Fangzhang Bot: Group Admin

When a group has a few hundred people, moderation turns into endless work: spammers, ads, bots, the same questions again and again. Fangzhang Bot takes the routine off your hands. It is a Chinese-language group management bot with over three hundred thousand monthly users. 🛡

The name 方丈 refers to an abbot of a monastery. The interface and description are in Chinese, so the bot suits admins of Chinese-speaking communities and anyone who reads the language.

What the bot does

The description lists ready-made functions. Each one fixes a particular admin headache.

• Newcomer verification. A person who joins must prove they are human, so spam bots stay out of the discussion.
• Welcome message. The bot greets members with text you wrote.
• Spam blocking. Unwanted messages and ads are removed automatically.
• Auto replies. It answers common questions on its own.
• Scheduled posts. Reminders and rules go out at the time you choose.
• Forced subscription. People can write only after subscribing to a channel.
• Message statistics. You see who is active and when.
• Member management. Bans and restrictions need less manual effort.

Setup in five steps

1. Press Start in a private chat with the bot.
2. Add the bot to your group and make it an admin.
3. Grant permissions: deleting messages, restricting and banning members.
4. Configure functions through the menu in private messages.
5. Test with a spare account to see how a new member's entry looks.

The command menu has /start, /help and /id. The last one shows your ID, which some settings need.

Bot protection that works

The best way to cut spam in a group is to stop it at the door. Verification keeps a script from writing at once, because it demands an action bots usually do not perform.

Add a time limit: if a person does not pass verification within a reasonable time, the bot removes them. The member list stays clean.

A welcome people read

Most people skip long rules. Keep the greeting short: two or three sentences, the main rule and a hint on where to find answers.

• Name the group topic in the first line.
• Give one rule whose violation means a ban.
• Address people by name if the function supports it.
• Go easy on emoji. Three or four are enough.

Forced subscription: pros and cons

The function makes members subscribe to your channel before they can write. It grows the channel, but for some people it is an annoying barrier.

Use it when the channel has real value for group members. Otherwise you risk losing living, active people.

Privacy and permissions

The bot sees messages in a group where it is an admin and processes them according to your settings. Grant only the rights it needs and review your admin list now and then.

Remember that automatic filters sometimes make mistakes. Make sure honest members can return if they were restricted by error.