Telegram Messenger is quite popular, more than you might think. It’s not yet on the same level as WhatsApp due to only amassing 550 million monthly users, and 55 million daily users on a consistent basis. Now, one of the best features of Telegram is the ability to use Bots to improve the service.
What are bots?
OK, so Bots in Telegram are basically glorified third-party chat apps that, in many instances, can improve the service a great deal. For example, if you are a regular Trello user, it is possible to take advantage of the Trello Bot to create new cards for a specific board via Telegram itself.
How to create a Telegram bot?
Creating a bot is not hard, though it all depends on the nature of the bot. You will likely have to need coding experience to get the job done if you’re looking to create advanced bots.
- Open the Telegram app on your computer
- Connect to BotFather
- Select the New Bot option
- Give your bot a name
- Choose a username for your bot
- Congrats your bot is now created
1] Open the Telegram app on your computer
The first thing you need to do here is to launch Telegram if it hasn’t been opened already. You should find the icon on the Desktop or from within the Start Menu. Depending on your settings, you may have to add a password to gain access to your account.
2] Connect to BotFather
The next step, then, is to connect directly to BotFather. To do this, click in the search box at the top-left corner of Telegram. Once you’ve done that, search for BotFather and select it from the menu. To connect, hit the Start button at the bottom of the screen.
3] Select the New Bot option
After clicking on the Start button, you should now see a wall of text along with a list of commands you can use. The only command that makes sense right now is /newbot, so go ahead and select it.
4] Give your bot a name
BotFather will now request you give your new bot a name. To do this, simply type the name in the message box, then hit the Enter key.
5] Choose a username for your bot
Adding a name for your bot is one thing, but you must now add a username. Do this by typing the name in the text box and hit Enter. Bear in mind that in order for the username to be registered, it must end with the word, bot. For example, TWCbot, or TWC_bot.
6] Congrats your bot is now created
After creating your bot username, BotFather will provide a unique token for accessing the HTTP API. Copy the token and keep it safe since you will need it in the future.
What can you do with bots?
You can create a Bot designed to accept payments from Telegram users or integrate services with Telegram as we’ve pointed out above. Not only that, but you can use a bot to create single or multiplayer games in HTML5, among other things.
What is BotFather?
If you’re a developer who has dabbled with Telegram in the past, then certainly you’ve heard of BotFather. From what we have come to understand, BotFather is the one bot to rule them all. You will have to go through it in order to create new bots and change the settings of existing ones.
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