links

An Express.js server middleware for managing affiliate links.

This project creates an API service which will return a link URL in response to a keyword (or another URL) and parameters (like locale). You can use the returned URL to either create redirects (link cloaking) or to simply manage links the HTML of your blog, website, or a tool.

Installation:

Prerequisites:

• Express.js server.
• MongoDB database.
• Redis server.
• A secret .env file in your root dir with a random APPLICATION_SECRET string & connection URIs (see .env.example).

yarn add @roast-cms/links

Implementation example:

import links from "@roast-cms/links";

app.use(
  links({
    // OPTIONAL path name for the `links` API on local Express router
    pathName: "/recommends",
  })
);

Complete example can be found in ./example-server.ts and can be run with yarn dev:example from this repo.

API:

GET /recommends/widget

{
  "link": "widget",
  "status": 200,
  "vendor": {
    "name": "eBay",
    "url": "https://ebay.com/us/widget?referral=you"
  }
}

For this example to work, MongoDB collection links should have the following document (vendors[].locale is optional):

{
  "link": "widget",
  "vendors": [
    {
      "url": "https://shop.com/us/widget?referral=you",
      "value": 1,
      "locale": "us",
      "name": "eBay"
    }
  ]
}

Parameters:

• locale - Not implemented but planned. Would prioritize local vendors.
• vendors - Select vendor groups. Currently implemented: "ALL", which lists all vendors for the link.

GET /recommends/group?tag=cameras

Returns all links for a given tag param.

GET /recommends/bulk?links=widget,toy,fancy-garmet

Returns all links (including all vendors) from array inferred from links param (uses array.split(",")). Limit of 10.

Usage (with React):

This an example using React framework, however, the idea would be the same in any kind of project (both on server and on the browser):

1. Make an XHR (or fetch) request to links service with the key (must be a string) as a URL path and any parameters sent as a query.
2. Wait for response.
3. Use the response to create link in the returned HTML (though this could be any language your app is built in).

export const MyPage = () => {
  // manage state of the app (React-specific)
  const [myLink, setMyLink] = useState("#default-link");

  // send fetch request on page load and update state
  useEffect(() => {
    try {
      const linkResponse = await fetch("/recommends/widget?locale=us");
      const linkResponseJson = await linkResponse.json();
      setMyLink(linkResponseJson.vendor.url);
    } catch(error) {
      console.log(error);
    }
  },[]);

  // return page HTML
  return <div>This is my example text, oh, and look: an affiliate <a href={myLink}>link</link>!</div>
}

See example for authenticated implementation with an option to edit and archive links

To Do:

• [x] Initialize project in Node.js with Mongoose (MongoDB)
• [x] TypeScript and Jest
• [ ] Add locale selection logic
• [x] Allow link disabling/archiving