# Run Black Friday and other sale links

Send visitors to a sale page only between two dates, with no change to the links in your posts. Tag the sale's links to read its clicks together.
Page: https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/black-friday-links
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To run Black Friday affiliate links, add a routing rule with **Between** dates to each deal's short link. The rule sends visitors to the sale page during the sale only. The links in your posts stay the same, and after the last date visitors go back to the normal destination by themselves.

This tutorial uses a Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale from November 27 to December 1 as the example. The same setup works for any dated offer. [Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules) explains every condition and the order rules are checked in.

## Before you start

- You need access to Link Manager Pro. Administrators always have it, and editors only when an administrator allows it ([Access for editors](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/access)).
- Back up your short links. Saving a link's rules replaces all of that link's rules with what the form shows, so a backup is your way back ([Back up and restore](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/backup-restore)).
- Have each deal's sale page address ready in full, starting with `https://`.
- Know which short links you will use. Each deal needs one short link that your posts already point to ([Create your first short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link)).
- For affiliate programs, check your program's terms about sale links.

## How do dates in a routing rule work?

**Between** works in whole days, in the time zone set under **Settings › General** in WordPress. The first day starts at 00:00 and the last day counts until it ends. A sale set to November 27 to December 1 starts at 00:00 on November 27 and stops when December 2 begins.

Before the first date and after the last one, the rule is skipped. Visitors then go to the link's own **Destination URL**, so nothing needs switching back.

## Send a short link to the sale page during the sale

To schedule affiliate links for a sale, add the rule below to each deal's short link.

::: warning
Saving a link replaces all of its rules with what the form shows. Back up first, and check the link's existing rules before you save. To undo, restore the backup or remove the new rule and save.
:::

Add one rule to the short link. It has no conditions, so every visitor who opens the link inside the dates goes to the sale page.

Link Manager › Short Links

1. Select the **Edit** icon (the pencil) in the link's row. **Edit short link** opens.
2. Turn on the switch on the **Routing rules** row. It's already on when the link has rules.
3. Select **Add rule**. Enter a **Name** you'll recognize, like `BFCM 2026` (visitors never see it).
4. Enter the sale page address in **Destination URL**. **Redirect type** starts as the link's own. 302 and 307 are temporary types, if you want one.
5. Under **Between** (3), pick the first and the last day of the sale.
6. Set **Priority** (1). Lower numbers are checked first, so give the sale rule a lower number than any other rule on the link, like `5`.
7. Don't select **Add condition**. A rule with no conditions matches every visitor.
8. Select **Save changes**.

Repeat steps 1 to 8 for each deal link.

::: info Note
If you do add a condition, a new one starts as **Clicks** `>=` `0`, which every visitor meets. Change its **Type** and **Value**, or remove it with **Remove condition**, before you save.
:::

[Screenshot: The Routing rules group of the Edit short link dialog with its first rule, marked: 1 Priority, 2 Match when, 3 Between with Start and End still empty, 4 the conditions of this example rule]

The rule works from the next click. Opening the short link records a click like any visitor's, so your test counts too ([Does your own test count as a click?](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link#does-your-own-test-count-as-a-click)).

## Test the rule before the sale starts

Before the first date, the link goes to its normal destination, so there's nothing to see yet. To watch the rule work, set **Between** to include today, save, and test. Then set the real dates and save again.

1. Select the slug in the Short Links list to open the link's report. Select **Copy link**.
2. Open a private window, paste the link and press Enter. You land on the sale page.
3. Reload the report. The top row of **Recent clicks** shows your test click at once. Cards such as the chart can wait for the saved copy to refresh.
4. Set the real **Between** dates and select **Save changes**.

## Track the sale with one campaign

Give every link of the sale the same `utm_campaign` value, like `bfcm_2026`. Then its clicks show together in one campaign report.

1. Edit the link and open **UTM parameters**.
2. Enter `bfcm_2026` in **Campaign (utm_campaign)**. Use lowercase letters, numbers, `_` and `-`.
3. Select **Save changes**.

Link Manager Pro adds the tags to the sale page address too, so the sale destination also receives them. Open Link Manager › Campaigns and select the campaign to read its totals, its channels and each link's clicks.

[Screenshot: At a glance in the report of the campaign Spring Sale 2026, marked: 1 Clicks 1,131 total, 2 the Channels split, facebook / social 53% and google / cpc 47%, 3 Created Oct 20, 2026]

A campaign counts the short links that carry its value, so tag every deal link the same way. [Tag links for a campaign](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/add-utm-parameters) covers the tags in full.

## Share the sale links

Share the short link, not the sale page. In the link's report, the **Share** buttons add `utm_source` set to the network and `utm_medium=social` to the shared address. The email button uses `utm_medium=email`. **QR code** gives a code for print or a video ([Share a link or QR code](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/share-a-link)).

## Which links stop working after the sale?

Don't use the link's own **Expires** date to end a sale for links in your posts. After **Expires**, the short link stops working altogether, and WordPress answers its address as if the link didn't exist ([Create and edit a short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/creating-links#schedule-a-link-with-a-start-and-expiry-date)). A dated routing rule is different: outside its dates the link keeps working and goes to its normal destination.

## What to do after the sale

The rule stops by itself after its last day, so you have nothing to switch off. Delete the rule, or keep it and change its dates for next year. Select **Remove rule** and save to delete it, or turn off its **Active** switch to keep it unused.

Link Health scans a short link's own **Destination URL**, not the destinations of its routing rules. So it won't flag a sale page that went away. Open the sale address yourself if you reuse the rule ([Link Health](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/health-monitoring)).

## Use the same setup for any sale

Prime Day, a holiday sale, a flash sale or a launch all work the same way. Add a routing rule with **Between** dates to each link, and the links in your posts never change. For a flash sale of a few hours, remember that **Between** counts whole days.

## Get more out of it

- Reuse the rule next year. Change its **Between** dates and the campaign value (`bfcm_2026` to `bfcm_2027`), so each year's clicks stay in their own campaign.
- Give the sale rule a lower **Priority** than a country rule. A rule checked first wins, so decide which should win on sale days ([Send visitors by country or device](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/route-visitors)).
- Put each store's own tag in the sale address. Link Manager Pro uses the rule's **Destination URL** as you enter it, and doesn't copy the tag from the link's main destination.
- Keep the normal destination current. Visitors go there before and after the sale.

## If something goes wrong

- If visitors still get the normal page on sale day, then most likely a host or CDN cache is handing out a stored answer. Short link visits are marked not to be cached, but a cache can ignore that ([Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules#what-else-applies-when-a-rule-matches)).
- If the sale starts a day early or late, then check your time zone under **Settings › General** in WordPress. **Between** switches at midnight there.
- If another page opens instead of the sale page, then a rule with a lower **Priority** number may match first. Check the order.
- If the link answers with your 404 page, then check its **Starts** and **Expires** dates.
- If every visitor goes to a rule's destination all year, then check the rule's **Between** dates. A rule with no dates and no conditions always matches.
- If the campaign report shows nothing yet, then check **Recent clicks** in the link's report. The report cards can wait for the saved copy to refresh.

## Related

- [Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules)
- [Campaigns](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/campaigns)
- [Tag links for a campaign](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/add-utm-parameters)
- [Share a link or QR code](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/share-a-link)
- [Manage affiliate links](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/manage-affiliate-links)