Writer Profiles and the Author Box

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WB Member Blog gives every member who writes two places that introduce them to readers:

The writer profile at /author/{name}/: the member’s avatar, bio, post, view and follower counts, a Follow button, and all their published posts.
The author box under each post (new in 4.3.0): “Written by”, the writer’s name linked to their blog, a short bio and a Follow button.

Both are switched off on a new site and on a site upgraded from 3.x, because they change pages your theme already draws. You turn each one on when you want it.

Turn it on

Go to WB Plugins > Member Blog > Features.
Under On your site’s own pages, switch on:
- Writer profiles for the /author/{name}/ page.
- Clap and save under the article for the author box. The author box is part of what the plugin adds under a post, so it shares this switch with the clap and save buttons.
Click Save Features.

You can also use the Turn on buttons on the Overview tab, which offer these features while they are off.

Setting (Features tab)	What it does	Default
Writer profiles	Replaces your theme’s author archive with the writer profile	Off
Clap and save under the article	Adds the clap and save buttons and the author box after the last paragraph of every post	Off
Follow writers	Shows the Follow button on the profile and in the author box	On

“Clap and save under the article” needs Claps or Reading list switched on. With both off it is disabled, and so is the author box.

The writer profile

Part	What it shows
Header	Avatar, display name, and the Biographical Info from the member’s WordPress profile
Stats	Posts, views and followers
Follow button	For signed-in members viewing someone else’s profile, while Follow writers is on
Post grid	The member’s published posts, 12 per page, with numbered page links

The post grid uses the same cards as the rest of the plugin, so the clap and save buttons appear on them when Clap and save on post lists is on.

Paging. Page links go to real archive pages (/author/{name}/page/2/), so they work with your permalink settings. With WB Member Blog Pro’s Co-Authors module on, posts the member co-wrote are included in the grid and in its page count.

Empty profile. A writer with no published posts shows “{name} has not published anything yet.” On their own profile the member sees “You have not published anything yet.”

The author box

Under each single post, after the article (and before the related posts strip, if that is on):

Part	Who sees it
“Written by” and the writer’s name, linked to their blog	Everyone
Bio (the first 40 words of the Biographical Info)	Everyone, when the writer has filled it in
Follow button with follower count	Signed-in members reading someone else’s post
“Join to follow writers” link	Signed-out visitors, when your site allows registration
“Log in to follow writers” link	Signed-out visitors, when registration is closed

The writer does not see a Follow button on their own posts. When Follow writers is off, the box shows no button and no join link.

Themes with their own author box. On Reign and BuddyX Pro, the theme’s author box is hidden while this one shows, so a post never has two. Your theme setting is not changed; switching the plugin’s box off brings the theme’s back.

Where a writer’s name links to

Everywhere the plugin links a writer’s name (post cards, the author box, the author directory), the link goes to:

The member’s Blog tab on their profile, when BuddyPress, BuddyBoss or PeepSo is active.
Otherwise, /author/{name}/.

With BuddyPress or BuddyBoss active and writer profiles on, /author/{name}/ still renders the writer profile, and tells search engines the Blog tab is the preferred address, so the two pages do not compete in search results.

For developers

Hook	Use
`bpmb_takeover_author_archive`	Filter. Return `false` to leave the author archive to the theme, for everyone or per writer (receives the setting and the user ID).
`bpmb_writer_profile_per_page`	Filter. Posts per page on the profile (default 12).
`bpmb_writer_url`	Filter. Where a writer’s name links to.
`bpmb_writer_header`	Filter. The profile header HTML.
`bpmb_single_author_box`	Filter. Return `false` to keep your theme’s author box instead of the plugin’s.

To restyle the profile page, copy templates/writer-profile.php from the plugin to your-theme/buddypress-member-blog/writer-profile.php. The plugin uses your copy when it exists.