Guide: Open a contact
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/people/open-a-contact
Topic: People
Time: about 3 minutes
Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox/people
Result when done: One person's profile, what they gave you and where, their reply window, tags, fields and runs, in one drawer.
Context: Open anyone on People and their contact opens in a drawer: name, username, email and phone, whether they follow you, followers, first seen and last active. Each email or phone keeps where it came from (when it was given, on which automation, and the question they answered). Below: their tags and fields, the reply window with why it is open or closed, what happened to them, and a door into the thread.

Before you start:
1. A teammate can correct a typed email or phone; the original is kept beside it.
2. Forget deletes a person's name, email and phone; their runs stay without a name.
3. Tags and fields here are the same as in the inbox and in your flows.

Steps:
Step 1 of 6: Open a contact.
Where: People, then click a person's row. Their contact opens in a drawer over the list.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox/people (Open People)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people.en.webp (Click a person's row.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-phone.en.webp (Tap a person's row.)
You should see: The drawer, headed by their username, with their name, whether they follow you and their followers under it.

Step 2 of 6: Read who they are and what they gave you.
Where: Contact: Name, Username, Email, Phone, Follows you, Followers, First seen and Last active. Under an email or phone they gave, a line says when and through which automation: Given on, the date, the automation (and the question they answered, when one asked for it). The arrows at the top of the drawer step to the previous and the next person without closing it.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact.en.webp (The Contact section: who they are, and what they gave you.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: What they gave you and where it came from. To fix a typo, use the pencil on the Email or Phone row (on a computer it appears when you point at the row); the original is kept.

Step 3 of 6: Edit their tags.
Where: Tags: type in Add a tag to add one; the × on a tag removes it.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact.en.webp (Tags on the contact, and Add a tag.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Saved at once; flows and conditions read it from the next run.

Step 4 of 6: Edit their fields.
Where: Fields lists each custom field with its value, Empty when there is none; click a value to change it (one that does not fit the field's type is refused, with why).
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact.en.webp (Fields on the contact.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact-more-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Saved at once; any message can use the value and any Condition can check it.

Step 5 of 6: Check whether you can still write to them.
Where: Reply window says Open with the hours left, or Closed, Waiting on them, In their requests, Asked to stop or Unreachable, and under it why, in a sentence.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact.en.webp (The reply window, and why it is open.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact-more-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Why the window is open or closed, and until when a message can go out.

Step 6 of 6: See what happened, or open the thread.
Where: What happened lists the automations that ran for them, with the date and the outcome; See their runs opens them on the Runs page. Open the thread, at the foot of the drawer, opens the chat in Messages.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact.en.webp (What happened, and Open the thread under it.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-people-contact-end-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: Their runs, or the conversation itself.

If something is off:
Problem: Unreachable
Fix: Meta answered that this person cannot receive messages: they blocked the page or are no longer on the platform.
Problem: In their requests
Fix: They do not follow you, so the private reply sits in their Requests folder. Instagram does not report whether it was seen.
Problem: That is not an email address
Fix: A correction must be a valid email (or phone number). Check it and save again.

Common questions:
Question: Can I see where an email address came from?
Answer: Yes. Each collected email or phone shows the date, the automation that asked, and the question they answered when there was one.
Question: How do I delete a contact's details?
Answer: Forget, on the contact. Their name, email and phone are deleted; their runs stay without a name, their messages stay on Meta's side, and if they write again they are a new person.
Question: Can my team fix a mistyped email?
Answer: Yes. Edit the Email or Phone row on the contact; the fix is saved and the original is kept.

Related guides:
- Find anyone your automations talked to: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/people/find-anyone-your-automations-talked-to
- Custom fields: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/people/custom-fields
- The contact panel: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/messages/the-contact-panel

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/people/open-a-contact.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt