User Guide – Wbcom Designs Docs

Overview

The BuddyPress Birthday Widget displays upcoming birthdays of your community members in a beautiful, responsive format. Perfect for keeping your community engaged and celebrating special moments together!

Features

Smart Birthday Display: Show birthdays for all members, friends, or followers

Flexible Time Ranges: Weekly, monthly, or unlimited view

Today’s Birthday Highlighting: Special styling for today’s celebrations

Age Display: Optional “Turning X” age format

Direct Messaging: Send birthday wishes via private messages

Mobile Responsive: Works perfectly on all devices

Theme Compatible: Inherits your theme’s colors and fonts

Installation

Via WordPress Admin

Go to Plugins > Add New

Search for “BuddyPress Birthday Widget”

Click Install Now and then Activate

Manual Installation

Upload the plugin files to /wp-content/plugins/buddypress-birthdays/

Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress

Setup Requirements

1. BuddyPress Profile Fields

Before using the widget, you need a birthday field in BuddyPress:

Go to Users > Profile Fields

Click Add New Field

Choose field type: Date Selector or Birth Date

Set field name (e.g., “Birthday”, “Date of Birth”)

Make the field Required (recommended)

Set appropriate visibility level

2. Widget Configuration

Go to Appearance > Widgets

Find ”(BuddyPress) Birthdays” widget

Drag it to your desired sidebar

Configure the settings (see below)

Widget Settings

Basic Settings

Title

Default: “Upcoming Birthdays”

Customize to match your community style

Number of birthdays to show

Default: 5

Range: 1-20 (recommended)

Display Options

Show the age of the person

✅ Enabled: Shows “Turning 25″

❌ Disabled: Age hidden for privacy

Birthday range limit

No Limit: Shows birthdays for next 365 days

Next 7 Days: Shows only this week’s birthdays

Next 30 Days: Shows only this month’s birthdays

Show Birthdays of

All Members: Everyone on the site

Friends: Only BuddyPress friends (if Friends component active)

Followings: Only followed users (if Follow plugin active)

Advanced Settings

Display Name Type

User name: Shows username (john_doe)

Nick name: Shows nickname from profile

First Name: Shows first name only

Date Format

F d: January 15

M j: Jan 15

j F: 15 January

j M: 15 Jan

Custom: Use PHP date format codes

Field’s name

Select the birthday field created in Profile Fields

Only shows Date/Birth Date field types

Enable option to wish them

✅ Enabled: Shows email icon to send wishes

❌ Disabled: Display only (no messaging)

Select Emoji

None: No emoji decoration

🎂 Cake: Birthday cake emoji

🎈 Balloon: Balloon emoji

🎉 Party: Party emoji

Using the Widget

What Users See

Today’s Birthdays

🎂 Upcoming Birthdays

├── John Smith – Today! 🎉

└── Jane Doe – Today! 🎉

Upcoming Birthdays

🎂 Upcoming Birthdays

├── Alice Brown (Turning 25) – Jan 15 🎈

├── Bob Johnson (Turning 30) – Jan 20 🎈

└── Carol Wilson (Turning 28) – Feb 5 🎈

Sending Birthday Wishes

Click the 📧 email icon next to any birthday

Redirects to BuddyPress compose message

Recipient is automatically filled

Type your birthday message

Send!

Shortcode Usage

Display birthdays anywhere with the shortcode:

[bp_birthdays]

Shortcode Attributes

[bp_birthdays

title=”Team Birthdays”

limit=”3″

show_age=”no”

date_format=”M j”

range_limit=”weekly”

show_birthdays_of=”friends”

emoji=”cake”

]

Available Attributes:

title: Widget title

limit: Number to display (1-20)

show_age: yes/no

show_message_button: yes/no

date_format: PHP date format

range_limit: weekly/monthly/no_limit

show_birthdays_of: all/friends/followers

display_name_type: user_name/nick_name/first_name

emoji: none/cake/balloon/party

field_name: Birthday field ID

Troubleshooting

No Birthdays Showing

Check Profile Fields

Ensure birthday field exists in Users > Profile Fields

Field type must be “Date Selector” or “Birth Date”

Field must have data from users

Check Widget Settings

Verify correct field selected in widget

Check birthday range limit (try “No Limit”)

Ensure visibility settings allow display

Check User Data

Users must fill their birthday field

Birthday field visibility must not be “Only Me”

Check if you’re filtering by friends/followers

Wrong Dates Showing

Timezone Issues

Check Settings > General > Timezone

Ensure WordPress timezone matches your location

Clear widget cache (save widget settings)

Date Format Issues

Try different date format in widget settings

Use standard formats like “F d” or “M j”

Performance Issues

Large Communities

Use “Friends” or “Followers” filter instead of “All Members”

Reduce number of birthdays displayed

Consider weekly/monthly range limits

Privacy & Visibility

User Privacy Control

Users can control birthday visibility via:

Profile > Edit > Privacy Settings

Set birthday field visibility:
- Public: Everyone can see
- Logged In Users: Members only
- Friends: Friends only
- Only Me: Hidden from widget

Admin Considerations

Respect user privacy choices

Consider community guidelines

Test with different user roles

Monitor performance on large sites

Best Practices

Community Engagement

Enable birthday wishes messaging

Use friendly, welcoming title

Consider monthly range for active communities

Enable age display for closer communities

Performance Optimization

Use friends/followers filter for large sites

Set reasonable display limits (5-10)

Enable caching plugins

Monitor server resources

Design Integration

Widget inherits theme styling automatically

Customize title to match your brand

Choose emoji that fits community tone

Test on mobile devices

Support

Common Solutions

Clear Cache: Save widget settings to refresh

Check Requirements: BuddyPress must be active

Verify Data: Users need birthday data

Test Settings: Try “All Members” + “No Limit”

Getting Help

Check plugin documentation

Review BuddyPress compatibility

Test with default theme

Contact plugin support

Celebrate together, stay together! 🎂