Manual Attribution
When an admin manually attributes a transaction to a collaborator, the Manual Attribution event is triggered.
Last updated: April 9, 2026
When automatic tracking misses a referral, an admin can manually attribute a transaction to a collaborator. This triggers the Manual Attribution event, which creates engagements for each of the collaborator’s active programs that have the manual trigger enabled.
Unlike other engagement events that fire automatically when a customer does something (clicks a link, uses a coupon, submits a form), manual attribution is initiated by a person through the Siren admin or the REST API. The pipeline that follows is the same. Engagements are created, programs evaluate whether a conversion should be awarded, and obligations are calculated based on the program’s incentive structure.
Admin Credits a Transaction
An admin selects one or more transactions and attributes them to a collaborator, either through the Transactions bulk action in WordPress or the REST API.
Opportunity Created
Siren creates an opportunity to represent this attribution event, connecting the collaborator to the transaction.
Engagements Created
For each active program the collaborator is enrolled in that has the manual trigger enabled, an engagement is created.
Engagement Points Added
Points get added to each engagement, depending on the value set for the manual trigger in each program.
Conversions Created
The system evaluates the engagements and creates conversions for qualifying programs, just as it would for any other attribution event.
When to enable the manual trigger
Enable the manual attribution trigger on programs where you might need to handle sales that happen outside of normal tracking channels. Common situations include phone or email orders where the customer mentions a collaborator, orders where the customer’s tracking cookie expired before purchasing, sales that happened through a channel Siren doesn’t track (like an in-person event), and corrections when attribution was missed or assigned incorrectly.
Programs that only use automated tracking (referral links, coupon codes) don’t need this trigger enabled. Keeping it disabled prevents accidental manual attribution on programs where it wouldn’t make sense.
How to attribute a transaction
For step-by-step instructions on attributing transactions from the WordPress admin or via the API, see the manual conversions getting-started guide.