Only follow a blog when the message is directed at the bot

[Tug]

We should use the following syntax to start following a blog

@WordPressDotComBot follow https://myblog.com

Otherwise we might follow blogs inadvertently

[hoverduck]

I think a better approach would be to use a slash-command, something like /wpfollow https://myblog.com - https://core.telegram.org/bots#commands

I'm pretty sure this would also enable us to drop the requirement that the bot is a channel admin, but not positive...

[markryall]

We could certainly use a command format that looks like a slash command even though that really only makes sense when talking directly to a bot (you can preregister slash commands for a bot so the telegram client can autocomplete them).

In that case, we could probably drop the protocol - /follow ma.tt and /unfollow ma.tt

It might look a bit odd in a group though with the slash command after the bot name - @WordPressDotComBot /follow https://myblog.com

I can't see how it would be possible to set up the integration without the bot being allowed to write to the channel (that's actually the only permission it needs - the bot doesn't need the ability to manage anything else about a channel).

Triggering the integration by writing a message in the channel/group is pretty convenient but is a fairly unusual way to interact with a telegram bot.

[hoverduck]

It might look a bit odd in a group though with the slash command after the bot name - @WordPressDotComBot /follow https://myblog.com

If you have a slash command registered to a bot then you won't need to specify the bot name. If you have multiple bots in a channel it will autocomplete in the format /follow@WordPressDotComBot myblog.com. Some clients will add the @botname regardless, which is an annoying but harmless quirk.