TeleWire - Telegram Notifications Module

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Hi ProcessWire community! 👋

I'm excited to share a new module I've been working on: TeleWire - a Telegram notifications module that brings instant messaging capabilities to your ProcessWire sites.

The Problem with Current Notification Solutions

After running several e-commerce sites and experimenting with different notification systems, I've encountered these recurring issues:

📧 Email (SMTP/WireMail):

• Requires SMTP server configuration (WireMailSMTP)
• Google App Passwords setup complexity
• Emails constantly landing in spam folders
• Delayed delivery (sometimes 5-10 minutes)
• No guarantee the recipient will see it quickly

📱 SMS (Twilio, etc):

• Monthly fees just to keep a phone number active (~$1-15/month)
• Per-message charges (can add up quickly)
• US compliance requirements (verification, regulations)
• Not everyone wants to share their phone number

💬 WhatsApp Business API:

• Requires business verification
• Complex setup process
• API fees and restrictions
• Limited to business accounts

🔔 Push services (Pushover, etc):

• Requires purchasing apps ($5-10 per platform)
• Recipient needs to install and configure the app
• Additional barrier to entry

Why Telegram?

• 🆓 Completely free - No monthly fees, no per-message charges, no app purchases
• 🌍 Universally accessible - 900+ million users worldwide, already installed on most devices
• ⚡ Instant delivery - Messages arrive in 1-2 seconds, not minutes
• 🎯 Zero configuration barrier - Just start a conversation with your bot, that's it
• 🔒 Reliable - No spam filters, no deliverability issues, no carrier restrictions
• 📱 Multi-platform - iOS, Android, Web, Desktop - works everywhere
• 🎨 Rich features - HTML formatting, emojis, photos, documents, links

Key Features

• 🚀 Send text notifications with HTML/Markdown formatting
• 📸 Send photos and documents
• 👥 Support for multiple recipients (users and groups)
• 🔧 Simple admin interface with test button
• 📊 Optional logging and debug mode
• ⚡ Optimized performance with configurable timeouts
• 🎯 Easy to integrate with hooks

Real-World Use Cases

E-commerce order notifications:

$wire->addHookAfter('FormBuilderProcessor::processInputDone', function($event) {
    $form = $event->object;
    
    if($form->name === 'order-form') {
        $telewire = $this->modules->get('TeleWire');
        
        $message = '🛒 <b>New Order</b>' . "\n\n";
        $message .= '👤 Customer: ' . $form->get('customer_name')->value . "\n";
        $message .= '💰 Total: $' . $form->get('total')->value;
        
        $telewire->send($message);
    }
});

Failed login attempts monitoring:

$wire->addHookAfter('Session::loginFailed', function($event) {
    $telewire = $this->modules->get('TeleWire');
    $name = $event->arguments(0);
    
    $message = '⚠️ <b>Failed Login Attempt</b>' . "\n\n";
    $message .= 'Username: ' . $name . "\n";
    $message .= 'IP: ' . $this->session->getIP();
    
    $telewire->send($message);
});

Content updates:

$wire->addHookAfter('Pages::saved', function($event) {
    $page = $event->arguments(0);
    
    if($page->template == 'article' && !$page->isNew()) {
        $telewire = $this->modules->get('TeleWire');
        
        $message = '📝 <b>Article Updated</b>' . "\n";
        $message .= 'Title: ' . $page->title . "\n";
        $message .= 'By: ' . $this->user->name;
        
        $telewire->send($message);
    }
});

Send photos with captions:

$telewire = $modules->get('TeleWire');

// Product photo when new product added
$telewire->sendPhoto(
    $page->images->first()->httpUrl,
    "New product: {$page->title} - \${$page->price}"
);

Send documents (invoices, reports):

$telewire = $modules->get('TeleWire');

// Send generated PDF invoice
$telewire->sendDocument(
    '/site/assets/invoices/invoice-123.pdf',
    'Invoice #123 for Order #456'
);

Installation

1. Get a bot token from @BotFather on Telegram (takes 30 seconds)
2. Install the module from GitHub
3. Configure your bot token and chat IDs
4. Click "Send Test Message" to verify everything works

Requirements: PHP 8.2+ and ProcessWire 3.0.210+

Admin Interface Features

The configuration page includes:

• ✅ Real-time connection status indicator
• 🧪 One-click test message button (AJAX, no page reload)
• ⚙️ Configurable parse mode (HTML/Markdown/MarkdownV2)
• 📝 Optional logging with debug mode for troubleshooting
• ⏱️ Adjustable API timeouts
• 🔇 Silent mode option (no notification sound)
• 📊 Message length handling (auto-split long messages)

Production Ready

This module is currently running on several production sites:

• 🍫 E-commerce shop - order notifications, stock alerts
• 🍷 Wine/liquor business - order confirmations, delivery updates
• 📰 News portal - content publishing notifications

Average response time: ~150-300ms per notification

Getting Your Chat ID

1. Find @userinfobot in Telegram
2. Send any message - it will reply with your Chat ID
3. Important: Start conversation with your bot by sending /start
4. Enter the Chat ID in module configuration

For groups: Add the bot to your group, make it admin, and use the negative Chat ID

API Documentation

// Get module instance
$telewire = $modules->get('TeleWire');

// Simple text message
$telewire->send('Hello from ProcessWire!');

// HTML formatted message
$message = '<b>Bold</b> <i>italic</i> <code>code</code>';
$telewire->send($message);

// Send with custom options
$telewire->send('Silent notification', [
    'disable_notification' => true,
    'parse_mode' => 'Markdown'
]);

// Send photo
$telewire->sendPhoto('/path/to/photo.jpg', 'Optional caption');

// Send document
$telewire->sendDocument('/path/to/file.pdf', 'Document caption');

Feedback Welcome!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, use cases, and suggestions. If you've been frustrated with email deliverability or SMS costs for notifications, give this a try!

GitHub: https://github.com/mxmsmnv/TeleWire

Thanks to the ProcessWire community for the inspiration and all the great modules that helped me learn the PW module system! 🙏

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Bottom line: If your users have Telegram (and most do), you can send them instant, reliable, free notifications without fighting spam filters or paying monthly fees. Simple as that.