Troubleshooting
BuddyPress Reactions overviewPremiumGet BuddyPress Reactions →
The plugin deactivated itself right after activation
Section titled “The plugin deactivated itself right after activation”The plugin enforces its requirements on load and deactivates with an admin notice if any of these is true:
- BuddyPress is not active. Install and activate BuddyPress (8.0 or higher), then reactivate.
- The active theme is not supported. The plugin runs only on BuddyX, BuddyX Pro, or Reign. Switch to one of these themes.
- The Youzify plugin is active. The two are incompatible. Deactivate Youzify to use reactions.
The React button does not appear on activity posts
Section titled “The React button does not appear on activity posts”Check each of these:
- The current visitor is logged in. Reactions require authentication; guests never see the button.
- Enable reactions on activities is on under the Settings tab, and you clicked Save Settings.
- BuddyPress is active and the activity stream renders normally.
- The active theme is BuddyX, BuddyX Pro, or Reign.
The React button does not appear on comments, topics, or replies
Section titled “The React button does not appear on comments, topics, or replies”- Activity comments - enable Enable reactions on activity comments on the Settings tab.
- Forum topics/replies - enable them on the Forums tab. That tab only appears when bbPress (or BuddyBoss Platform) is active.
The Forums tab is missing
Section titled “The Forums tab is missing”The Forums tab is shown only when bbPress is active. Activate bbPress (or BuddyBoss Platform) and reload the settings screen.
Emojis show as broken images or blank boxes
Section titled “Emojis show as broken images or blank boxes”This usually follows a site migration or a partial database state. Go to the Settings tab and click Fix Broken Emojis. This re-populates the 204 default emojis and repairs broken references without touching existing reaction counts or member reaction records.
Both the Like button and the React button show together
Section titled “Both the Like button and the React button show together”That is the default (they coexist). To replace the Like or Favorite button with reactions, turn on Hide default Like/Favorite button on the Settings tab and save.
Reaction notifications are not being sent
Section titled “Reaction notifications are not being sent”Turn on Send notifications for reactions on the Settings tab and save. Notifications then appear in the recipient’s standard BuddyPress notifications area.
A stats widget shows nothing or looks out of date
Section titled “A stats widget shows nothing or looks out of date”- On a fresh install with no reactions yet, the widgets are empty by design.
- Widget results are cached in the WordPress object cache for one hour. With a persistent cache (Redis or Memcached), recent reactions may not appear until the cache expires. Clear the object cache to see them sooner.
My custom theme is not recognized
Section titled “My custom theme is not recognized”The activation theme check accepts only buddyx, buddyx-pro, and reign-theme, and it is not filterable. The buddyPress_reactions_theme_suuport filter only governs front-end asset loading, not the activation requirement. To run on another theme you would need to make it report one of the supported template slugs, which is not a supported configuration.