Once you have completed registering your bot token with the Modr8 platform you can now activate a chat for your bot to manage.
Modr8 powered bots can manage any number of chats and there are benefits to registering multiple chats all to the same bot. To checkout our global & multi-chat features read the guide here.
To ensure the correct chats are registered to Modr8 and you do not have random users spamming your bot in channels/chats you do not know about we require you, the bot owner or a team member to execute a /activate command in a chat you wish to register.
Read on to find out the exact steps of getting your chat registered with Modr8.
Quick Instructions
Here's a quick overview of the process to activating your first and any subsequent chats.
Add your registered bot to your chat
Set your bot as an admin with the permissions to "Delete Messages", "Ban Users", "Pin Messages" & "Add New Admins"
Run the command /activate in your chat
Login to the Modr8 platform and select "Manage Bot"
Select to begin a if your chat is above 100 members.
You can not activate a chat whilst you are set as an anonymous admin. Telegram does not send us the required information to identify you as an owner. Once activated, feel free to switch back to anonymous!
Full Guide To Chat Activation
Activating your first and any number of chats and channels all follow the same process. We require the bot owner or a team member that is an admin of the current chat to be able to register it on the platform.
Adding Your Bot As An Administrator
First we need to add your bot as an admin to your chat, if you have already done this then you can skip to the next section. If you bot is not an administrator of your chat it is unable to moderate and in most cases it will be unresponsive due to not being able to read messages in your chat due to Telegram privacy settings.
On telegram, In your group select the title of the chat in the main window which will open up the group information page
If using desktop, select the 3 dots symbol first to bring up the "Edit group" page. If using mobile you will normally have this page already opened for you.
Select "Administrators"
On mobile select "Add Admin" and click the Magnifying glass icon. On desktop select the "Add Administrator" button at the bottom of the pop-up.
Type the username of your bot including the @ symbol e.g. @MySuperCoolBot
Select your bot from the search list - if on desktop you may need to confirm that you wish to add them to the group and make them an admin.
The "What can this admin do / Admin rights" page will pop-up. You will need to set as a minimum the following permissions for your bot to work correctly:
Delete messages - To delete spam messages and clean up its own messages
Ban users - To kick and ban users at a chat / global level
Invite users via link - To allow the referral module to work
Pin messages - To allow /pin & /unpin commands to work
Add new admins - To allow the /promote /demote commands to work.
Your bot will now be an admin of your chat and can read messages being sent to it.
Activating / Registering Your Chat
Now your bot is an administrator it can read messgaes in the chat and the bot owner or a team member can activate the chat.
You are all set! The chat will be showing the settings, announcements, commands and other buttons ready for you to configure your chat settings.
During activation, the Modr8 bot runs a series of checks to ensure it has the correct permissions and the person running the /activate command has the required access to register the chat. In some circumstances you will receive feedback from the bot about items that need to be addressed. The following section will list the various types of messages and actions to take.
We do not allow first activation to be executed by an anonymous group admin.
If you are set as an anonymous admin in your chat then Telegram bot server does not send us any information to be able to identify whether you are the bot owner.
Action To Take: To be able to /activate correctly you will need to temporarily turn off the anonymous admin setting.
On telegram, In your group select the title of the chat in the main window which will open up the group information page
If using desktop, select the 3 dots symbol first to bring up the "Edit group" page. If using mobile you will normally have this page already opened for you.
Select "Administrators" and select your username
In the "Permissions" section turn off "Remain Anonymous"
Command can only be used by the bot owner or those registered as team members.
To ensure your bot is not being added to a chat without your knowledge as well as being spammed by rogue users who may be trying to rate-limit your bot with Telegram we only allow the bot owner (the person who registered it on our site) and team members (those who have joined a team on our site) to run the /activate command.
Action To Take: You can go with any of the following options to activate your chat.
Ensure you are running the /activate command as the owner of the bot
Ensure you have joined the team on our website to run the /activate command if you are not the bot owner
Contact the owner or a team member to activate the chat for you
You must add the bot as an Administrator to use this command.
If your bot is not an admin then it is often the case that Telegram privacy settings for bots does not allow the it to see messages in your chat and will not activate correctly.
It can also be the case that you did make the bot an admin but due to converting to a supergroup all telegram bots are demoted and need to be promoted to admin again, very annoying.
Action To Take: Promote your bot back to being an admin of the chat. Follow our guide here to do so.
Many bot functions will not work unless you convert the chat to a Supergroup.
When you create a group for the first time it is known as a "normal group". Once your chat grows to a certain size or when you make it public and enable chat history Telegram in the background converts the "normal group" into a "Supergroup". As a Telegram user you probably didn't know this happens!
Certain moderation features are only available for Supergroup chats and the Modr8 platform uses many of these for restricting new users and spammers.
Supergroups were released in 2016 but when any new group is created it does not automatically become a Supergroup, it has to first be converted.
Action To Take:
There are 5 ways in which a group can be upgraded to a Supergroup, they are:
Making the group public with its own @Username or public link.
Changing group chat history visibility from hidden to visible.
Restricting a member e.g. Ban.
Changing default admin permissions e.g. change any setting such as pin messages.
Group members reach 196 or more.
You can check if your group is already a Supergroup by typing /debug in your chat. If the chat ID begins with -100, then it is a Supergroup, otherwise it is just a normal group and you should execute one of the 5 listed options above to convert it.
How do I turn my group into a "Supergroup"?
Certain moderation features are only available for Supergroup chats and the Modr8 platform uses many of these for restricting new users and spammers.
Supergroups were released in 2016 but when any new group is created it does not automatically become a Supergroup, it has to first be converted.
Action To Take:
There are 5 ways in which a group can be upgraded to a Supergroup, they are:
Making the group public with its own @Username or public link.
Changing group chat history visibility from hidden to visible.
Restricting a member e.g. Ban.
Changing default admin permissions e.g. change any setting such as pin messages.
Group members reach 196 or more.
You can check if your group is already a Supergroup by typing /debug in your chat. If the chat ID begins with -100, then it is a Supergroup, otherwise it is just a normal group and you should execute one of the 5 listed options above to convert it.
What are the minimum permissions required for my bot as an admin?
You will need to set as a minimum the following permissions for your bot to work correctly:
Delete messages - To delete spam messages and clean up its own messages
Ban users - To kick and ban users at a chat / global level
Invite users via link - To allow the referral module to work
Pin messages - To allow /pin & /unpin commands to work
Add new admins - To allow the /promote /demote commands to work.
My bot is not responding to the /activate command... help!
There can be a few reasons why this happens, we suggest you check for the following items.
Ensure your bot is still an Admin of your chat - sometimes it can be demoted.
Ensure you have added the correct bot to the chat. As Telegram is very popular often people make lots of bots with similar names.
Ensure you have registered your bot with the Modr8 platform. Check our guide here if you aren't sure on what to do.
The bot says it can not activate as I am an anonymous admin
To be able to /activate correctly you will need to temporarily turn off the anonymous admin setting.
On telegram, In your group select the title of the chat in the main window which will open up the group information page
If using desktop, select the 3 dots symbol first to bring up the "Edit group" page. If using mobile you will normally have this page already opened for you.
Select "Administrators" and select your username
In the "Permissions" section turn off "Remain Anonymous"
Click "Save" on desktop and the mark on mobile.
Actions To Take If Activation Does Not Work
FAQ & Troubleshooting
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An Activated Chat On The Modr8 Platform - Settings & Other Actions Available
