Group Settings and Roles

BuddyPress allows any member to create a group around a common interest or purpose. Here are some basic settings that will help you get your BuddyPress groups up and running.

Privacy Options

When creating a group, you have the option of making your group Public, Private, or Hidden.

1. Public groups are visible in all group directories. The contents of the group – activity updates, forum posts, and any additional group functionality you might add through plugins – is publicly accessible. Anyone in your BuddyPress community can join a Public group.
2. Private groups are also visible in group directories. The group name and group description remain available for all to see. However, the contents of the group are accessible only to members. Moreover, group membership is controlled: members of your broader BuddyPress community must request membership, which can only be granted by a group administrator.
3. Hidden groups are invisible to non-members. These group names and descriptions are not listed in sitewide directories, and their contents are accessible only to members of the group. Because the group is unlisted, users cannot request membership. Instead, individuals can only join the group by invitation.

Group administrators can change a group’s privacy settings at any time by visiting the group’s Admin tab > Group Settings.

Group roles

BuddyPress group members have three roles available to them.

1. Members: By default, when a user joins a group, he or she has the role of member. What does it mean to be a member of a BuddyPress group? That depends on what kind of group it is.
   1. In a public group, members are able to post to that group’s forums, as well as submit content to other parts of the group (for instance, group members can upload documents in conjunction with the BuddyPress Group Documents plugin). When a user posts to the discussion forum of a public group, the user automatically becomes a member of the group. Additionally, being a member of a group means having the group’s activity aggregated in your Activity > My Groups activity stream.
   2. In a private group or a hidden group, members have all the same privileges as members in a public group. Additionally, being a member of a private group means that you get to see who else is a member of the group, and that you’re able to send invites to other users.
2. Moderators: When a group member is promoted to be a moderator of the group, it means that the member receives the following additional abilities:
   1. Edit group details, including the group name and group description (see: #4737)
   2. Edit, close, and delete any forum topic or post in the group
   3. Edit and delete other kinds of content, as produced by certain plugins
3. Administrators: Administratorshave total control over the contents and settings of a group. That includes all the abilities of moderators, as well as the ability to:
   1. Change group-wide settings (Admin > Settings). For instance, administrators can turn group forums on or off, change group status from public to private, and toggle on or off various other group functionality provided by plugins
   2. Change the group avatar (Admin > Group Avatar)
   3. Manage group members (Admin > Manage Members). More specifically, only group administrators have the power to promote members to moderators, or to ban individual users from the group
   4. Delete the group (Admin > Delete)

   The individual who creates the group is automatically the group’s first administrator. As a result, each group must have at least one administrator, though the first admin can choose to appoint others.