Telegram
OmniSocials posts to one Telegram channel or group per workspace, supergroups included. You connect it in Telegram itself: you open the OmniSocials bot, press Start and pick your chat. You don't need a bot token or BotFather. Telegram is included in every plan and doesn't use credits.
In a channel, your posts appear as the channel. In a group, they appear as the OmniSocials bot.
What you can publish
| Format | Details |
|---|---|
| Text | A message of up to 4,096 characters |
| Photo, video or GIF | One file with your text under it. Videos in MP4 or MOV, up to 50 MB. |
| Album | 2 to 10 photos and videos, mixed. GIFs can't be part of an album. |
| Poll | A native Telegram poll. The post text is the question. |
A reel (the Reel post type) goes to Telegram as a video post. Telegram has no Stories, so you can't send a story there. A PDF from your Library is sent as an album of its pages as images.
Text is sent as plain text, so bold and italic aren't available. Telegram makes links, @mentions and #hashtags clickable by itself.
Requirements
- A Telegram channel or group where you are an admin. In a group, your admin rights need to include adding members.
- The Telegram app on your phone or computer, signed in with that admin account.
- The Manage social channels permission in your OmniSocials workspace.
Each workspace connects one Telegram channel or group. The same chat can be connected in more than one workspace.
Connect Telegram
- Click the workspace name at the top of the sidebar, then click the channels button under the workspace. The Channels window opens.
- Under Add a channel, click Telegram.
- In Connect Telegram, click Open Telegram. On another device, click Copy link and open the link there.
- Telegram opens the chat with the OmniSocials bot. Press Start.
- At the bottom of the chat, tap Choose a channel or Choose a group, then pick your chat.
- Telegram adds the bot to the chat for you. In a channel, the bot becomes an admin that can post and edit messages. In a group, it joins as a member.
- The bot replies Connected to and the name of your chat. Go back to OmniSocials: the Channels window shows the new channel.
The link is valid for 15 minutes. If it expires, click Start again in the Channels window for a new one.
OmniSocials checks that you are an admin of the chat you picked and that the bot can post there.
Can't find your channel?
After you press Start, Can't find your channel? appears in the Channels window. Use it when your chat isn't in Telegram's list. First add the bot by hand: open the chat in Telegram and add the OmniSocials bot. In a channel, make it an admin with Post messages. In a group, add it as a member. Then connect the chat in one of these ways:
- Pick it in the Channels window. The chat shows up under Can't find your channel?. Select it and click Connect.
- Type the chat. Enter the @username of the chat, or paste a t.me link to one of its posts, and click Connect. Invite links that start with t.me/+ don't work.
- Forward a post. In Telegram, forward a post from your channel to the OmniSocials bot. The bot connects that channel.
The same checks apply: you need to be an admin of the chat, and the bot needs to be able to post there.
Telegram options in the editor
Click the Telegram icon in the channel bar to see and edit the Telegram version of your post. It looks like a message in your chat: the chat's picture and name at the top, then the message with your media and text, and the buttons under it. Telegram has no eye icon for the preview, because the Telegram version always shows this look.
Telegram's settings are post options. The bar under the editor has chips for Poll, Buttons, Silent, Pin and First comment, and Telegram's page in the options panel has all of them. See Set post options.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Poll | Turns the post into a Telegram poll. See Polls below. |
| Buttons | Adds up to 3 link buttons under the post, one per row. Telegram shows no buttons under an album or a poll. |
| Send silently | Delivers the post without a notification sound. |
| Link preview | Shows a preview card for a link in a post without media. On by default. |
| Protect from forwarding | People can't forward or save the post. |
| Blur media as a spoiler | Blurs the photos, videos and GIFs until someone taps them. |
| Text above the media | Shows your text above the media instead of under it, when the text fits under the media (1,024 characters). |
| Pin in the chat | Pins the post in the chat right after it goes out. |
| First comment | Sends a second message as a reply under the post, in the same chat, without a notification. |
Send silently, Link preview, Protect from forwarding, Blur media as a spoiler and Text above the media are in the Message group of the panel. Pin in the chat and First comment are under After posting.
Pinning in a channel works right away, because the bot can edit messages there. In a group, the bot joins as a member and can't pin. To pin in a group, make the bot an admin with Pin messages in Telegram first. Without that right, the post still goes out, just not pinned.
Polls
- Click the Poll chip, or Poll on Telegram's page in the options panel.
- Turn on Add a poll.
- Fill in 2 to 12 answers.
- Under Runs for, choose Until I close it, 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days or 30 days.
- Turn on Several answers per person to let people pick more than one answer.
The post text is the question. A poll replaces the media, so a post with a poll has no photos or videos, and it can't have buttons. Polls sent from OmniSocials are always anonymous, in channels and in groups.
Long text with media
Telegram allows 1,024 characters of text under a photo, video or album. When your text is longer, OmniSocials sends the media first and the full text as a reply under it, without a notification. Buttons then go under that reply. The editor shows the two messages the same way.
Forum groups
In a group with topics, posts go to the General topic. You can't pick another topic.
Limits
| Limit | |
|---|---|
| Text without media | 4,096 characters. Most emoji count as 2. |
| Text with media | 1,024 characters under the media. Longer text goes as a reply. |
| Album | 2 to 10 photos and videos |
| Photo files | Up to 10 MB as they are. Larger photos (up to 40 MB) and formats other than JPEG and PNG, such as WebP, are converted to JPEG first. |
| Video and GIF files | Up to 50 MB |
| Poll | The question (your text) up to 300 characters, 2 to 12 answers of up to 100 characters each |
| Buttons | Up to 3, with a label of up to 64 characters and a link that starts with https://, http:// or tg:// |
| First comment | 4,096 characters |
A post needs text, media or a poll.
Analytics
Telegram reports these numbers to OmniSocials:
- Reactions on each post, in total and per emoji. They arrive within minutes. On the post's page, click Preview to see them per emoji under the post.
- Poll votes for each answer.
- Subscribers: the members of your channel or group, checked once a day. Analytics shows them as Subscribers.
Telegram doesn't give view counts to bots, so views show N/A with the note "Telegram does not give view counts to bots. Open the post in Telegram to see its views." Reach, shares, clicks and engagement rate aren't available for Telegram either.
In a group, reactions only reach OmniSocials when the bot is an admin. Make it an admin in Telegram to count them.
Edit or delete a sent post
You can't edit a post after it's sent to Telegram. Draft and scheduled posts can be changed until they go out.
To remove a sent post from Telegram:
- Open the post's page.
- In the Telegram row of the table, open the menu at the end of the row and click Delete from Telegram.
This removes every message of the post, including an album, the long-text reply and the first comment. Telegram allows it within 48 hours of sending. After that, delete the post in Telegram yourself.
Repost to Telegram
A repost automation can copy the posts of another channel, such as Instagram, into your Telegram channel or group. See Repost your posts with automations. Telegram can be a destination, not a source.
Troubleshooting
Telegram needs to be reconnected. The bot was removed from the chat, lost its right to post, or was muted in the group. OmniSocials shows a Reconnect banner and sends you one email. Posts to Telegram fail with "Your Telegram channel needs to be reconnected in OmniSocials." Add the bot back to the chat (in a channel, as an admin with Post messages) and the warning clears. You can also reconnect Telegram in the Channels window.
The buttons didn't appear after you pressed Start. Send /start to the OmniSocials bot again and the Choose a channel and Choose a group buttons come back.
Your chat isn't in Telegram's list. Telegram only lists the chats where you are an admin with the rights the bot needs. Check your admin rights, or use Can't find your channel?.
The link expired. Each link works for 15 minutes. Click Start again in the Channels window.
The post went out but isn't pinned. In a group, the bot needs the Pin messages right. Make it an admin with that right in Telegram.
Your group became a supergroup. OmniSocials follows the change by itself. You don't need to reconnect.
You disconnected Telegram, but the bot is still in the chat. Disconnecting removes the chat from your workspace, not the bot from the chat. Remove the bot in Telegram.