Create a Program in Siren

Prefer AI-guided setup? Beacon is our free AI assistant that can design and generate a complete program configuration for you. Just describe what you want and it’ll create a recipe you can install with one click. Connect Beacon to get started.

Just want the fastest path? The quick start guide installs a recipe in about ten minutes and skips most of the configuration walkthrough below.

What is a program?

A program is the rule set that defines how collaborators earn rewards. It controls which actions get tracked, how commissions are calculated, and which parts of a transaction count toward the payout. Every incentive you run in Siren starts here.

To create one, hover over Siren in the WordPress sidebar, click Programs, then click Add New.

Basic settings

Give your program a name and optional description. A handy convention is including the commission rate in the name (like “Affiliate Program 15%”) so you can tell programs apart at a glance.

Set the status to Active and pick your payout currency. If you’ve already created a program group, assign this program to it. If not, leave it as “No Group” and revisit after reading about program groups.

Expiration time

The expiration time (in days) is how long a collaborator’s engagement stays valid. If the customer doesn’t convert inside the window, the collaborator won’t get credit.

Thirty days is a reasonable starting point for a standard affiliate program. A shorter window like seven days creates a conversion-focused incentive. You can run two programs together: a high-commission short-window program for conversions and a lower-commission long-window program for lead generation.

Program structure

The program structure decides which collaborator wins when a conversion happens. Siren offers five:

• Newest engagement wins rewards the most recent engagement. This is the “last click wins” model most affiliate programs use, and it’s the right default if you’re unsure. It also handles coupon codes naturally.
• Oldest engagement wins does the opposite and rewards whoever first brought the customer in.
• Shared engagement pool splits the commission evenly among every collaborator who engaged the customer.
• Performance weighted pool splits by points rather than equal shares, rewarding sustained effort.
• Top score wins pays the full commission to whoever accumulated the most points.

For most affiliate programs, pick newest engagement wins.

Engagement tracking events

Engagement tracking events are the actions Siren measures on the path to a conversion. Enable the ones that matter for your program:

• Site visited fires when a customer arrives through an affiliate link. Standard affiliate tracking.
• Coupon code used fires when a customer applies a coupon assigned to a collaborator. See Coupon Code Tracking for integration support.
• Blog post visited fires when a customer reads a post authored by a collaborator. Useful for content-driven programs.
• Collaborator product sold fires when a product owned by a collaborator is purchased. The foundation of royalty programs.
• Course completed and lesson completed are LMS-specific and reward instructors when students finish their material.

For a simple affiliate program, enable site visited and coupon code used. Point values only matter if you’re using a point-based structure like performance weighted pool or top score wins.

Incentive structure

The incentive structure decides how rewards are calculated:

• Percentage of transaction pays a percentage of the transaction total. Standard for affiliate programs.
• Fixed per transaction pays a flat amount per sale regardless of value. Common for high-ticket products or referral bonuses, like hosting companies paying $200 per signup.
• Fixed per product pays a flat amount for each qualifying product in the cart. Useful for targeted promotions on specific inventory.

For percentage-based programs, you can credit conversions for sales, renewals, or both. Sales covers initial purchases. Renewals covers recurring subscription charges. Whether to include renewals depends on whether this program rewards acquisition or retention. You can always create a separate renewal-focused program later.

Auto-approving completed transactions approves obligations the moment an order completes. Leave it unchecked if you’d rather review each one manually.

Commission pool settings

These control which parts of a transaction feed the commission calculation.

Line items should almost always be checked. They’re the actual products purchased.

Discounts should usually be checked too. When checked, Siren subtracts discounts before calculating. A $120 product with a $20 coupon calculates on $100 rather than $120.

Fees covers things like WooCommerce signup fees or subscription fees. Include them if they’re part of what you want to pay commission on.

Shipping and taxes should almost never be checked. You don’t want to pay commission on tax owed to the government or pass-through shipping costs.

When you check line items, filtering options appear. You can restrict the program to specific product categories (by slug), SKUs, or product types like subscriptions versus simple products. There’s also a collaborator-owned filter for royalty programs. See Line Item Filters for a full reference.

Once everything is set, click Create. Your program is live and ready for collaborators to start earning.