Better Limitati
An anonymous help desk: whoever writes to the bot talks to the whole staff, without knowing who answers.
What it does
Better Limitati puts a bot between people and your staff. A user writes to the bot in private, the message lands in the operator chat (a group, or a single topic of a forum group), an operator answers by replying to that message, and the answer goes back to the user in private. The user only ever sees the bot: no operator name, no group to join, no way back to your staff.
An operator's reply is also mirrored into every other operator chat, showing who answered whom. If your staff is spread over several groups or topics, nobody answers the same question twice. Edits and reactions travel both ways: if the user fixes a message, the copy in the operator chat is updated too, and the other way around.
Two typical uses: group verifications (the user's video note or voice message lands in the staff group, with no contact exchanged) and a way in for people Telegram has limited, who cannot write privately to anyone who has not saved their number. They can still write to the bot.
This bot has no automatic clone button: you get it on request. If you need one, write to me from Support and contacts and I will set up your own instance, with your groups and your operators.
Before you start
You need somewhere to receive messages: a staff group is fine. If the group has topics, you can register a single topic and keep the help desk apart from the rest of the chatter.
Add the bot to the group. It does not have to be an administrator, because operators reply to the bot's own messages and those replies always reach it. If you plan to use /onlyadmins, keep the bot in the group before running the command: that is where it reads the list of group administrators.
In forum groups the topic you write from matters: the command registers the group and the topic together. Write from the wrong topic and messages land in the wrong place.
Setup
- Ask me for the bot from Support and contacts. It comes ready, with you as its first administrator.
- Add the bot to your staff group.
- Send
/addchatin the group, or inside the topic you want to use. From then on user messages arrive there. - Add the rest of your staff with
/addadmin(replying to one of their messages, or with their@username). Whoever becomes an administrator also gets copies of the messages in private. - Check with
/listchatsthat only the chats you want are registered. - Customise the welcome with
/setstartand the confirmation users get after writing with/setreply. - If only your leads should answer, send
/onlyadminsin the operator chat.
Commands
For people writing to the bot
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/start | Starts the bot and shows the welcome message | everyone | private |
/help | Shows the default welcome message, even if you changed it with /setstart | everyone | private |
/ping | Replies PONG, only useful to check the bot is alive | everyone | anywhere |
/language | Pick the bot language from a list of buttons | everyone | private |
For bot admins
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/addchat | Registers the chat (or topic) you write from as an operator chat | bot admin | group, topic or private |
/delchat | Removes that chat from the operator chats | bot admin | group, topic or private |
/listchats | Lists the registered operator chats | bot admin | anywhere |
/addadmin @user | Adds a bot administrator and registers their private chat as an operator chat | bot admin | anywhere |
/deladmin @user | Removes an administrator and their private chat | bot admin | anywhere |
/listadmins | Lists the administrators | bot admin | anywhere |
/addban @user | Stops someone from writing to the bot | bot admin | anywhere |
/delban @user | Lifts the ban | bot admin | anywhere |
/listbans | Lists banned people | bot admin | anywhere |
/onlyadmins | In that operator chat, only group administrators can answer | bot admin | in the operator chat |
/noonlyadmins | Lets anyone answer again | bot admin | in the operator chat |
/original | Replying to a received message, brings back the original with its sender | bot admin | in the operator chat |
/setstart Hi there! | Sets the welcome message. Telegram formatting is not kept: for bold, type the HTML tags, for example <b>hi</b> | bot admin | anywhere |
/unsetstart | Back to the default welcome | bot admin | anywhere |
/setreply We will answer soon | Sets the confirmation users get after writing | bot admin | anywhere |
/unsetreply | Back to the default confirmation, the one that disappears on its own | bot admin | anywhere |
/hidestart | User /start messages do not reach the operator chats | bot admin | anywhere |
/unhidestart | Shows them again | bot admin | anywhere |
/hidehelp | User /help messages do not reach the operator chats | bot admin | anywhere |
/unhidehelp | Shows them again | bot admin | anywhere |
/setbuttons | Puts a keyboard of buttons under the user's chat | bot admin | anywhere |
/unsetbuttons | Removes the keyboard | bot admin | anywhere |
Bot administrators who send /start or /help in private get this list instead of the welcome message.
The /setbuttons syntax
Buttons go in the same message as the command: every new line is a keyboard row, columns are separated by ||. For example:
/setbuttons Support||Report
How it works
gives two buttons side by side (Support and Report) and a wide one below (How it works). Tapping a button is the same as typing that text, so the message reaches the operators like any other. /unsetbuttons takes the keyboard away.
Buttons and automatic behaviour
Most of the work happens with no commands at all. Every private message reaching the bot is copied to all operator chats, with the sender's name and ID on top. Photos, voice messages, video notes, documents and polls arrive as they are; forwarded messages stay forwards, so you can see where they came from.
To answer, reply to the message in the operator chat and write: the answer goes to the user in private, attached to the right message. A confirmation appears in the operator chat and deletes itself after a few seconds, to keep things clean. The other operator chats get a copy of the answer instead, showing which operator answered which user.
Reply chains are kept as well: if the user quotes a staff answer, operators see it quoted, and the other way around. Edits and reactions propagate both ways. If the user has blocked the bot, the operator finds out right away, because the bot says so in the chat.
Frequently asked questions
Can the user find out who the operators are?
No. They only see the bot. Staff names and groups stay on the operator side, and answers reach the user from the bot.
How does it work in groups with topics?
Open the topic you want and send /addchat from there. Group and topic are registered together, so messages land in that topic and nowhere else. You can register several topics of the same group.
Can I have more than one operator group?
Yes, as many chats as you like. Every message reaches all of them, and every answer is mirrored into the ones where it was not written.
Who can answer users?
By default anyone in the operator chat. With /onlyadmins only the group administrators (and the bot administrators) can answer in that chat.
Someone is being abusive
/addban, replying to one of their messages or with their @username. From then on nothing they write reaches anyone. /delban puts things back.
Why do I get the messages in private too?
Because /addadmin also registers the new administrator's private chat. If you do not want that, send /delchat in your private chat with the bot: you stay an administrator, but stop receiving copies.
How do I get it?
On request, there is no automatic clone button. Write to me from Support and contacts.