phpBay Custom ID Explained
I see this question in different forums all the time and it seems some folks are having a hard time figuring out what the Custom ID is when setting up phpBay. I thought I would do my best to explain it.
When you add your site in the Ebay Partner Network member area under Campaigns, it asks you for a name for the Campaign and a Description. The description is optional, but you must assign a campaign name. Then you click Create.
After you have done this, eBay will assign your campaign a unique number which you will see in your Campaign list. When instering this information into phpBay Pro, the Campaign ID number is the string of numbers (usually beginning with a 5).
The Custom ID is the name you assigned the campaign when you set it up and is in the column next to the number. Both of these must be entered correctly or one of two things will happen. Either the plugin will not work or you will not be getting the credit for your clicks. The description is for your eyes only to help you determine what the campaign is about.
I hope this helps and if you have questions, please leave a comment.
Digg This! | Add To Del.icio.us (0) | Stumble It!
About the Author: 
Sean | Sep 15, 2008 | Reply
I’m not exactly clear what you are saying here. The Campaign ID is the number, not the name of the campaign. Further, in my experience, it doesn’t matter one bit what you enter for the name (aka the Custom ID in the phpBay settings page), aside from your own personal tracking desires and likely that it has to be something other than blank.
If you look at, for instance, a BANS site, the custom id is not the campaign name, but a unique value for every store page. In fact, it is set to the name of the store page. I find it awfully useful for tracking pages with lots of sales that may make for a successful site of their own.
But maybe I’m just misreading you here…
Seans last blog post..Thoughts of This Periodic Poster
Melissa | Sep 16, 2008 | Reply
Hi Sean,
It’s been a while! Thanks so much for stopping by.
I don’t really know that you are misreading me. I am talking about the setup page for the phpBay plugin where you enter the Campaign ID, Custom ID and set all of your options for the plugin. Not the individual pages/posts themselves.
You just made me realize the error in what I had written though. I corrected the bold to read Custom ID. Hope that makes better sense.
I have never tried entering anything other than the Custom ID after the Campaign ID in the phpBay setup. And you are right, it cannot be left blank.
I am under the impression from what Wade says that you have to enter the exact Custom ID for the campaign or it will not track properly. I could be wrong, but will ask just to clarify.
The only reason I posted about this is I have seen numerous questions about where to locate the Custom ID posted in a lot of different forums lately.
BANS does not ask for the Custom ID during the initial setup like phpBay does. Not unless I’ve missed an update and it now asks for it.
But what you said about BANS pages is one of the things I love most about it. Taking the pre-populated page titles and making them unique. Then tracking those and what people buy to possibly come up with another successful site. Great point and I hope I wasn’t misreading you.
Thanks again and I hope all is going well for you.
Melissa
Sean | Sep 16, 2008 | Reply
Nope, you certainly didn’t misread me.
And yes, I was confused because of the bolded text reading Campaign ID instead of Custom ID when I initially read it.
As to the whole Custom ID thing, I would think Wade will say that it can be anything. I didn’t realize it until I just checked the manual, but there is even a parameter in the phpBay plugin tag that lets you change the Custom ID. (I should read that thing a little more thoroughly — that would’ve been useful for a thing or two I was doing!) Can’t imagine he would code in extra functionality that would make failing links.
I’ll hazard a guess that Wade put together his little infographic (the one with lines showing how the campaign number & name from your EPN account matches up with the settings from phpBay setting page) as a means of answering a question he’s gotten a few million times about what the Custom ID should be. And rather than further explaining that it could be anything — further muddying the questioner’s mind requiring yet another round of questions — left it at that…
The topic just got my attention because I have been building a site with the phpBay API with the intention of traffic coming via PPC. I wanted some way to track individual keyword conversions and spent a fair amount of time coding in a way to quickly build links that alter the custom id. I’d really hate to have wasted my time, but comparing the syntax of the URLs created in BANS with those in phpBay, I’m confident I haven’t.
And now that I’ve muddied the waters for those not so inclined to be freakishly complicated with these things, unless you have a really good reason just go ahead and use the name as the Custom ID.
Seans last blog post..Thoughts of This Periodic Poster
Melissa | Sep 16, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for pointing it out to me though or I would have ended up leaving it the way it was.
And you are correct on the Custom ID thing. I did a search on the forum and saw where another user had asked the question. Wade replied that he uses the one Custom ID for the entire site, but that it can be set in I believe it was the 12th parameter to be anything you want.
It can also be anything you want in the initial setup.
Thanks for bringing this up. Even though I’ve been at this quite a while, I still learn something new every day.
I haven’t tried to build a site with API yet. I’ve always had access to it, just never dabbled with it. Would love to hear how that works out for you.