-v2.md).
{% endhint %}

### 2. Connect a network

`Cashback Tracker` → `Networks`. Your network is already in the list — press **Configure** on its row, paste the credentials it gave you, tick **Enable network** and save.

Each network asks for something slightly different — see [Adding a network](/affiliate-networks/adding-a-network.md) and the page for your particular network.

### 3. Load the shops

On the `Networks` screen, press **Refresh all shops**.

The network's merchant list is imported into `Cashback Tracker` → `Shop catalog`. On a large network this is thousands of shops, and it runs in the background — you can leave the page.

A shop in the catalog is **not yet a page on your site**. That is the next step.

### 4. Create shop pages

`Cashback Tracker` → `Shop catalog` → **Bulk tools** → **Create missing pages**.

This turns catalog entries into real pages visitors can find. On a big catalog, think about whether you want a page for every shop or only the ones you will write about — see [Creating shop pages in bulk](/shops-and-cashback-rates/creating-shop-pages-in-bulk.md).

While you are in **Bulk tools**, press **Fill missing** on the **Logos** row to give those pages a logo. See [Shop logos](/shops-and-cashback-rates/shop-logos.md).

### 5. Set your cashback rates

This is the number that makes it your business rather than the network's: the network pays you a commission, and you decide how much of it the member gets.

Each network carries its own default, on the same **Configure** screen where you pasted the credentials. Any single shop can override it. See [Cashback rates](/shops-and-cashback-rates/cashback-rates.md).

Set the default now, and set a different rate on one shop so you can see the difference.

### 6. Link your shop directory

You do not have to build this. The directory already exists, at:

```
https://yoursite.com/shops/
```

Open it. Every shop page you just created is there, with an A–Z strip, a search box, sorting and paging — none of which you configured.

**Add it to your menu now**, under `Appearance` → `Menus`. Nothing links to it automatically, and a directory nobody can find is the single most common thing missing from a new install.

If you also want a handful of shops on your home page, that is the shortcode's job — a plain grid, no filters:

```
[cashback-shops limit="8" cols="4"]
```

Then check the member account page exists — `Pages` in WordPress, look for the one created at activation. That is where members will see their balance and request payouts.

See [The shop directory](/shops-and-cashback-rates/shop-directory.md), [Shortcodes](/putting-it-on-your-pages/shortcodes.md) and [The member account page](/members-and-payouts/the-account-page.md).

### 7. Click through as a test member

Register a second account on your own site — a real one, not your admin login — log in as them, open a shop page and press **Go to shop**.

You should land on the merchant's site. That link carried a hidden tag identifying that member to the network, which is how the sale finds its way back to them.

### 8. Buy something, then wait

Complete a real purchase at the merchant, or wait for a real visitor to.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Nothing appears immediately, and that is normal.** Networks report sales on their own schedule — usually hours, sometimes a day or more. There is no click to look at in the meantime: the plugin only knows about a member once the network reports the sale.
{% endhint %}

When it arrives, you will find it in `Cashback Tracker` → `Orders`, and the member's share in `Members`. It arrives **pending** — see [The life of one cashback order](/how-cashback-works/the-life-of-an-order.md) for what happens next.

### What to read next

* [Going live](/start-here/going-live.md) — the checklist for when the sandbox comes off
* [The life of one cashback order](/how-cashback-works/the-life-of-an-order.md) — the path everything else assumes
* [Balances: pending, available, paid](/how-cashback-works/balances.md) — the three numbers members ask about
* [Handling a payout request](/members-and-payouts/handling-a-payout-request.md) — for when the first one arrives
* [Importing orders](/affiliate-networks/importing-orders.md) — how often orders are checked, and how to make it more often