This FAQ is about Telegram channels.
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Channels are a tool for broadcasting public messages to large audiences. In fact, channels can have an unlimited number of members. When you post in a channel, the message is signed with the channel's name and not yours. You can appoint additional administrators to help you manage the channel. New members can see the entire message history in a channel once they join.
If you'd like an example, join our official Telegram channel to get notified about our updates.
To create a channel:
iPhone: Start a new message (tap the icon in the top-right corner in Chats). Then ‘New Channel’.
Android: Tap the circular pencil icon in the chat list. Then ‘New Channel’.
Windows Phone: Tap the ‘+’ button on the bottom bar. Then ‘New Channel’.
Public channels have a username. Anyone can find them in Telegram search and join. Private channels are closed societies – you need to be added by the creator or get an invite link to join.
Please note that private channels with publicly available invite links will be treated in the same way as public channels, should it come to content disputes.
The creator of a channel can broadcast messages, delete any messages, add members (the first 200 only), remove members, change the channel's name, profile image and link, as well as delete the channel completely. The creator can also add and remove administators to help manage the channel.
You can set up administrator rights for each individual administrator when you appoint them.
If a message is deleted in a channel, it will disappear for all members.
As the channel‘s creator, you may invite the first 200 members to your channel. Once the member count reaches 200, the channel is on its own. If it’s a public channel, it will have a username and a telegram.me/ link (e.g. t.me/telegram) – you can post this link on social networks, advertise it in magazines, or tattoo it on your back. If you have a private channel, you can send an invite link to your friends.
Please do not send channel links (or other unsolicited messages) to strangers. If they report spam from your account, you may be banned from contacting other people, however good your intentions.
Each post in a channel has a view counter. Views from forwarded copies of your messages are also included in the total count. This way you can see how far it has spread.
Please note that these numbers are approximate — we don‘t want to keep a record for everything you’ve ever viewed. After a short while (around 4 days), Telegram will forget that you've seen a post and will count you again if you navigate to it. For this reason you may see several views for posts in a private channel where you are alone.
As the creator of the channel, you can enable admin signatures that users will see next to the view counters. These signature only mention the name of the administrator and no link to their profile.
If the signatures are disabled, there is no way for users to know whether a message was posted by the creator or one of the administrators.
You can add a discussion group chat to the channel: subscribers will see a ‘Discuss’ link on the bottom panel, and each new post from the channel will be automatically forwarded to and pinned in the group.
You can also use bots (e.g. the @like bot) to add buttons to your posts.