The Affiliate Application Process
When an applicant signs up to join your program, they land in the Pending program approval folder on your Affiliates Overview page.
What are Pending Affiliates and what actions are required?
The Pending status means an affiliate is waiting for you to make a decision. This part of the process is your final control point, regardless of whether you use manual or automatic approval settings.
Affiliates in this folder require one of two actions:
Approve: The affiliate gains the Active status, full access to all program assets (referral link, banners, etc.), and can start earning commissions.
Disapprove: The affiliate is rejected (status becomes Archived) and cannot participate in the program.
To view your pending applicants, click the filter on your Affiliates Overview page and select Pending program approval.
Understanding Affiliate Statuses
Status | Description | Key Functionality |
Active | An approved participant. | Free to use their links and earn money. All actions (clicks, conversions) are tracked by the system. |
Pending | A user who has applied to join the program and is currently waiting for approval. | Awaiting program admission. Appears in the "Pending program approval" folder and requires action (Approve or Disapprove). |
Archived | A user who has been rejected (disapproved) from participating in the program. | Their actions will be rejected by the system. Any tracking attempts associated with their links are not recorded. |
When an affiliate is rejected (disapproved), their status changes to Archived.
It is important to know that the Archived status does not permanently delete them from the system; rather, it serves as a record of their rejection. If you decide to accept them at a later date, you can easily change their status back to Active from their profile page.
Application Process Summary
When a user signs up, they are initially given the Pending status. You must then choose to:
Approve → Status changes to Active.
Disapprove → Status changes to Archived.
To view your pending applicants, click the filter on your Affiliates Overview page and select Pending program approval.
How to Manage Program Applications (Single & Bulk)
You have several options for approving or disapproving applicants, depending on the volume of applications.
Approving/Disapproving a Single Affiliate
Click on the affiliate's name to open their details panel on the right side of the screen.
In the Programs section, find the program they applied for.
Click on the current status (Pending).
In the dropdown menu, select Approve or Disapprove.
Approving/Disapproving in Bulk (Batch Management)
You can manage multiple applications simultaneously by using the batch management feature on the Affiliates Overview page.
Select multiple affiliates by checking the boxes next to their names, or Select All if you have more than 100 pending applicants.
Two buttons, Approve and Disapprove, will appear near the top of the table. Click the relevant action.
Note: If an affiliate is part of multiple programs, Approve all and Disapprove all actions will impact their participation in all programs simultaneously.
What is the difference between Approving and Adding an affiliate to a program?
Approve: You approve an affiliate who has already requested to join. This moves them from the Pending Program Approval tab to Active Affiliates.
Add to Program: You can add an affiliate to a program if they were not a part of it beforehand. When adding an affiliate this way, they are automatically approved, and their unique program assets are generated instantly.
Automation and Advanced Approval
Automating Approval
For a standard, hands-off approach, you can set up automatic approvals:
Go to Programs > General Settings
Toggle the Automatically approve affiliates option On.
Customized Auto-Approvals
If you require specific filters or conditions to be met (e.g., specific country or website traffic criteria), you can set up customized auto-approvals using Triggers, a webhook action, and our REST API. A developer can reference our advanced Trigger Webhook guide for more information.
Managing Active Affiliates (Disapprove/Re-approve)
Disapproving an Affiliate After Approval
You can easily remove an active affiliate from a program:
Bulk Disapproval: Check the box next to the affiliate's name. The Disapprove (all) option will appear near the top.
Single Program Disapproval: If the affiliate is part of multiple programs, click on their name to open the details panel. Click on the Approved status for the specific program and select Disapprove from the dropdown menu.
Re-approving an Archived Affiliate
You can re-approve a previously disapproved (archived) affiliate:
In your Affiliates Overview, change the filter from Active affiliates to Archived affiliates.
Check the box next to the affiliate's name.
Click the Approve for all programs option that appears at the top.
To re-approve for a single program, open the details panel and change the status for that specific program.
Still need help?
If you have any questions or if something in this guide is unclear, please don't hesitate to contact us at support@tapfiliate.com-we're happy to assist!
Next Steps
You have successfully learned how to manage your program membership.
Next: Learn How to Customize Your Affiliate Sign-Up?
After that: See how to efficiently Set affiliate groups to manage different commission tiers.