User Guide

General Guide

• All commands to the bot must be prefixed by /bot, e.g. /bot help
  • Bots will also respond to their first name as prefix. The bot called Oto Matik will respond to commands that start with /oto e.g. /oto help.
  • Some bots have special prefixes such as !bot and other special combinations. The bot admins should inform you of any special cases.
• Different bots have different features. You can list available commands with /bot help.
  • To learn more about how a command works, you can use /bot help <command>, for example, if you would like to know how the ping command works, use /bot help ping.
• Most bots will use a "1-to-1" channel to talk to you on sensitive things. 1-to-1 channels are basically private hangouts between you and the bot. The bot will send alerts and notifications via this channel.
• To opt-out of all bot features use the command /bot optout in a 1-to-1 with the bot. To opt-in again into bot features, toggle its status with the same command. The bot will inform you whether you have toggled it on or off. Note: Sending a private message to the bot while you are opted-out will automatically cancel the opt-out.
• If you wish to temporarily disable bot messaging for a limited amount of time i.e. snoozing alerts, use a limited duration Do-Not-Disturb command.

Commonly-Encountered Features

Mentions

Most bots support @mentions i.e. saying a username prefixed with an @ symbol will trigger an alert to that specific user. The name following the @ symbol can be the user's first name, last name or their nickname (more on setting this later). For example, if a user is called "Foxy Brown", you can @mention them with @foxy, @foxybrown, '@foxyb', and so on anywhere in your message.

In very "chatty" group hangouts, some users use this as a way for peace-and-quiet by turning off notifications for those group hangouts, and having the bot alert them when their name/nickname is @mentioned by others.

In the event that the @mention matches more than one user, the bot will list out all users in a 1-to-1 with you and remind you to be more specific.

As mentioned previously, users can set a nickname: to set your own nickname, use this command /bot setnickname <nickname> e.g. /bot setnickname jarjarbinks. In addition to your first name and last name, users can now mention you with @jarjarbinks as well. To unset your nickname just use the command /bot setnickname (without a nickname).

You can only @mention users in the same hangout as you.

You can turn this feature off for yourself temporarily with a Do-Not-Disturb command.

More info: Mentions Plugin

Word/phrase subscriptions

Sometimes, you only want to monitor a hangout for specific words and/or phrases. One common scenario is "swag" ;)

You can tell the bot to alert you every time the word swag is used in any conversation that you are participating in with the following command: /bot subscribe swag

To turn off the subscription, just use /bot unsubscribe swag

Every time you call either of these two commands, the bot will list your current subscriptions. It is highly recommended to use these commands in a 1-to-1 chat with the bot. This is to prevent other users from seeing your word/phrase subscriptions and trolling you by saying them repeatedly in a chat.

You can turn this feature off for yourself temporarily with a Do-Not-Disturb command.

More info: Subscribe Plugin

Do Not Disturb (DND)

To turn off alerts for @mentions and subscriptions temporarily, you can issue a Do-Not-Disturb (DND) command to the bot. This will temporarily stop any alerts and notifications.

By default a DND will last for 6 hours and can be extended up to a maximum of 72 hours, or toggled off earlier.

To issue a default 6-hour DND command, use this command: /bot dnd

To issue a DND with a specific expiry, specify the number of hours after the initial command. Example: /bot dnd 2 will automatically expire the DND in 2 hours.

Toggle an active DND off by simply re-issuing the standard command: /bot dnd

The bot will inform you of the duration of the DND, and whether or not it has been toggled on or off after each time you issue the above DND command.

More info: DND Plugin

Moar!

Each bot you encounter may have different features and plugins based on the whims of the bot administrator(s).

For more information, please contact your bot administrator :)