Getting started

branch418 Telegram for Contact Form 7 relays every form submission straight to Telegram — to a private chat, a group, a supergroup topic, or a channel. This page takes you from a fresh install to your first delivered notification.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0 or newer
  • PHP 7.4 or newer
  • Contact Form 7 installed and activated

Installation

  1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for branch418 Telegram for Contact Form 7, then click Install Now and Activate.
  3. A new CF7 Telegram item appears in the admin menu — everything happens there.

You can also install manually: download the ZIP from the WordPress.org plugin page and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

Quick start

Three things connect a form to Telegram: a bot (sends the messages), a chat (receives them), and a connection (routes a form to a bot and one or more chats).

1. Add a bot

  1. In Telegram, message @BotFather, send /newbot, and follow the prompts. BotFather replies with a token.
  2. In CF7 Telegram → Bots & Chats, click Add bot and paste the token. The token is validated against the Telegram API when you save, so typos are caught immediately.

2. Add a chat

  1. Add your bot to the chat that should receive notifications (for channels, add it as an administrator), and send any message there.
  2. In Bots & Chats, click Detect chats and pick the bot — the plugin lists every chat the bot has recently seen. Pick yours; no manual ID hunting needed.

More options (topics, manual IDs, private chats) are covered in Bots & chats.

3. Create a connection

  1. Go to Connections and click Add connection.
  2. Pick a form, a bot, one or more chats, and (optionally) a message template.
  3. Save. Done — from now on, every submission of that form lands in Telegram.

Verify it works

Before waiting for a real submission, use the built-in test tools:

  • Send test on a chat delivers a simple test message to that chat.
  • Test on a connection fires the whole pipeline with sample data — form, template, and all configured chats.

Every attempt (real or test) shows up in the activity log on the dashboard, including any error Telegram returned.

Good to know

The plugin never blocks or alters your form flow: CF7 mail is sent exactly as before, and Telegram delivery runs alongside it. If Telegram is unreachable, your form keeps working.

Next steps