Leaderboards

A leaderboard ranks the affiliates in a program against each other. It’s there so you can see how you’re doing relative to everyone else, and it’s often where a brand runs a competition with prizes attached.

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Open the leaderboard

In the left sidebar of the affiliate portal, select Leaderboard. If the program is running a competition, the same item is labelled Contests instead. At the top you’ll find a tab for each board available to you. General Leaderboard is the program’s standing board, always there and always running. Any contest the brand is running gets its own tab next to it, named after the contest. If the page says there are no leaderboards available, the program has turned the feature off.

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See what the board ranks by

A board ranks on one thing, and the metric name sits under your value on the Your position card. It’s one of these: The metric changes the game completely. On a revenue board, volume wins. On a conversion rate board, a small, well-targeted audience can beat someone with ten times the clicks. Check which one you’re on before deciding where to put your effort.

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Change the period and the country

Two dropdowns above the board control what you’re looking at. The first is the period: Today, This week, This month, This year or All time. The second switches between Worldwide and My country. These are worth playing with. An all-time board is dominated by whoever has been in the program longest, while This month shows who’s actually moving right now — which is usually where you have a real chance of climbing.

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Find your own position

The Your position card sits above the list. It shows your rank, how many affiliates you’re ranked against, your value for the chosen period, and the metric. When your rank falls on a different page of the list, a Jump to position link appears on the card and takes you straight to your row. In the list itself your row is highlighted and marked (You), so you can see who’s immediately above and below you. If you haven’t recorded any activity in the chosen period yet, the card says you’re not ranked yet. Switching the period to All time often brings you back onto the board.

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Read the rank movement arrows

Some rows carry a small up or down arrow. That’s how far someone has moved compared with the previous period of the same length — last week for a weekly board, last month for a monthly one. Hover it to see the exact change in places. Arrows don’t appear on the All time board, because there’s no previous period to compare against, and they don’t appear when there isn’t enough history yet.

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Why other names are partly hidden

Programs can choose to keep affiliate identities private. When that’s on, other people’s names show as the first couple of letters followed by asterisks, like Sa*** Jo***. Your own name is always readable to you. And if you’re wondering, the same protection applies to you on everyone else’s screen.

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The board on your dashboard

Some programs put a compact version of the board on your dashboard so you see it every time you sign in, with See full leaderboard to open the whole thing. If a contest is running, this card can show that board instead, along with its countdown.

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Public leaderboards

A brand can publish a version of a board that anyone can view without signing in, and share the link wherever they like. It’s the same ranking, on a standalone page with a link to join the program. Brands use it to show that real people are earning, and it doubles as recruitment. Whether names are hidden on the public version is a separate choice from the one inside the portal, so a program can keep the internal board open and the public one anonymous, or the other way round. If you’d rather not appear on a public board at all, ask your program manager.

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If you’re not on a board

A message saying you’re not on this leaderboard means it’s been limited to particular affiliate groups and you’re not in one of them. Contests can also be restricted to affiliates who meet a condition, and when that’s the case the requirement is shown on the tab.

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