# Check the live link and pay the publisher

Check the published article, pass or fail it, pay the publisher's invoice, and record the payment.

## What "live" means

A link is live when you opened the published URL and found the article, your link, its anchor text and its
`rel`. `sponsored` and `ugc` are normal on paid placements. Only `nofollow` is an issue. A status field alone is
not proof.

## Check the live article

When the publisher sends the live URL, the status becomes `published_url_submitted`.

- **Yourself:** open the page and look for the link, as above. This is free.
- **Linkio's check:** `workflow_verify_publication` with the published URL. It checks that the page is live, the
  anchor text is right and the page meets the guidelines. The results are in `workflow_read`, on the
  publication-verification step. It is a paid check. In the app it is **Verify Live Article** on the
  **Verification** tab of the row.

## Pass or fail it

- **In the app:** on the **Verification** tab, select **QA PASS** if the link is correct. Select
  **QA FAIL (Notify Publisher)** if it is not, and write what the publisher must fix.
- **With an agent:** `line_item_qa_decision` with `outcome: pass`, or `outcome: fail` and `feedback` (one issue
  per line). The agent calls it only after you decided.

A pass moves the placement to `payment_pending`. A fail moves it to `qa_failed` and emails your feedback to the
publisher. With a fail, `requestTakedown: true` asks the publisher to remove the article.

## Pay the publisher

You pay each publisher directly. Linkio does not move this money.

1. Find the invoice. `account_publisher_invoices_list` lists the publisher invoices on your orders: publisher,
   site, amount, payment link, pending or paid. In the app they are on
   https://www.linkio.com/account/publisher-payments.
2. Pay it yourself, with the publisher's payment link (**Pay Now** on the invoice page).
3. Record the payment. In the app select **Mark as Paid**. With an agent: `account_publisher_invoice_mark_paid`
   with the `invoiceId`, the `paymentMethod` and the `paymentReference`. The agent records it when you say you
   paid. No money moves and the publisher is not emailed.

No invoice because you paid the publisher another way? Pass `lineItemId` instead of `invoiceId`, with
`paymentMethod` and `paymentReference`, and optionally `paidAt` and `amount`.

`account_publisher_invoice_mark_paid` refuses:

- an item that has a pending invoice when you pass `lineItemId`: mark the invoice instead;
- a closed placement (`ITEM_CLOSED`): reopen it first with `line_item_reopen`, if the seller did publish it;
- a managed order: Linkio pays those publishers.

## The invoice is not the agreed price

With your agent or the API.

The agreed price is the price you and the publisher agreed. Change it with `line_item_agreed_price_set`
(`priceCents` and a `reason`):

- An increase applies at once.
- A decrease before the publisher sent the published URL applies at once.
- A decrease after that needs the publisher's message that agrees it (`proofMessageId`, from
  `line_item_conversation_read`, in the last 30 days). Without it, the new price waits as a proposal.

Open invoices take the new amount. If the publisher's PayPal or Payoneer link asks for the old amount, ask the
publisher for a new invoice.