PulseLink / Documentation
Everything you need to set up and use PulseLink — trackable short links, affiliate programs, campaign management, and full-funnel Shopify analytics, all in one app.
PulseLink is a native Shopify app that turns every link you share into a revenue-attribution engine. Create branded short links for any product, collection, or page. Invite affiliates and track every click, add-to-cart, checkout, and order they generate. Group links into campaigns and compare performance across channels. All data lives in your Shopify store — no third-party pixels or external trackers required.
PulseLink reads orders to attribute revenue to affiliates, reads products to power the destination picker, and manages a Web Pixel for full-funnel tracking. No data is sent to any third party.
The setup wizard guides you through 8 steps. Most steps are skippable — you can complete them from Settings at any time. The only required step is choosing a plan.
| Step | What you do | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome | Overview of PulseLink features | Auto |
| 2. Setup | Custom domain, attribution model, cookie duration, commission qualification | Required |
| 3. Create a Link | Guided walkthrough of the link creator | Info |
| 4. Add an Affiliate | Guided walkthrough of the affiliate form | Info |
| 5. Create a Campaign | Guided walkthrough of campaigns | Info |
| 6. Affiliate Dashboard | Creates a Shopify page for your affiliate self-service portal | Info |
| 7. Choose a Plan | Select a paid plan to unlock the app | Required |
| 8. Launch | Summary checklist — Go to Dashboard unlocks when plan is active | Auto |
All settings configured in the wizard are also available in Settings after onboarding. Nothing you skip is permanent — come back and configure it any time.
PulseLink has three paid plans, all with a 14-day free trial. There is no free tier — an active subscription is required to create links, affiliates, or campaigns. If a subscription lapses, all resources are locked until a new plan is activated.
| Plan | Short Links | Affiliates | Campaigns | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14 days |
| Pro | 25 | 10 | 10 | 14 days |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 14 days |
The Create button is disabled when you hit your plan limit for links, affiliates, or campaigns. Existing resources continue working normally. Upgrade your plan to create more.
Cancellation takes effect immediately. All short links will continue redirecting, all affiliates and campaigns are locked. Your data is preserved — resubscribing restores everything instantly.
Go to Settings → Plan card → Cancel subscription. A confirmation dialog explains the impact before you confirm.
Yes. Go to Settings → Manage plan. Upgrades and Downgrades take effect immediately. If downgrading puts you over the new plan limit, the oldest resources over the limit are locked automatically.
Short links are the foundation of PulseLink. Every link has a unique slug (e.g. go.yourstore.com/summer) that redirects visitors to your chosen destination while tracking every interaction automatically.
| Type | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Redirects to any URL — product page, collection, external URL | General campaigns, social posts |
| Affiliate | Standard link with an affiliate assigned — all revenue attributed to them | Influencer links, partner campaigns |
| Checkout | Sends customers directly to Shopify checkout with pre-filled items and optional discount | Email campaigns, high-intent CTAs |
From the Links table, action column will display QR code download button to Download QR Code. The code uses the QR profile assigned to that link, or the default profile if none is assigned. To customise QR style, go to Settings → QR Code Profiles.
Links with existing click history show a warning banner before deletion. Deleting is permanent and cannot be undone — the short URL will return a 404 after deletion, and all click and funnel data for that link is lost.
UTM parameters are tracking tags appended to your destination URL. PulseLink's attribution does not depend on UTMs (it uses an embedded tracking token), but adding UTMs lets you cross-reference PulseLink data with Google Analytics or other tools.
| Parameter | Purpose | Example value |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Where the traffic comes from | instagram, newsletter |
utm_medium | The marketing channel | social, email, cpc |
utm_campaign | The campaign name | summer-sale-2025 |
Affiliates are partners, creators, or influencers who promote your store. Each affiliate gets unique tracking links and earns a commission only when a real sale is made. You control every rate and approve every commission before anything is paid.
| Setting | Options | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Commission type | Percentage, Fixed amount | Percentage is calculated on the chosen base. Fixed is per order, not per item. |
| Based on | Order value, Subtotal, Product price | Order value includes shipping and tax. Subtotal excludes both. Product price uses line-item prices. |
Each affiliate has their own independent commission settings. You can give your top affiliate 15%, a new affiliate 8%, and a brand partner $10 flat — all simultaneously.
Campaigns group multiple links under a single umbrella — a product launch, a seasonal sale, an influencer drop — and show total clicks, revenue, and conversions for the group in one place.
Deleting a campaign does not delete the links inside it. Links remain active and continue tracking independently.
Analytics shows full-funnel attribution data across all your links, affiliates, and campaigns. Every metric is derived from real Shopify order data — not estimated or sampled.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Total Clicks | Every redirect through a PulseLink short link. |
| Sessions | Unique visitor sessions initiated by clicking a tracked link. |
| Add to Carts | Sessions where the visitor added at least one item to their cart. |
| Checkouts | Sessions that reached the Shopify checkout page. |
| Orders | Completed purchases attributed to a tracked session. |
| Revenue | Total order value of all attributed orders. |
| Conv. Rate (CVR) | Orders ÷ Sessions × 100. |
| Avg. Order Value (AOV) | Revenue ÷ Orders. |
The funnel shows drop-off at each stage of the purchase journey for sessions that came through your links:
Click → Session → Product View → Add to Cart → Checkout → Order
Each stage shows the count and the conversion rate from the previous stage (e.g. Cart → Checkout: 62%).
Use the filter bar to narrow data by date range (Today, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, or custom), specific Link, Affiliate, or Campaign. All filters combine.
Two line charts show Clicks Over Time and Revenue Over Time. Switch between Daily, Weekly, and Monthly granularity. A previous-period comparison line shows trends at a glance.
The By Country table shows click counts by visitor country. The Device Breakdown section splits sessions by desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Click Export Report to download a CSV of the current filtered view. Use Export all for the full dataset or Export selected for specific rows.
The Orders page shows every Shopify order attributed to a PulseLink tracked session, with the affiliate, campaign, source link, revenue breakdown, and commission amount.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Order # | Shopify order number — links to the order in your Shopify admin |
| Affiliate | The affiliate attributed to this order (if any) |
| Source Link | The short link the customer clicked before purchasing |
| Revenue | Total order value |
| Commission | Calculated commission based on the affiliate's rate and base |
| Status | Commission approval status (Pending, Approved, Paid, Rejected) |
| Attribution | Model used: First Click or Last Click |
| Data Source | Webhook, Pixel, or Webhook + Pixel (highest confidence) |
| Days to Convert | Days between first tracked click and order placement |
Select one or more order rows and use the Approve or Reject bulk action buttons. Approved commissions are added to the affiliate's pending payout balance. Rejected commissions are permanently excluded.
PulseLink tracks affiliate earnings and lets you record manual payouts. There is no automatic payment processing — you pay affiliates through your preferred method and record the payment in PulseLink to keep balances accurate.
The lower section of Payouts shows all recorded payments. Filter by date range and affiliate, then click Export to download a CSV for accounting.
All app-wide configuration is in the Settings page, accessible from the left navigation sidebar.
https:// (e.g. https://go.yourstore.com).| Model | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Last Click (default) | The affiliate whose link was clicked most recently before purchase gets 100% of the commission. | Rewards affiliates who close sales. Industry standard. |
| First Click | The affiliate whose link was clicked first in the customer journey gets 100% of the commission. | Rewards affiliates who discover new customers for you. |
How long after clicking a tracked link an affiliate remains eligible for commission. Default is 30 days. Available options: 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, 90, 180 days. A longer window means more orders are attributed but also means you may credit an affiliate for customers who would have purchased anyway.
| Setting | Commission earned when… |
|---|---|
| Paid | Shopify captures payment for the order |
| Fulfilled | Order is marked as fulfilled (shipped) in Shopify |
| Paid & Fulfilled (default) | Both payment captured and fulfilment confirmed. Most protective against commissions on refunded or unshipped orders. |
QR profiles are reusable style presets. Create them once, then select the right profile per link.
The affiliate portal is a page on your Shopify store where affiliates log in to see their own performance — clicks, orders, revenue, earnings, and tracking links — without contacting you.
yourstore.com/pages/affiliate-dashboard) with your affiliates. They log in with their email address.PulseLink uses two complementary methods to ensure no sale is missed.
When a customer clicks a PulseLink short link, a first-party cookie is set in their browser containing the affiliate ID, link ID, and campaign ID. The cookie persists for your configured cookie duration (default: 30 days). When the customer places an order, Shopify's order webhook fires and PulseLink reads the cookie to attribute the sale.
PulseLink installs a Shopify Web Pixel on your store. The pixel listens for checkout and purchase events and can stitch together the full session funnel even when cookies are unavailable (Safari ITP, incognito mode, cross-device journeys). The pixel also powers the add-to-cart and checkout stages of the Analytics funnel — without it, only clicks and orders appear.
Go to Settings → Shopify Integration. The Web Pixel row should show Connected. If it doesn't, contact support to re-activate it.
If a customer clicks links from two different affiliates, the attribution model determines who gets credit. With Last Click, the most recent affiliate wins. With First Click, the earliest click wins. Only one affiliate can receive credit per order.
Every attributed order follows this workflow:
| Stage | Trigger | Effect on affiliate balance |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Order is attributed and qualification rules are met | No change to balance yet |
| Approved | You click Approve on the Orders page | Commission added to affiliate's Pending Payout balance |
| Paid | You process a payout on the Payouts page | Balance reduced, payout recorded in history |
| Rejected | You click Reject (refunded order, fraud, etc.) | Commission excluded — not added to balance |
PulseLink never moves money. You approve and pay on your own schedule. This protects you from paying commission on refunded or cancelled orders.
When a customer submits a data request to Shopify, PulseLink receives a webhook and logs the request. Your team must fulfil the request within 30 days by providing the customer with their data.
When a customer is deleted in Shopify, PulseLink automatically erases all personal data: IP hash, location, device, browser, referrer, and email. Financial aggregates are retained for accounting purposes.
48 hours after the app is uninstalled, Shopify sends a shop-redact webhook and PulseLink permanently deletes all store data — links, affiliates, campaigns, orders, sessions, and analytics.