Dispatch
Notes from running other people's messages
What we have learned building and operating WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram messaging for businesses: the error codes, the limits with their real numbers, and the failures that only show up in production. Every article here has to contain something that cost somebody an afternoon to find out.
Catalogues in WhatsApp: a shop window, not a shop
What a catalogue can hold, how product messages behave, and why the checkout still happens somewhere else for most businesses.
WhatsApp groups for business: what they are good for, and what they cost
Groups are a broadcast channel where every member can see and message every other member. What that means before you add 200 customers.
Why your link has no preview, and whether it matters
Previews are generated from Open Graph tags by the sending client, not by the API. What that means for links sent from software.
Buttons and lists: when they help and when they get in the way
Reply buttons, list messages and call-to-action buttons - their limits, and the case where plain text outperforms all three.
The six digit PIN that locks people out of their own number
Two-step verification protects a number from being taken. It also blocks migrations and re-registrations if nobody knows the PIN.
WABA, Business Manager, Page, app: what owns what
The five objects Meta makes you assemble, what each one owns, and the ownership mistake that locks businesses out of their own number.
Moving an existing number onto the Cloud API, without losing a day
The number stops working in the app the moment it moves. What to do before, during and after, and what you cannot bring with you.
Quality rating and messaging limits: the dial you cannot see
Meta scores your number on recipient feedback and moves your daily limit up or down. What raises it, what drops it, and what a flag means.
The green tick: what it is, who gets it, and whether you need it
Official Business Account status is granted on notability, not on paperwork. What Meta looks for, and what the badge does not do.
Why your WhatsApp display name was rejected
It must relate to your business, must not be a generic word, and must match how you are known. The rules that catch people out.
What Meta actually bills for on the WhatsApp Business Platform
Conversations, not messages. What opens one, which category applies, and the three things that surprise people on the first invoice.
Answering Instagram and Facebook DMs like a business, not a person
Both run through the same Page, share one 24 hour window, and behave differently from WhatsApp in ways that matter operationally.
Designing a send queue that does not send twice
Retries, deduplication, pacing and the state machine. How to build a queue that survives failure without messaging people four times.
Sending to a list without destroying your number
Broadcast lists, campaigns and the arithmetic of block rates. How to send to many people without the send being the last one you make.
Articles 71 to 84 of 98. New ones are announced on WhatsApp, or take the feed.