BuddyPress Private Community User Guide

1. Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin through the WordPress admin
3. Navigate to WB Plugins → Private Community

When you first access Private Community, you’ll see five tabs:

• 🏠 Welcome – Overview and quick start
• 🔓 Partial Protection – Protect specific pages/sections
• 🔒 Full Protection – Lock entire site
• ⚙️ Protection Rules – Configure protection behavior
• 🆘 Support – Help and documentation

Best for: Sites that need some public content

• Protect specific URLs or pages
• Lock BuddyPress/BuddyBoss components
• Allow public access to most content

Best for: Private communities, membership sites

• Lock entire website
• Define whitelist for public pages
• Force login for all content

⚠️ Important: Full Protection always overrides Partial Protection settings.

1. Go to Partial Protection tab
2. In the URLs to Protect textarea, enter one URL per line:

   /members
   /private-content
   /premium-resources
   

You can use asterisks (*) for pattern matching:

/blog/*           # All blog posts
/shop/products/*  # All product pages
*/private/*       # Any URL containing /private/
*.pdf            # All PDF files

If you have BuddyPress/BuddyBoss installed:

1. Check the components you want to protect:
   • ☑️ Members Directory
   • ☑️ Groups
   • ☑️ Activity Streams
2. Click Save Changes

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.

Note: Full Protection overrides these settings

1. Go to Full Protection tab
2. Check ☑️ Enable Complete Site Protection
3. Your entire site is now private!

Add URLs that should remain public. By default, these are whitelisted:

# Homepage (remove this line to protect homepage too)
/
# WordPress Login Page (required)
wp-login.php
wp-admin
admin-ajax.php

# Add your public pages below:
/about
/contact
/terms

# Exact URLs
/public-page
/contact-form

# Wildcards
/api/*           # All API endpoints
/public/*        # All URLs starting with /public/
*.xml           # All XML files (sitemaps, feeds)
*.txt           # robots.txt, etc.

# WordPress Core
/wp-json/*      # REST API
/feed           # RSS feed

Click Save Changes to activate full protection.

Shows a built-in login/register form:

• Clean, integrated design
• Works without additional setup
• Includes login and registration options

Display your own content:

• Add custom HTML
• Use shortcodes
• Embed third-party forms

Example:

<div class="custom-locked-content">
  <h2>Members Onlyh2>
  <p>This content requires membership.p>
  [your_custom_login_shortcode]
div>

Redirect visitors to a specific page:

1. Select Page Redirect
2. Choose your login/membership page
3. Visitors automatically redirect

Customize the message shown to locked-out visitors:

1. Use the visual editor to format your message
2. Add images, links, or videos
3. Include a call-to-action

Example message:

Welcome to Our Exclusive Community!

This content is available to members only. Join today to access:

• Premium resources
• Member discussions
• Exclusive content

[Login] or [Register] to continue.

Goal: Paid members-only content

Setup:

1. Enable Full Protection
2. Whitelist:
   • Homepage
   • Pricing page
   • Registration page
   • Payment pages
3. Set redirect to membership sales page

Goal: Employee-only access

Setup:

1. Enable Full Protection
2. Whitelist only:
   • Login page
   • Password reset
3. Custom message: “Company employees only”

Goal: Some posts public, some private

Setup:

1. Use Partial Protection
2. Protect URLs:

   /premium/*
   /members-only/*
   
3. Keep main blog public

Goal: Public homepage, private community

Setup:

1. Use Partial Protection
2. Check all BuddyPress components
3. Add community pages to protected URLs
4. Keep marketing pages public

Goal: Free previews, paid courses

Setup:

1. Use Partial Protection
2. Protect:

   /courses/*/lessons/*
   /courses/*/quizzes/*
   
3. Keep course overviews public

Check these:

1. Clear your browser cache
2. Clear any caching plugins
3. Log out completely (use incognito mode to test)
4. Verify URLs are entered correctly
5. Check if Full Protection is overriding Partial Protection

Solutions:

1. Check Protection Method setting
2. Ensure theme compatibility
3. Look for JavaScript errors in console
4. Disable conflicting plugins temporarily

Fix:

1. Ensure login page is whitelisted
2. Check redirect page isn’t protected
3. Clear cookies and cache
4. Verify WordPress Address settings

Verify:

1. Users are properly logged in
2. User roles and capabilities
3. No conflicting membership plugins
4. Session/cookie issues

Steps:

1. Click Save Changes button
2. Clear all caches:
   • Browser cache
   • Plugin cache
   • CDN cache
3. Test in incognito/private mode

A: Yes! Add their URLs to the protected URLs list. Use wildcards for patterns.

A: Protected pages won’t be indexed by search engines. Consider keeping key pages public for SEO.

A: Currently, one message applies to all protected content. Use the Custom Form method with conditional shortcodes for variety.

A: Yes, compatible with popular builders like Elementor, Divi, and Gutenberg.

A: Yes, any logged-in user bypasses protection. For role-based access, consider additional membership plugins.

A:

• * matches any characters
• /blog/* matches /blog/post-1, /blog/category/news
• */private/* matches /section/private/content
• Pattern matching is case-insensitive

A: Direct file protection requires server configuration. The plugin protects attachment pages, not direct file URLs.

A: Deactivate the plugin or uncheck all protection settings.

A: Settings are stored in the WordPress database. Use standard WordPress export/import tools.

A: Yes, activate per-site or network-wide. Each site maintains independent settings.

1.  Always whitelist login pages
2.  Use strong passwords
3.  Keep plugin updated
4.  Regular backups

1.  Use caching wisely
2. Minimize protected URLs
3.  Optimize whitelist rules
4.  Monitor server resources

1.  Clear, friendly locked messages
2.  Obvious login/register options
3.  Mobile-responsive forms
4.  Quick loading times

1.  Test as logged-out user
2.  Check mobile experience
3.  Verify all protected URLs
4.  Test in different browsers

# Exact match
/exact-page

# All subpages
/parent/*

# Specific file types
*.pdf
*.doc

# Complex patterns
/blog/*/comments
/shop/product-*/reviews

# Always include
wp-login.php
wp-admin
admin-ajax.php

# Often needed
/wp-json/*      # REST API
xmlrpc.php      # XML-RPC
/feed          # RSS feeds

1. Logged-in users → Full access
2. Full Protection whitelist → Public access
3. Full Protection → Protected
4. Partial Protection URLs → Protected
5. Everything else → Public

• 📧 Email: support@wbcomdesigns.com
• 📚 Documentation: Check Support tab
• 🐛 Bug Reports: WordPress.org support forum
• 💡 Feature Requests: Contact support team

1. Check this guide
2. Review FAQ section
3. Test in default theme
4. Disable other plugins
5. Check error logs

• WordPress version
• Plugin version
• Active theme
• Other active plugins
• Steps to reproduce issue
• Error messages (if any)

Whitelist: URLs that remain publicly accessible

Wildcard: Pattern matching using * character

Protection Method: How locked content is handled

BuddyPress Components: Social features like members, groups, activity

URL Pattern: Rules for matching multiple URLs

Incognito/Private Mode: Browser mode for testing as logged-out user