diff --git a/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6 b/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
index 74cfcf3..09d3a34 100644
--- a/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
+++ b/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
@@ -9,13 +9,15 @@ export default Ember.Controller.extend({
 	modalShowing: false,
 	
   actions:{
-  	create(provider){
+  	create(){
   		this.set('modalShowing', true);
-  		showModal('admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule', { model: this.store.createRecord('rule',{provider: provider}), admin: true });
+      var model = {rule: this.store.createRecord('rule',{provider: this.get('model.provider').id}), provider:this.get('model.provider')};
+  		showModal('admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule', { model: model, admin: true });
   	},
   	edit(rule){
   		this.set('modalShowing', true);
-  		showModal('admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule', { model: rule, admin: true });
+      var model = {rule: rule, provider:this.get('model.provider')};
+  		showModal('admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule', { model: model, admin: true });
   	},
   	delete(rule){
   		const self = this;
diff --git a/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/modals/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.js.es6 b/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/modals/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.js.es6
index 77eb0b3..2093a03 100644
--- a/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/modals/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.js.es6
+++ b/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/modals/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.js.es6
@@ -2,11 +2,45 @@ import Rule from 'discourse/plugins/discourse-chat-integration/admin/models/rule
 import ModalFunctionality from 'discourse/mixins/modal-functionality';
 import { ajax } from 'discourse/lib/ajax';
 import { extractError } from 'discourse/lib/ajax-error';
+import InputValidation from 'discourse/models/input-validation';
 
 export default Ember.Controller.extend(ModalFunctionality, {
 
   model: Rule.create({}),
 
+  channelValidation: function(){
+
+    var regString = this.get('model.provider.channel_regex');
+    var regex = new RegExp(regString);
+    var val = this.get('model.rule.channel');
+
+    if(val == ""){ // Fail silently if field blank
+      return InputValidation.create({
+        failed: true,
+      });
+    }else if(!regString){ // Pass silently if no regex available for provider
+      return InputValidation.create({
+        ok: true,
+      });
+    }else if(regex.test(val)){ // Test against regex
+      return InputValidation.create({
+        ok: true,
+        reason: I18n.t('chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.channel_validation.ok')
+      });
+    }else{ // Failed regex
+      return InputValidation.create({
+        failed: true,
+        reason: I18n.t('chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.channel_validation.fail')
+      });
+    }
+  }.property('model.rule.channel'),
+
+  saveDisabled: function(){
+    if(this.get('channelValidation.failed')){ return true }
+      
+    return false;
+  }.property('channelValidation.failed'),
+
   actions: {
     cancel: function(){
       this.send('closeModal');
@@ -16,7 +50,7 @@ export default Ember.Controller.extend(ModalFunctionality, {
 
     	const self = this;
 
-    	this.get('model').update().then(function(result) {
+    	this.get('model.rule').update().then(function(result) {
         self.send('closeModal');
       }).catch(function(error) {
         self.flash(extractError(error), 'error');
diff --git a/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6 b/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
index 7b9a5e1..07b7b0a 100644
--- a/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
+++ b/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat-provider.js.es6
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ export default Discourse.Route.extend({
   model(params, transition) {
     return Ember.RSVP.hash({
       rules: this.store.find('rule', {provider: params.provider}),
-      provider: params.provider
+      provider: this.modelFor("admin-plugins-chat").findBy('id',params.provider)
     });
   },
 
   serialize: function(model, params) {
-    return { provider: model['provider']};
+    return { provider: model['provider'].get('id')};
   },
 
   actions: {
diff --git a/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat.js.es6 b/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat.js.es6
index d1913f9..98aab8d 100644
--- a/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat.js.es6
+++ b/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat.js.es6
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import AdminPluginsChatProvider from 'discourse/plugins/discourse-chat-integration/admin/routes/admin-plugins-chat-provider'
 
 export default Discourse.Route.extend({
-	model(params, transition) {    
+	model(params, transition) {
     return this.store.findAll('provider');
   },
 
diff --git a/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/modal/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.hbs b/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/modal/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.hbs
index 40a1726..673a220 100644
--- a/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/modal/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.hbs
+++ b/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/modal/admin-plugins-chat-edit-rule.hbs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
       	<tr class="input">
           <td class="label"><label for='provider'>{{i18n "chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.provider"}}</label></td>
           <td>
-          	{{i18n (concat 'chat_integration.provider.' model.provider '.title')}}
+          	{{i18n (concat 'chat_integration.provider.' model.rule.provider '.title')}}
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr class="instructions">
@@ -19,20 +19,22 @@
           <td>
           	{{text-field 
 							name="channel"
-							value=model.channel 
+							value=model.rule.channel 
 							autofocus="autofocus"
               id="channel-field"}}
+
+            &nbsp;{{input-tip validation=channelValidation}}
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr class="instructions">
           <td></td>
-          <td><label>{{i18n (concat 'chat_integration.provider.' model.provider '.channel_instructions')}}</label></td>
+          <td><label>{{i18n (concat 'chat_integration.provider.' model.rule.provider '.channel_instructions')}}</label></td>
         </tr>
 
         <tr class="input">
           <td class="label"><label for='filter'>{{i18n "chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.filter"}}</label></td>
           <td>
-            {{combo-box name="filter" content=model.available_filters value=model.filter}}
+            {{combo-box name="filter" content=model.rule.available_filters value=model.rule.filter}}
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr class="instructions">
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@
           <td>
           	{{category-chooser
 	      			name="category"
-	            value=model.category_id
+	            value=model.rule.category_id
 	            rootNoneLabel="chat_integration.all_categories"
 	            rootNone=true
               overrideWidths=false
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@
           <tr class="input">
             <td class="label"><label for='tags'>{{i18n "chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.tags"}}</label></td>
             <td>
-              {{tag-chooser placeholderKey="chat_integration.all_tags" name="tags" tags=model.tags}}
+              {{tag-chooser placeholderKey="chat_integration.all_tags" name="tags" tags=model.rule.tags}}
             </td>
           </tr>
           <tr class="instructions">
@@ -77,7 +79,8 @@
 {{/d-modal-body}}
 
 <div class="modal-footer">
-	{{d-button class='btn-primary btn-large' action="save" title="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.save" label="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.save"}}
+
+	{{d-button class='btn-primary btn-large' action="save" title="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.save" label="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.save" disabled=saveDisabled}}
 
 	{{d-button class="btn-large" action="cancel" title="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.cancel" label="chat_integration.edit_rule_modal.cancel"}}
 
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index c23069b..93266fc 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ en:
         tags: "Tags"
         channel: "Channel"
         filter: "Filter"
+        channel_validation:
+          ok: "Valid"
+          fail: "Invalid channel format"
         instructions:
           filter: "Notification level. Mute overrides other matching rules."
           category: "This rule will only apply to topics in the specified category."
diff --git a/lib/discourse_chat/provider/slack/slack_provider.rb b/lib/discourse_chat/provider/slack/slack_provider.rb
index ca399d8..4800361 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_chat/provider/slack/slack_provider.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_chat/provider/slack/slack_provider.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ module DiscourseChat::Provider::SlackProvider
 
   PROVIDER_ENABLED_SETTING = :chat_integration_slack_enabled
 
+  PROVIDER_CHANNEL_REGEX = '^[@#]\S*$'
+
   def self.excerpt(post, max_length = SiteSetting.chat_integration_slack_excerpt_length)
     doc = Nokogiri::HTML.fragment(post.excerpt(max_length,
       remap_emoji: true,
diff --git a/lib/discourse_chat/rule.rb b/lib/discourse_chat/rule.rb
index e7805cd..d8355ac 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_chat/rule.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_chat/rule.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     end
 
     def category_id=(val)
-      if val.nil? or val.empty?
+      if val.nil? or val.blank?
         @category_id = nil
       else
         @category_id = val.to_i
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@
       
       # Validate channel
       return false if @channel.blank?
+
+      provider = ::DiscourseChat::Provider.get_by_name(@provider)
+      if defined? provider::PROVIDER_CHANNEL_REGEX
+        channel_regex = Regexp.new provider::PROVIDER_CHANNEL_REGEX
+        return false if not channel_regex.match?(@channel)
+      end
       
       # Validate category
       return false if not (@category_id.nil? or Category.where(id: @category_id).exists?)
diff --git a/plugin.rb b/plugin.rb
index 4990062..57ebf47 100644
--- a/plugin.rb
+++ b/plugin.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,12 @@ after_initialize do
     end
 
     def list_providers
-      providers = ::DiscourseChat::Provider.enabled_providers.map {|x| {name: x::PROVIDER_NAME, id: x::PROVIDER_NAME}}
+      providers = ::DiscourseChat::Provider.enabled_providers.map {|x| {
+                                        name: x::PROVIDER_NAME, 
+                                        id: x::PROVIDER_NAME, 
+                                        channel_regex: (defined? x::PROVIDER_CHANNEL_REGEX) ? x::PROVIDER_CHANNEL_REGEX : nil
+                                        }}
+      
       render json:providers, root: 'providers'
     end
 
@@ -85,7 +90,7 @@ after_initialize do
       end
 
       filter_order = ["watch", "follow", "mute"]
-      rules = rules.sort_by{ |r| [r.channel, filter_order.index(r.filter), r.category_id] } 
+      rules = rules.sort_by{ |r| [r.channel, r.category_id.nil? ? 0 : r.category_id, filter_order.index(r.filter)] } 
 
       render_serialized rules, DiscourseChat::RuleSerializer, root: 'rules'
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/discourse_chat/rule_spec.rb b/spec/lib/discourse_chat/rule_spec.rb
index cb8e702..f976ccf 100644
--- a/spec/lib/discourse_chat/rule_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/discourse_chat/rule_spec.rb
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseChat::Rule do
 
     it 'can be filtered by provider' do
       rule2 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'telegram', channel:'blah'}).save!
-      rule3 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'blah'}).save!
+      rule3 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'#blah'}).save!
 
       expect(DiscourseChat::Rule.all.length).to eq(3)
 
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseChat::Rule do
     end
 
     it 'can be filtered by category' do
-      rule2 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'blah', category_id: 1}).save!      
-      rule3 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'blah', category_id: nil}).save!
+      rule2 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'#blah', category_id: 1}).save!      
+      rule3 = DiscourseChat::Rule.new({provider:'slack', channel:'#blah', category_id: nil}).save!
 
       expect(DiscourseChat::Rule.all.length).to eq(3)
 
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseChat::Rule do
       expect(rule.valid?).to eq(true)
       rule.channel = ''
       expect(rule.valid?).to eq(false)
+      rule.channel = 'blah'
+      expect(rule.valid?).to eq(false)
     end
 
     it 'validates category correctly' do