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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

Subscriber Manager Export/Import dropdown open with Add a Subscriber highlighted, alongside Export all as CSV and Import from CSV
1

Open Export/Import → Add a Subscriber

From the Subscriber Manager list, open Export/Import, then Add a 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.
Create Subscribers modal with Name set to Rahul and Phone Number filled in, and the Save button highlighted
The Create Subscribers modal 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.
Subscriber Manager list with the new subscriber selected, showing their profile panel with Overview, Agent, Labels, Lists, Sequences, Input Flows, Custom Fields, and Notes tabs
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 in ChatSyncs) 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.