The Issue:

A new campaign I am about to run requires me to pass a zip code as a get variable in the url. For example:

http://offerpage.com?id=666&zip=12345

This is also known as a pre-pop, as in “pre-populating” an offer.

The Problem:

So my landing page is all set up.  I have a form on there that let’s the user enter his zip code and I have my Prosper202 javascript tracking code in place.   Everything’s great until I have to actually pass that zip code through Prosper and then to my offer page.

When you “Get LP Code” in Prosper202, you get outbound links like this:

$tracking202outbound = ‘http://yourProsperDomain/tracking202/redirect/off.php?acip=123&pci=’.$_COOKIE[‘tracking202pci’];

Even if you modify this URL, any additional variables you add will get ignored and lost during the redirection process.

The Solution:

There are a few ways to fix this, one of them is by using cookies.  I haven’t test this solution here, but it looks like it would work. However, it would not allow you to use Prosper202’s cloaking feature. That kind of sucks 🙁

My fix is a hack.  You will need to edit one file in your Prosper202 install.  But once you’ve done the mod, it will allow you to pass any variables you want in a simple, elegant way.  No need for multiple files, cookies, or other bullshit that I will never remember to do. 😉

The Mod:

Edit: tracking202/redirect/off.php

Change 1/3:
Add the following code directly below the open php tag, like so:

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<? 
/* Get Variable Pass-thru Mod, by Mark -- http://ctrtard.com -- added 8-3-2010
This mod will allow you to pass additional variables to the P202 redirect. E.g.
$tracking202outbound = 'http://your202.com/tracking202/redirect/off.php?acip=123&pci='.$_COOKIE['tracking202pci'] . '&zip=10010';
*/
foreach($_GET as $key => $value) {
    if ($key !== "acip" AND $key !== "pci")
    $stack .= "&$key=" . urlencode($value);
}
/* End Get Variable Pass-thru Mod */
 
#only allow numeric acip's

Change 2/3:

Add the following code on line 98. Directly below the line that reads: “$redirect_site_url = replaceTrackerPlaceholders($redirect_site_url,$click_id);”

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    $redirect_site_url = replaceTrackerPlaceholders($redirect_site_url,$click_id);
 
    /* Get Variable Pass-thru Mod */
    $redirect_site_url .= $stack;
    /* End Variable Pass-thru Mod */

Change 3/3:

Add the following code on line 373. Directly below the comment that reads: “//NOW LETS REDIRECT”

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//NOW LETS REDIRECT  
 
/* Get Variable Pass-thru Mod */
$redirect_site_url .= $stack;
/* End Variable Pass-thru Mod */

Note, line numbers for the off.php file are from Prosper 1.5.1. If you have a different version, the line numbers might be in slightly different places.

Usage:

Once the mod is in place, passing any variable you need to is simple and elegant.  All you need to do is append it.  Here is a chunk of code to show how this can be done. We will pass a zip and color variable:

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<?php
$color = "red";
$zip = "12345"; 
 
// paste our outbound link Prosper gave us in "Get LP Code"
$tracking202outbound = 'http://yourProsperDomain/tracking202/redirect/off.php?acip=123&pci='.$_COOKIE['tracking202pci']; 
 
// now let's append our variables
$tracking202outbound .= "&zip=$zip&color=$color";
 
// make a link
echo "<a href=\"$tracking202outbound\">click here</a>";
?>

Assuming our offer link was “http://offerpage.com?id=666”, the user would be redirected to:

http://offerpage.com?id=666&zip=12345&color=red

Yay!

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Tags: php, pre-pop, prepop, prosper 202, Prosper202, Tracking202