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====== Outgoing tracking ======

To configure outgoing tracking, **you'll have to modify all clickable links on your site**, to pass through the ''/your_te3_directory/out.php''.

Note, we'll be using ''your_te3_directory'' in our "User manual", be sure to **replace it with the actual directory name** you have chosen during the installation.

**Important rules:**
  - Always use relative paths, e.g., ''<a href="/your_te3_directory/out.php">'' instead of ''<nowiki><a href="http://www.yoursite.com/your_te3_directory/out.php"></nowiki>''\\ \\ 
  - Content parameters (''u='' , ''purl='') must always be placed as the last parameter in the outgoing link


<WRAP caution>
We believe that each site should be as unique as possible. If the same link scheme repeats over and over again on hundreds of different sites, this can have a negative impact on search engine rankings. Parameters in the "out.php" table below are named by default and will be used throughout this manual. We strongly encourage you to [[te3:customizing_and_renaming#Customizing and renaming ''out.php'' parameters|customize and rename]] them on your TE3 and create completely unique links.
</WRAP>


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===== "out.php" parameters =====


|< 100% 15% 85% >|
^ Parameter ^ Description ^
| **u=**<color blue>[URL]</color> | URL to a content page (gallery, sponsor link...).\\ \\ Example: ''<nowiki>/your_te3_directory/out.php?s=70&u=http://www.duckduckgo.com/</nowiki>'' \\ There is a 70% probability that surfer will be sent to ''<nowiki>http://www.duckduckgo.com</nowiki>'' and 30% probability he will be sent to a trade. |
| **id=**<color blue>[domain]</color> | Permanent link to a trade.\\ \\ Example: ''/your_te3_directory/out.php?id=mytrade.com''\\ This link will always send a surfer to mytrade.com's return URL. |
| **l=**<color blue>[link_name]</color> | Link label or [[te3:link_report|link report]]. Find out where on your site surfers are clicking the most. Label certain categories of links on your site, e.g., toplist, thumbs, text links, sponsors and so on. \\ \\ For example: ''/your_te3_directory/out.php?l=toplist&id=tradex.com'' \\ Surfer will be sent to the ''tradex.com'' trade and +1 hit will be counted for link label "toplist". |
| **s=**<color blue>[skim_pattern]</color> | External skim / skim pattern can only be used together with ''u='' and ''purl='' parameters. You can either set a simple skim, e.g., 70 or an advanced skim pattern, e.g., 100,70,50. \\ \\ For example: ''<nowiki>/your_te3_directory/out.php?s=70&u=http://www.duckduckgo.com/</nowiki>'' \\ There is a 70% probability that surfer will be sent to ''<nowiki>http://www.duckduckgo.com</nowiki>'' and 30% probability he will be sent to a trade. You should also note that unless **es=1** parameter is included in the link, external skim has a lower priority than internal skim. We strongly recommend you [[te3:skimming|read more about skimming here]]. |
| **g=**<color blue>[niche]</color> | Send surfer to a specified [[te3:niches|niche]]. \\ \\ Example 1: ''/your_te3_directory/out.php?g=group1'' \\ Surfer will always be sent to niche-trades. \\ Example 2: ''<nowiki>/your_te3_directory/out.php?g=group1&u=http://www.duckduckgo.com/</nowiki>''  \\ If we assume that [[te3:default_skimming|default skim]] is set to 70, there is a 70% probability that surfer will be sent to ''<nowiki>http://www.duckduckgo.com</nowiki>'' and 30% probability he will be sent to the most owed unvisited trade in the niche "group1".  \\ \\ ''g='' parameter can be used in a combination with ''u='', ''s='', ''l='', ''es=1'' parameters. |
| **purl=**<color blue>[gallery_plug]</color> | Plug galleries using purl parameter. \\ \\ For example: ''/your_te3_directory/out.php?purl=<nowiki>http://www.tradex.com</nowiki>/one_of_his_galleries.html'' \\ Surfer will be sent to a gallery behind purl= parameter and +1 outgoing hit will be counted for "tradex.com". |
| **es=1** | If this parameter is included in the out link, internal skim will be ignored and external skim will be used instead. \\ \\ For example: ''/your_te3_directory/out.php?es=1&l=sponsor1&u=<nowiki>http://www.sponsor.com/</nowiki>'' \\ Imagine this scenario. You're using internal skim (set to e.g. 75%) on your site and you want to track clicks on sponsor links through TE (link report), but of course you don't want to skim those clicks. Surfer must be sent to a sponsor link each and every time he clicks on it. Setting external skim (s=100) in the out link is not enough, because internal skim outpowers external skim ([[te3:skimming|read more about skimming here]]). For this reason you will have to include "es=1" parameter in your out link to force TE to use external skim instead. |

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===== Related topics =====

  * [[te3:customizing_and_renaming#Customizing and renaming ''out.php'' parameters|Customizing and renaming]]: create completely unique outgoing links by renaming outgoing file “out.php” and its respective parameters.