Nice but they use their own amazon affiliate code

They use their own Amazon affiliate code in the URL when the button is clicked so when someone buys a book I guess they get a small commission from Amazon?

Can you provide an example of that?

Go to:

https://www.percivalconstantine.com/books/dragon-kings-of-the-orient/

Click on the Amazon button. This goes to an Amazon page for the book in the url you will see:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1470163497?tag=mybooktable-20

“mybooktable-20” is the plugin developer’s Amazon affiliate code.

They add their own code to the URL string in the button.

You can’t use your own affiliate code unless you buy their “pro” version.

I have not looked but I’m sure they must disclose this on their web site.

It seems like a fair deal. You get a free plugin and in return any books that are bought using it give them a few pennies.

Thanks for that. I saw the ?tag=mybooktable-20 in the source code but my knowledge of affiliate links is really lacking.

*Adds that topic to growing list of things to learn about*

It seems like a fair deal. You get a free plugin and in return any books that are bought using it give them a few pennies.

I don’t necessarily disagree with you re the fairness of it but I am something like 99 44/100 percent sure that that is not allowed without the user (that’s you) explicitly permitting it.

It’s a plugin guidelines thing. The plugin author has to explicitly get permission before doing that.

We didn’t mean to violate the guidelines. I have spoken at WordCamp and am a big supporter of the WP Community.

We will add an affiliate opt in to the next version that will be out in the next week or two.

Are you saying there is some kind of WP guideline that does not let the developer trade the plugin in return for being the affiliate for some site the plugin might go to?

Like I say, it seems like a fair deal and I doubt that the Book Table people were trying to put one over on anyone. I’m sure it is in their terms and conditions… which I never read but I’m sure some people do.

I’m not an affiliate so for my two books, I don’t care if they make a small commission in return for supplying the plugin. But I can see how some people might object.

As I understand it, if you get the paid version you get to use your own affiliate number… I now see it is right there on the price table https://www.authormedia.com/mybooktable/add-ons/
so it looks like the developers are being up-front with it.

I’m not sure what Thomas means by adding an “affiliate opt-in” in the next version. Does that mean they will let people use their own Amazon or Barnes affiliate number on the UN-paid version?

Like I say, the developers who make this plugin seem to be friendly, honest people so I hope they are not accused of being ‘evil doers.’ I’m not a coder or a web developer but I’m sure a lot of work went into this plugin and I think they deserve to be compensated for it. Getting a sixty cents on a $15 USD book (I think Amazon pays 4% to affiliates?) which does not come out of the author’s pocket seems a fair price to pay for such an excellent plugin.

Thomas Umstattd? Thank you so much and I’m really impressed with your professional attitude and reply. I hope you continue speak at many more WordCamps. ??

Are you saying there is some kind of WP guideline that does not let the developer trade the plugin in return for being the affiliate for some site the plugin might go to?

I’m not saying it exactly as I am suggesting it. I am not part of the plugin review team. Good thing too as that team works hard. ??

But yes, I am saying that that affiliate tag ought to be turned off by default.

I’m not sure what Thomas means by adding an “affiliate opt-in” in the next version.

It just means that Thomas will make the affiliate link portion optional and turned off by default. If you want to show your appreciation (and I do encourage people to do that) then you will have the option to enable that ?tag=mybooktable-20 portion.

so I hope they are not accused of being ‘evil doers.’

No one is accusing anyone of anything. And I’ve never thought or implied that Thomas was “doing evil”. As I said above

It’s a plugin guidelines thing. The plugin author has to explicitly get permission before doing that.

And the (really good) reply that Thomas left just reinforces that he gets that and understands.

Jan, thanks for the kind explanation.

I’d hate to think that Thomas would get in trouble because of my observation about the affiliate code.

I’ll be happy to opt-in to his affiliate code and I’m sure many authors will too… however I assume that many authors are affiliates themselves… if Amazon allows that. If so, those authors will buy the paid-version.

“All’s well that ends well.”

Looks like our plugin just got suspended. I wish you would have given us more than a few hours to make the change…

That probably wasn’t Jan’s fault. He isn’t part of the plugin team (and neither am I, in case you were wondering). Someone may have contacted the team directly. Either way, you should receive an email very shortly explaining why the plugin was suspended. Hopefully, your planned changes will be all that is needed for the plugin to be re-instated.

It was not me who told anyone. I am not part of the WP community… I’m just the person who has to maintain our website so I look to this forum for help on occasion.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to blame anyone. We will get it changed. We just want to make sure the change doesn’t retroactively break any functionality that people are already using.

I’m so sorry I posted this issue now. I had no idea that this would cause you so much trouble. I feel terrible.

I don’t know anything about how the WP ‘minders’ work or the internal politics or their guidelines or anything. If I had known that they would have been so punitive so as to take down your plugin without a fair warning I would never have started this thread.

Please accept my apology. Maybe Jan, who sounds like a programmer, can help you look through the code and help you figure out how to fix this issue?

I hope you can easily resolve this and that it does not seriously hurt your business. Again, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.

@caltuna123: Please do not feel guilty. This topic may have had absolutely nothing to do with the plugin’s temporary suspension. And the suspension will not have been without fair warning. An email is always sent directly to the plugin’s author whenever a plugin is suspended for breaching the submission guidelines. As soon as the plugin is updated to remove the breach, it is re-instated. so there should be no long term effects and hopefully minimal short-term problems for Thomas.

@caltuna123 I suspect @esmi is right and that this thread had nothing to do with the suspension. So this is not your fault.

For the first 6 month of this plugin we received zero feedback about the affiliate system until this week when it has come up here and in several other places.

Like I said, we will get the plugin updated.

We have implemented an Opt-in system for the affiliate links and the plugin is up for re-review and hopefully should be back up soon!