Guide to Custom Messages

In 2015, we added alerts to celebrate your subscription anniversaries. When Subscribers first subscribe, a message will appear in chat for the broadcaster and community to see! Now, when they renew their channel subscription, Subscribers have the option of sending a personal message in chat for the broadcaster and community to see! The custom resubscription feature makes every anniversary alerts a little more personal. This message will show up in chat which means it is visible to all viewers, and may also show via any enabled third party notification services.

Index (click to jump):


 * How to: for Subscribers
 * How to: for Partners, Affiliates and Moderators
 * How to: for Developers
 * Frequently Asked Questions

For Subscribers
Now when you subscribe and resubscribe, you will have the option of sending a shout-out to the streamer you are supporting. Not only will your message be highlighted with a different background skin in chat for all to see, it will pop up on-screen if the overlays are enabled by the broadcaster!

How an automatic subscription message is sent:


 * When you purchase a subscription, an automatic chat notification will be sent to the chat.
 * Feel free to enter another message in chat after the notification to see your shiny new subscription badge!

How to send a custom resubscription message:


 * When your subscription renews, you will see a banner at the top of the chat for that channel (unless you are currently timed out or banned in the channel). Click the banner's Share button. You have up to 30 days to Share.
 * Next, put in a custom message in text box and hit enter once you are ready to share.

HELPFUL HINT

You will have up to 255 characters to share your own sub hype to the streamer you are watching. And, yes emotes are supported!

How to send a resubscription alert without a custom message:


 * When your subscription renews, you will see a banner at the top of the chat for that channel (unless you are currently timed out or banned in the channel). Click the banner's Share button.
 * Next, simply hit enter to send the alert with the generic message.

If you do not wish to send a resubscription alert for the duration of the viewing session (i.e. until the browser is closed and reopened), click the "X" in the top right corner of the resub banner to dismiss it.

For Partners, Affiliates and Moderators
Now when a viewer renews their channel sub, they will also have the option of sending a custom shout-out to you. This message will be highlighted in chat, and pop up as an alert on-screen, if enabled by your 3rd party extensions. With resubs offering the opportunity for more broadcaster/sub interaction, these custom shout-outs will not only encourage more people to stay subscribed, but also take the plunge and become a first-time subscriber as well.

Custom resubscriptions come with moderation options to ensure better control over resub messages that your community can send and view.

Ways to ensure unwanted resubscription messages are removed:


 * If you use overlays, your overlay provider may have a way for you to dismiss these messages or to preview these messages before they show up on stream.
 * All custom messages will follow banned words lists already in place (global and channel).
 * Banned and timed out users will only be able to send a non-custom resubscription alert (users who were banned prior to their viewing session/opening of your channel page on their browser will not see the resubscription banner at all).
 * You can also moderate these messages or have your moderators do so for you in the same manner as regular chat messages. Remove by clicking on the user and selecting the timeout or ban symbol or by typing /timeout seconds in the chat box to purge the message, or /ban username to ban the user from the channel.

For additional support, please go to twitch.tv/help and to submit a help request from there.

Partners: If you log in, your partner status will be noted

For Developers
As a third party extension developer currently providing subscription notification alerts, you can choose whether you want to pick up the custom message as part of the subscription notification tool. For further information on how to do this, please see this documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

 * Q. Will my Twitch Team subscription offer a custom option?
 * A. This feature does not support Twitch Team subscriptions.
 * Q. How does this work with existing Twitch moderation tools?
 * A. All custom resub messages obey existing global and channel banned word lists. These messages are also able to be moderated by the channel owner and their moderators (see the How to: for Partners and Affiliates above).
 * Q. Are there any limits on what a subscriber can write and share on their anniversary?
 * A. Yes. Every time a subscriber renews, they can send one message per month, per channel sub. All messages are maxed at 255 characters and follow banned words you have in place.
 * Q. Will this work with my 3rd party overlays?
 * A. In building this feature, we wanted it to be compatible with your existing tools. We have been working with the third party developer community to integrate these new messages with the overlays that power your stream. If your extension developer needs guidance, please advise them to review this documentation.
 * Q. What if I am banned/timed out? Will my custom message still show?
 * A. If you are banned or timed out upon entering the stream, you will not see the banner at all. If you have been timed out or banned after entering the stream but your status is banned or timed out at moment of sharing your resubscription alert, the notification will be shared without the custom input.