Description
L3 – Live Chat via Telegram adds a floating chat widget to your website. Visitor messages are forwarded to your Telegram bot, and when you reply to a message in Telegram, the answer is shown back to the visitor on the site — no third-party SaaS, no monthly fees.
Features
- Floating chat widget, compatible with any theme (isolated styles)
- Visitor messages delivered straight to your Telegram bot
- Reply from Telegram — answers appear on the site in real time
- Automatic chat id linking — just press Start in your bot
- Pre-chat name field
- Customizable texts, colors and backgrounds, with a live preview
- Optional support avatar in the chat header
- Optional sound notification on new replies
- Translations: English, Russian, Ukrainian
How it works
- Create a bot via @BotFather and paste its token in the settings.
- Press Connect — the plugin verifies the bot and registers a Telegram webhook.
- Open your bot and press Start — your chat id is captured automatically.
- Visitors chat on the site; you reply from Telegram by using “Reply” on their message.
A public HTTPS URL is required for the Telegram webhook to work.
External services
This plugin connects to the Telegram Bot API (https://api.telegram.org) — a third-party service provided by Telegram — to send and receive chat messages.
When is data sent:
- When a visitor sends a message in the chat widget, the message text and the visitor’s chosen name are sent to the Telegram Bot API so the message can be delivered to the site owner’s Telegram chat.
- When the site owner replies in Telegram, the plugin’s webhook endpoint receives the reply text from the Telegram Bot API and stores it so it can be shown to the visitor.
- During setup, the bot token is sent to the Telegram Bot API to verify the bot and register the webhook.
No data is sent to any service other than Telegram, and nothing is sent until you configure a bot token and connect it.
Telegram Terms of Service: https://telegram.org/tos
Telegram Privacy Policy: https://telegram.org/privacy
Screenshots
Installation
- Upload the plugin to the
/wp-content/plugins/l3-live-chat-via-telegramdirectory, or install it through the Plugins screen in WordPress. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
- Go to the new “Live Chat” menu item.
- Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather, paste the token, and press Connect.
- Open your bot in Telegram and press Start to finish linking.
FAQ
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Do I need a public HTTPS website?
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Yes. Telegram only delivers webhook updates to a public HTTPS URL, so replies will not reach the site on a local or non-HTTPS environment.
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How do I answer a visitor?
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In Telegram, use “Reply” on the visitor’s message. A plain message in the bot chat will not be routed back to the website.
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Can I change the colors and texts?
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Yes. The settings page lets you change the widget title, welcome message, placeholders, button text, and colors, with a live preview.
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What data is stored?
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Conversations (visitor and operator messages) are stored in a custom database table on your own site. Uninstalling the plugin removes this table and all plugin options.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“L3 – Live Chat via Telegram” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
“L3 – Live Chat via Telegram” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Translate “L3 – Live Chat via Telegram” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
0.1.0
- Initial release.