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Tipline
Setup your tipline bot
Setup your tipline bot
Jéssica Gomes avatar
Written by Jéssica Gomes
Updated over a week ago

In this article, you'll learn how to setup one or multiple messaging networks to collect content for fact-checking.

How to connect a new tipline

In order to receive content from users you need to connect to one or multiple messaging networks based on your preferences.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Navigate to your workspace settings and then on the topbar click tipline.

  2. Under the tipline, click the Settings tab.

  3. Under Messaging services, click any messaging service you want to connect.

Available messaging services

WhatsApp

WhatsApp integration requires a different process. Please find the detailed instructions here: How to get a Check tipline on WhatsApp. If you need any assistance, reach out to us through the chat for help.

Facebook Messenger

  1. If the Facebook Messenger button is not clickable, please reach out to us through the chat for help. Before proceeding, make sure that you are logged into the relevant Messenger account as an Admin.

  2. Click Connect next to Facebook Messenger. Click I’m ready to connect.

  3. You will receive a pop-up to agree to continue with the process, “Meedan Check Tipline will receive your name and profile picture. This doesn’t let Meedan Check Tipline post to Facebook without your permission.” Click Continue.

  4. Select the correct Facebook page and complete the authentication process. If the page is not listed, confirm that you have Admin privileges for the desired Facebook page.

  5. Once the message appears, indicating that you've linked the Meedan Check tipline to Facebook, click 'OK' to finalise the integration.

  6. Verify that the Messenger button is enabled in the tipline settings.

Note: Please be aware that you need to log in to Facebook using your personal account before switching to pages. When selecting a Facebook page to connect, it's crucial to choose the specific page you want to connect, especially if you are an admin of multiple Facebook pages.

Telegram

  1. Go to BotFather, the bot that rules over all other bots on Telegram, and click Start.

  2. Choose the option /newbot to create a new bot and pick a name for your bot. Later you should also choose a username that ends with “bot”. For example, the name could be “TetrisBot”. Copy the access link provided to access the token under Use this token to access the HTTP API.

  3. On tipline settings, click Connect next to Telegram.

  4. Paste the token that was generated when you created the bot on Telegram (step 2).

Viber

  1. Download and install Viber on a device that has a SIM card.

  2. Launch the Viber app. It will automatically detect your phone number or ask you to enter it manually. Make sure your network supports Viber.

  3. Tap Continue to receive an activation code.

  4. Access the Viber Admin Panel and enter the activation code received on the Viber app.

  5. Once you're in the admin panel, click Create bot account. Fill in the required information to generate an authorization token.

  6. In the admin panel, click the Viber icon and paste the authorization token. Then, click Connect.

Please note that the above steps are specifically for connecting phone numbers to Viber. If you need to obtain group connection tokens, or make the bot searchable to the public, please contact Viber support for assistance.

Line

  1. On tipline settings, click Connect next to LINE, a new window will open, prompting you to enter the LINE channel access token and LINE channel secret.

  2. To obtain your access token and channel secret, go to the LINE Developers web page and log in to your account.

  3. On the website, click the profile icon. Then, click the gear icon to access the Line Developers Console.

  4. In the Line Developers Console, choose the channel you want to connect and navigate to the Messaging API menu.

  5. Click Edit Webhook and copy the URL address provided.

  6. Paste the URL address into your LINE settings on Check, using the following format: [https://app.smooch.io:443/api/line/webhooks/5d56f87d3ff2b800100a770f/60a29e2b9ea8a000d3bda6f6]

Instagram

Launching soon.

How to disconnect a messaging platform

To disconnect a messaging app, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to your workspace settings and then on the topbar click tipline.

  2. Under the tipline, click the Settings tab.

  3. Click Disconnect from this account to confirm the action. Please note that disconnecting your WhatsApp tipline is a permanent action, and you will not be able to reconnect it again.

Pause the tipline

When paused, the bot will send the "Inactive bot" message to any user interacting with the tipline. This action will not deactivate the tipline. To pause the bot:

  1. Navigate to the tipline settings page.

  2. Tick the tick the Pause the bot checkbox.

Edit your WhatsApp business profile

To update your profile information, reach out to us through the chat for help.

Here are some additional information you can add to your WhatsApp tipline:

Brief message in the summary of your profile and up to 2 links about your business. In the 'About' section it is also possible to add a short introduction message.

Edit your business profile on other messaging apps

You can update your profile information on other messaging apps, please note that it can be done only by Administrators of these accounts.

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