Telegram

Configure the OwlStack WordPress plugin to publish posts to your Telegram channels and groups.

Prerequisites

Before configuring the plugin, you need a Telegram bot and a target channel or group.

Creating a Telegram Bot

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
Send /newbot and follow the prompts to choose a name and username
Copy the API token provided by BotFather
Add your bot as an administrator to your target channel or group

Bot Permissions

Your bot must be an admin of the target channel/group to send messages. If using a private channel, use the channel's numeric chat ID instead of the username.

Settings

Navigate to OwlStack > Telegram in the WordPress admin.

Field	Description
Bot API Token	The token from @BotFather (e.g., `123456:ABC-DEF...`)
Bot Username	Your bot's username, starting with `@` (e.g., `@YourBot`)
Channel Username	The target channel or group username, starting with `@` (e.g., `@your_channel`)
Channel Signature	Optional text appended to every message (e.g., your brand name)
Parse Mode	Message formatting: `HTML`, `Markdown`, or `MarkdownV2`

Step-by-step

Go to OwlStack > Telegram in your WordPress admin
Paste your Bot API Token from @BotFather
Enter the Bot Username (e.g., @MyOwlBot)
Enter the Channel Username (e.g., @my_channel)
Optionally set a Channel Signature to brand your messages
Choose a Parse Mode (defaults to HTML)
Click Save Settings

Testing

After saving your settings, use the built-in testing tools:

Click Test Connection to verify your bot token is valid and the channel is reachable
Click Send Test Message to publish a sample message to your channel
Check your Telegram channel to confirm the message arrived

Publishing

Once configured, Telegram appears as a toggle in the OwlStack meta box on post edit screens.

Auto-publish

When auto-publish is enabled, new posts are automatically sent to Telegram when they transition to publish status.

Manual publish

Use the Publish Now button in the OwlStack meta box to send a post to Telegram on demand.

Programmatic publishing

// Simple text message
owlstack()->telegram('Hello from WordPress!');

// With an image attachment
owlstack()->telegram('Check out this photo!', [
    'type' => 'photo',
    'url'  => 'https://example.com/image.jpg',
]);

// With inline keyboard buttons
owlstack()->telegram('Visit our site', null, [
    [['text' => 'Open Website', 'url' => 'https://example.com']],
]);

// Override the target channel
owlstack()->telegram('Hello!', null, null, [
    'chat_id' => '@another_channel',
]);

Constraints

Constraint	Value
Max text length	4,096 characters
Max caption length	1,024 characters
Max media per group	10
Supported media types	JPEG, PNG, GIF, MP4, OGG
Supported parse modes	HTML, Markdown, MarkdownV2

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Unauthorized" error	Verify your Bot API Token is correct
"Chat not found"	Ensure the bot is an admin of the channel/group
Messages not appearing	Check the Channel Username starts with `@`
Formatting broken	Switch Parse Mode to `HTML` for most reliable results

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