Squad Affiliate installs like any other WordPress plugin. It needs WordPress 6.4 or later and PHP 8.1 or later, and it runs on any theme — Divi is optional and only unlocks the two native Divi 5 modules.
From the dashboard
- Go to Plugins → Add New.
- Search for Squad Affiliate.
- Click Install Now, then Activate.
From a ZIP
Use this for the Pro build, which is not distributed through WordPress.org:
- Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
- Choose the ZIP and click Install Now.
- Click Activate Plugin.
Pro is an add-on, not a replacement. It requires the free plugin to be installed and active, and the two run side by side — so uninstalling Pro leaves a working programme rather than a broken one.
What activation creates
Activation creates the custom tables the programme runs on and adds a Squad Affiliate item to your admin menu. Referral and visit data lives in its own tables rather than in post meta, which is what keeps a programme doing real volume from slowing the site down: a hundred thousand visits is a hundred thousand narrow rows, not half a million wp_postmeta entries competing with your content.
Nothing is switched on yet
A fresh install tracks nothing until you have an affiliate, and pays nothing until you build a payout batch. That is deliberate — activating a plugin should not start moving money.