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When to add a subscriber manually

Use Create Subscriber when you need one contact in ChatSyncs right now and importing a whole file is overkill. Example: Priya calls your shop asking about pricing before she’s ever sent your WhatsApp number a message. You want her in ChatSyncs immediately — labeled as a Lead, with a quote template ready to send — instead of waiting for her to message the bot first. Other common cases: a walk-in customer, a lead from a phone call or in-person event, or someone you want to enroll in a Sequence in advance. For more than a handful of contacts, How Do I Import Subscribers Using a CSV File? or How Do I Import Subscribers from Google Sheets? is faster and less error-prone.

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Comparison: which import method fits?

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Create a subscriber

Options dropdown with Create Subscriber highlighted

Options dropdown with Create Subscriber highlighted.

1

Open Options → Create Subscriber

From the Subscriber Manager list, open Options, then Create Subscriber.
2

Enter the subscriber's Name

Type their name into the Name field, e.g. Priya Sharma.
3

Enter the subscriber's Phone Number

Type the number in the exact format below — see the Warning.
4

Save

Click Save — the subscriber appears in the list immediately.
The Create Subscriber form only asks for two fields: Name and Phone Number.
Enter the phone number with the country code and no plus sign or spaces — e.g. 91 followed directly by the number, like 919876543210, not +91 9876543210 or 91 98765 43210. ChatSyncs matches subscribers by this exact number format, so an inconsistent format can create a duplicate subscriber instead of updating the existing one.
Expected result: The new subscriber appears in the Subscriber Manager list right away, with the same status and filters as any imported or bot-acquired subscriber — ready to be labeled, messaged, or enrolled in a Sequence.

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What to do right after creating one

A manually-created subscriber starts with just a name and phone number — nothing else. Common next steps:
  • Add a label — select them in the list and use Options → Assign Label (e.g. Lead, Walk-in) so they show up in filtered lists and broadcasts. See Create a label if the label doesn’t exist yet.
  • Fill in a custom field — open their profile from the list and add data like city, email, or company under the Custom Fields tab, one field at a time.
  • Enroll them in a Sequence — use Options → Assign Sequence to start one right away (see How to Build Automatic Follow-Up Chatbots on WhatsApp) without waiting for them to trigger it themselves.
  • Send them a message — since they haven’t messaged you first, you’re outside the 24-hour customer service window, so your first message to them must be an approved Message Template.
The Create Subscriber modal only takes a Name and Phone Number — there’s no custom field input at creation time. To fill in a custom field for a manually-created subscriber, either add it from their profile afterward, or bring them in through How Do I Import Subscribers Using a CSV File? or How Do I Import Subscribers from Google Sheets? instead, where extra columns become custom fields automatically at the moment of import.

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Frequently asked

Country code directly followed by the number, with no +, spaces, or other punctuation — e.g. 919876543210 for an Indian number. See the Warning above.
For one or two contacts at a time — a walk-in, a phone lead, someone you want in the system before they’ve messaged the bot. For more than a handful, bulk import is faster and less error-prone.
You could, but you shouldn’t — it’s slow and easy to mistype a number. Use How Do I Import Subscribers Using a CSV File? or How Do I Import Subscribers from Google Sheets? instead for anything beyond a handful of contacts.
Yes — labels, custom fields, and other details can be updated from their profile at any time, the same as any other subscriber.
No — the Create Subscriber modal only takes Name and Phone Number. Add custom field data afterward from the subscriber’s profile, or import them via CSV/Google Sheet instead, where extra columns are picked up as custom fields automatically.
ChatSyncs matches subscribers by the exact number format it expects. An inconsistent format (missing country code, added +, extra spaces) risks creating a duplicate subscriber instead of finding the existing one.
Only with an approved Message Template. Since they haven’t messaged you first, there’s no open 24-hour service window yet — a free-form text reply won’t deliver until they reply to a template and open one. See Creating a WhatsApp Message Template.
ChatSyncs matches by the exact phone number format. If it matches an existing subscriber, that record is what gets found and used going forward — but only if the format is identical (same country code, no +, no spaces). A mismatched format creates a separate duplicate instead.