URL Auto-Apply Links

URL auto-apply lets you create shareable links that activate a discount the moment a customer clicks them. No coupon code to type — the coupon is applied to their cart for them.

How it works

1. You create a URL Token coupon linked to one of your discounts
2. The coupon gets a shareable URL like https://yourstore.com/?dino_apply=k7Q2mX9vB4nR8tZ1cW5yH3pL
3. When a customer visits that URL, Dino Discounts applies the coupon to their cart, then redirects to the same page with the parameter stripped from the address bar
4. The linked discount applies as soon as the cart meets its conditions

The customer never has to type a code, and the token disappears from the URL after the first visit.

Creating a URL Token coupon

1. Go to the Coupons tab
2. Click + New Coupon in the toolbar
3. In the New Coupon modal, set the Coupon Type to URL Token
4. Enter a coupon code — this names the coupon in your list
5. Optionally select a Linked Discount rule
6. Click Create Coupon

A new link gets a random 24-character token that can’t be guessed. To get the link, click Copy link on the coupon’s row in the Coupons tab.

Using your own token

If you want a readable link, turn on Use a custom link token in the dialog and type the token in Link token. Anyone who guesses it can use the link, so avoid obvious words for a discount you don’t want shared. A custom token can contain letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores, up to 100 characters, and the link must use the exact case of the token: summer-20 won’t apply a Summer-20 token.

Keep custom tokens short and memorable

Good: Summer-20, VIP-Welcome, Flash_Sale

Links created before random tokens were introduced keep working as they did, in any case.

Building the shareable URL

Append ?dino_apply=YOUR_TOKEN to any page on your store (Copy link does this for you). Links work only while Enable discount links is on (it is by default) — see the Discount links card on the Message Settings tab.

https://yourstore.com/?dino_apply=Summer-20
https://yourstore.com/shop/?dino_apply=Summer-20
https://yourstore.com/product/blue-widget/?dino_apply=Summer-20

The token works on any page — the customer lands wherever you link them, and the discount activates in the background. Link directly to a product or category page for the best conversion.

Use cases

Scenario	How to use it
Email blasts	Include the auto-apply URL in newsletters — subscribers get the discount without hunting for a code
Social media	Share a link that “just works” — no code to remember or mistype
Influencer partnerships	Give each influencer their own URL Token coupon for tracking
QR codes	Print the URL as a QR code on packaging, flyers, or in-store displays
Retargeting ads	Link abandoned-cart ads to a URL with a discount already applied
SMS promotions	Short URLs with auto-apply are perfect for text-message blasts

How targeting conditions interact

A URL auto-apply link applies the coupon for the customer, just as if they had typed the code. The discount then applies only when the cart meets all of the discount’s other conditions — spend threshold, items, customer, location, schedule and usage limits.

A “Spend $100 get 10% off” discount activated via URL does not apply while the customer has only spent $50. It applies once they reach $100.

Clicking the link again

The link applies its coupon once, on the visit. Visiting it again while the coupon is already on the cart changes nothing. If the customer empties their cart and starts over, they click the link again to get the discount back.

Customer notices

There is no separate notice to write for a link. A successful link shows the discount’s own Applied notice — its text comes from the discount’s Checkout notice in its Messaging section, and the store-wide Applied notice card on the Message Settings tab controls who sees it and how long it stays. It appears at the top of the page using WooCommerce’s standard notice system.

The notice appears once the discount has actually applied. A link that lands with the cart already qualifying shows it on arrival, wherever the link lands; a link that lands on an empty or not-yet-qualifying basket shows it when the cart qualifies. It is never shown over a discount that has not applied.

A link whose token doesn’t match an active URL Token coupon shows the Invalid-link message (set on the Discount links card in Message Settings). A link for an archived coupon, or for a discount outside its schedule, shows the rejection wording instead.

Links only, not typed codes

A URL token coupon applies only through its link. Typing its token into the coupon field does nothing. To give customers a code they can type as well, create a Standard coupon and link it to the same discount.