VigLink

VigLink 1.1.3

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I am pre-launch on a couple of sites and need to resolve some issues. Sovrn (formerly Viglink) needs to step up to the plate and start maintaining this add-on again if they want us to continue using their service, or at least give guidance as to how to integrate it without messing up the forum completely.

In XF 2.1, I am finding that the Sovrn code is being added inside users' posts. The way it is supposed to work, is that the content on the site is unaltered, and links are inserted after the fact. Now my staff is having to go in and edit posts to remove the crap that got inserted. It has to be some JS incompatibility happening here. My only solution will be to edit numerous templates in order to have Insert work only in areas where it should be allowed--thread content. Not in polls, thread titles, the "Thread Starter" text, etc.. I need to use Insert on all of our sites since we are generating noticeable revenue from it, so turning off the feature isn't an option.

I just upgrade to XF 2.1 and need to get Viglink working again, but not linking text, just URLs that are inserted by members. Any chance of this add-on being fixed or is there another alternative?
You need to switch off the Insert feature in your Sovrn dashboard--you have to go to where you manage sites, and you'll see it there.

Something similar happened a year or two back they rolled out a feature rewriting product links to the vendor that paid the most commission. It upset some of my members. Of course it was switched on by default.
Exactly. A few forums of ours have "deals" threads. So in an Amazon or eBay deals thread, members don't want to end up at some shady site that is not Amazon or eBay. We didn't just get complaints, we had members panicking that they had a virus on their computer, and started blaming us (and Viglink) for infecting their computers or phones.
 
I'm not using the plug-in. I modified the Page_Container template with the changes described in this thread. Works with either Viglink/SOVRN or Skimlinks for me with no issues.

I'm on 2.1.7
 
I guess the automatic linking issues we were having with VigLink/Sovrn are a moot point now, since they have just eliminated their Insert feature. So that's one less thing we have to worry about (such as, our "Thread Starter" banner being turned into a link). But it's also a loss.

Thing is, I can't find a replacement for that anywhere. Skimlinks has no equivalent. There are WordPress plugins that might provide this, but that does no good on a XenForo site.
 
@Rudy - When did Viglink/SOVN announce they were doing away with the Insert feature? Are they just getting rid of Insert? Or are they retiring their affiliate auto-linking URL links?

I'm actually working on a solution for our site intended to replace Insert and compliment the Viglink affiliate auto-linking. Planning to write it as a SaaS, so it could be available to others.

If you're interested in learning more, please PM me here.

Mike
 
When did Viglink/SOVN announce they were doing away with the Insert feature? Are they just getting rid of Insert?
I got an email early in June saying they were discontinuing Insert a couple of days later. Convert and Anywhere are still working though. If you look for Insert on the site, it is no longer available in the dashboard or settings.
 
Viglink gave me next to zero notice (maybe 3 days) about dropping the Amazon affiliate program. That was my biggest earner. It was easy enough to convert Amazon links to my own affilate ID with another addon but I have zero confidence in Viglink now. I only keep it around for the occasional eBay commission.
 
@Big Dan - eBay has a script that you can add to your website that auto-affiliates eBay links with your affiliate id.

So, just sign up for eBay affiliates, grab their code, and install it on your website. Then you can get rid of Viglink if you want.

If I can get my platform up and running in the next few months, I won't have to use scripts from eBay or Amazon -- I'll just be able to automatically add our affiliate link to existing links.
 
Viglink gave me next to zero notice (maybe 3 days) about dropping the Amazon affiliate program.
That was not Viglink's decision--Amazon no longer deals with third parties. So Skimlinks and anyone else who did the same auto-linking also got affected by it. In fact, I saw Skimlinks announced it a couple of days before Viglink, so I knew it was coming. Fortunately I use an add-on for XF that adds an affiliate ID to the end of all Amazon links, so the sites I manage are well-covered.

I will keep Viglink around since they do generate traffic to other merchants that members post in the forum--they do a good job with those and the payouts are higher than going direct. There just isn't much eBay income anymore--eBay themselves decimated their original affiliate payouts four or five years ago, so now, very little of the traffic we generate pays out.
 
add-on for XF that adds an affiliate ID to the end of all Amazon links
Yeah, XF2 Addons does this for eBay and Amazon.

Been thinking about using those add-ons, but the eBay script works for eBay links, and Amazon affiliate, even though Viglinks, has never been that great, so I haven't implemented anything for Amazon yet.
 
I've had a lot of success with Viglink over the years, but some of my sites generate a lot of product links, and shoppers seem to buy more than the item that was linked. What I actually fear more is Amazon severely cutting back or eliminating their affiliate program completely.
 
That was not Viglink's decision--Amazon no longer deals with third parties. So Skimlinks and anyone else who did the same auto-linking also got affected by it. In fact, I saw Skimlinks announced it a couple of days before Viglink, so I knew it was coming. Fortunately I use an add-on for XF that adds an affiliate ID to the end of all Amazon links, so the sites I manage are well-covered.

I will keep Viglink around since they do generate traffic to other merchants that members post in the forum--they do a good job with those and the payouts are higher than going direct. There just isn't much eBay income anymore--eBay themselves decimated their original affiliate payouts four or five years ago, so now, very little of the traffic we generate pays out.
That's understandable but my guess is VigLink themselves had quite a bit of notice compared to it's users. That's my beef. I never earned a ton of money from Viglink so it's not a huge deal for me; More or less it's the principal. If Amazon unilaterally made the decision to cut out 3rd parties, it wasn't overnight. How long did VigLink know BEFORE telling us?
 
I know this is ancient history, but even after disabling and deleting the VigLink add-on - years ago - I still have "VigLinks" showing up in posts. How do I get rid of them?
 
I had stopped using the addon many years ago and instead, edited the PAGE_CONTAINER template and inserted it either before the </head> or </body> tag. And later, I moved that into my own addon I created which did the same thing.

Are you sure it's not manually entered somewhere in a template? If the addon is deleted, there should be no remnant of it. VigLink rewrote URLs on the fly.
 
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