Manually Attribute a Transaction

Manual attribution is one of Siren’s engagement trigger types, just like site visits, coupon codes, and form submissions. The difference is that a person initiates it rather than a customer action.

Sometimes a collaborator drives a sale that Siren’s automatic tracking doesn’t capture. Maybe the customer called in to place an order, or the referral happened through a channel that isn’t tracked, or the customer cleared their cookies before purchasing. When this happens, you can manually attribute the transaction to the collaborator who deserves credit.

How manual attribution works

Manual attribution takes an existing transaction and runs it through the full attribution pipeline as if the collaborator had referred the customer. If the transaction doesn’t exist in Siren yet (because it happened outside of your commerce plugin), you’ll need to create it manually first. Siren creates an opportunity, triggers engagements for each of the collaborator’s active programs, and then creates conversions and obligations based on the program rules.

This is not the same as manually creating a conversion record. Manual attribution uses the real pipeline, which means program rules, program groups, incentive calculations, and line item filters all apply normally. The only difference is that a person initiated the attribution instead of a referral link or coupon code.

Attributing from the WordPress admin

The Transactions screen in the Siren admin has a built-in bulk action for manual attribution.

You can attribute multiple transactions at once. This is useful when catching up on a batch of orders that weren’t tracked, like phone orders or orders placed through a channel that doesn’t have integration support.

Attributing through the API

Manual attribution is also available through the REST API using the Credit Collaborator endpoint on the Transactions API. This triggers the same full pipeline as the admin bulk action and is useful for integrating manual attribution into custom workflows or external tools.

When to use manual attribution

Manual attribution is the right tool when a real transaction exists but automatic tracking missed the referral. Common situations include orders placed by phone or email where the customer mentioned a collaborator, orders where the customer’s tracking cookie expired before they purchased, sales that happened through a channel Siren doesn’t track (like an in-person event), and corrections when a referral was attributed to the wrong collaborator and needs to be reassigned.

If you need to pay a collaborator for something that isn’t tied to a transaction at all, like a signing bonus or a negotiated flat payment, creating an obligation directly may be more appropriate than manual attribution.

What happens after attribution

Once you attribute a transaction, the conversion and obligation follow the normal lifecycle. The conversion starts in a pending state and needs to be approved (unless your program has auto-approval enabled). After approval, the obligation is created with the calculated reward amount based on the program’s incentive structure. The obligation then waits for inclusion in a fulfillment like any other payout.

If the collaborator is enrolled in multiple programs, manual attribution can create multiple conversions and obligations from the same transaction, just like automatic attribution would.