WhatsApp

WhatsApp is available on every plan, the free one included, and only the owner of the organization links or unlinks the number. Each organization has a single number, which serves all of its WhatsApp channels.

Before you start

You need two things:

• A phone with a phone number, with WhatsApp installed and at hand while you link. We recommend using a number other than your usual one.
• That number, as an administrator of your WhatsApp channel. You can publish to the channels where this number is listed as an administrator or owner. We recommend giving it the administrator role: if WhatsApp ever blocks it, the channel will still be yours.

To make it an administrator, open the channel in WhatsApp from your main phone, tap its name and choose Invite admins; invite the separate number and accept the invitation on that number's phone. How to add the channel to Codingram afterwards is covered in WhatsApp channels, and the Your first channel step of the setup assistant offers it too.

If the number is new on WhatsApp, link it to WhatsApp Web first: open web.whatsapp.com on a computer and scan the QR code with your phone in WhatsApp › Linked devices › Link a device. With newly registered numbers, linking from Codingram for the first time can fail without giving a reason. Once linked on WhatsApp Web, try again here.

The risk notice

Before linking anything, the Link number page shows you a notice with five things worth being clear about:

• This connection is not an official route: WhatsApp doesn't offer one for publishing to channels.
• WhatsApp may block the number you link, though that rarely happens. It suspends numbers that send spam or bulk messages, and this one only publishes to your channels.
• We recommend using a separate number instead of your main one.
• We also recommend making it an administrator of your channels rather than the owner. If WhatsApp blocks it, the channel is still yours and you can add another administrator.
• The phone with that number has to open WhatsApp at least once every 14 days.

Nothing is linked until you tick I have read the notice and accept these risks. and press Continue.

Linking the number

The Link number page goes in steps and the indicator at the top tells you which one you are on. After the notice, enter the number in the Number field, with its country code (for example, +34 600 111 222), and press Request code.

If you come from the setup assistant, the back arrow shows Back to the assistant; if you come in from Connections, it shows Back to Connections. From the assistant, under the steps you will also see Once confirmed, you go back to the assistant.

If you close the page or switch phones halfway, the WhatsApp number card in Connections says Linking and its Continue linking button takes you back to the same step, with the same code as long as it has not expired.

With the code

An 8-character code appears. On the number's phone:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Go to WhatsApp › Linked devices › Link with phone number instead.
3. Enter the code. Copy puts it on the clipboard.

The page waits for WhatsApp to confirm and, as soon as it does, takes you back to where you started: to Connections, with the card on Connected, or to the setup assistant, at the next step still pending.

The code is valid for about 3 minutes. If it expires, the page says so: press Request another code and enter it as soon as it appears. Requesting another replaces the previous one. If you got the number wrong, Change number goes back to the number step.

With a QR

If you are reading the page on a screen other than the phone, expand Scan a QR code instead and, on the number's phone, go to WhatsApp › Linked devices › Link a device to scan it.

Whether you use the code or the QR code, you'll see the device listed as Codingram in WhatsApp › Linked devices.

Changing the number or unlinking

The WhatsApp number card in Connections shows the linked number and since when, and reminds you to open WhatsApp on that phone at least once every 14 days. If the organization has no Telegram bot, that card comes first.

• Unlink the number forgets the number, after asking you to confirm. Until you link one, your WhatsApp channels stop publishing.
• To change the number, unlink the current one and link the new one. Make it an administrator of the same channels.

If the number disconnects

It can happen because the WhatsApp session was closed on the phone or because WhatsApp blocked the number. Then:

• You get an email and the owner sees the card on Disconnected, with the reason.
• WhatsApp channels show as Disconnected in Channels, and you will see the red notice in their queue, in Create offer, and in automatic publishing.
• Whatever is in the queue of those channels waits: it is not lost or skipped, and it goes out when the number is connected again.
• Telegram channels keep publishing as normal.

Press Link again in the card and repeat the steps of Linking the number. If the number is still connected but is no longer an administrator of a channel, that channel shows as Disconnected: give it the permission back from your main phone. It publishes again by itself within a few minutes; with Check permissions, straight away.

How it differs from Telegram

A WhatsApp channel is used just like a Telegram one: Create offer, the queue, automatic publishing and the Telegram bot treat it as one more channel. What changes is how the message arrives:

• No links behind a word and no buttons under the message. WhatsApp does not support links behind a word or buttons under the message, so the product's address is shown in full in the text. In templates, any link comes out as the word followed by its address.
• Formatting uses WhatsApp's marks. Bold, italics, strikethrough, monospace, code and quotes are sent with WhatsApp's marks, which also count toward the character limit. Since underline and spoiler do not exist on WhatsApp, the text is published without them.
• More text with images: you get 4096 characters, with or without an image, compared to Telegram's 1024 with a photo. The Create offer preview takes on the WhatsApp look when the active channel is a WhatsApp one, and the counter uses that limit.
• The number never writes to your contacts or to groups: it only publishes to the channels you point it at.

On the free plan

WhatsApp works the same on every plan. On the free plan, in addition, a number that goes 30 days without publishing on WhatsApp is unlinked. The card of the connected number and the linking page remind you of this.

• We warn you by email 7 days before, with the date on which it would be unlinked. If you move down to the free plan after a month without publishing, the notice reaches you that same night.
• Publishing to any WhatsApp channel restarts the 30 days from zero.
• Your channels stay and whatever is in their queue waits. The WhatsApp number card in Connections says Not linked and shows the notice "The number was unlinked", which reminds you that your channels and whatever is queued are still there; press Link number and repeat the steps of Linking the number.

Paid plans and the free trial do not have this rule.