User Guide

General Guide

• All commands to the bot must be prefixed by /bot, e.g. /bot help, /bot whoami, etc
  • Bots will also respond to their first name as prefix. The bot Oto Matik will respond **/oto** help
  • Some bots have special prefixes such as !bot or just #, or some other special combination - these special prefixes are entirely up to the administrator(s) running the bot, and they should inform you of these special cases.
• Different bots have different features, when in doubt always ask the bot for help via /bot help for list of commands available to you. This guide will attempt to explain some of the more common commands.
• Most bots will use a "1-to-1" channel to talk to you on sensitive things, these 1-to-1 channels are basically private hangouts with you and you alone. The bot will send alerts and notifications on this channel.
• To completely opt-out of all features of the bot use the command /bot optout in a 1-to-1 with the bot. To opt-in again into the bot and its features, just toggle it on again with the same command /bot optout. The bot will inform you whether you have toggled it on or off.

Commonly-Encountered Features

Mentions

Most bots will 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, etc. 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 also have a nickname - to set your own nickname, issue the following command: /bot setnickname <nickname> e.g. /bot setnickname jarjarbinks - then other users can @mention you with @jarjarbinks - to unset a nickname just use the command /bot setnickname (without a nickname).

You can only @mention users in the same hangout as you, and you can only have one nickname set for yourself.

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

Word/phrase subscription

Sometimes, you only want to watch a hangout for a specific word or phrase. One common scenario is "swag" ;)

You can tell the bot to alert you every time swag is mentioned 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 private 1-to-1 chat with the bot. Otherwise everybody will see your subscriptions and possibly troll you.