User Publishing Settings
Open WP Stories (under the WB Plugins menu) and select the User Publishing tab to control how users create and submit stories.
Display Existing Stories
Section titled “Display Existing Stories”When enabled, the posting form lists the member’s current story items (photo or video, link and date) so they can delete them there. Off by default; members can always delete items from the viewer’s … menu or their profile Stories page.
Default Publication Status
Section titled “Default Publication Status”Controls what happens when a user submits a new story:
- Published - Stories go live immediately.
- Draft - Stories are saved as drafts (visible only to admins in the backend).
- Pending Review - Stories require admin approval before being published.
- Private - Stories are saved as private posts.
Use Draft or Pending Review if you want to moderate story content before it becomes visible.
Story Submission Limit
Section titled “Story Submission Limit”The maximum number of live stories each member can have at once. Only published stories that have not expired count, so a member can post again once an older story expires or is deleted.
Default: 10 stories.
Content Limit Per Story
Section titled “Content Limit Per Story”Defines the maximum number of items (images or videos) allowed within a single story. Each story can contain multiple slides; this setting caps that number.
Default: 10 items.
Story Duration
Section titled “Story Duration”How long each photo shows in the viewer, in seconds, before it moves to the next item. Videos play to their end unless the member sets a duration on that item.
Default: 6 seconds.
Maximum File Size
Section titled “Maximum File Size”Sets the upload file size limit in megabytes (MB) for story media. Users will not be able to upload files exceeding this size.
A file over the limit shows “This file is too big - Choose one under 10 MB” (with your limit) and is refused by the server as well, even if the browser check is bypassed. Set to 0 to turn the limit off. Note that server-level PHP limits (upload_max_filesize and post_max_size) still apply regardless of this setting.
Default: 10 MB.
Allowed File Types
Section titled “Allowed File Types”Choose which photo and video formats members can add to a story. The checkbox grid lists every format your WordPress site accepts; the common ones are checked by default, and ticked formats are allowed.
Default: formats every browser can play - JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF photos, MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM and OGV videos. Formats such as AVI, WMV, MKV or HEIC are left unticked because most browsers cannot play them, so a story using them would upload but not show. SVG files are never allowed.
If a member picks a format you have not allowed, the form shows “Can’t use this file - Choose a photo or video” and the file is not uploaded.
Available Visibility Options
Section titled “Available Visibility Options”Select which privacy levels members can choose from when posting a story. Tick any combination in the checkbox grid; members see only the options you enable.
| Option | Who can see the story |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Anyone, including logged-out visitors. |
| Only me (and site admins) | The author, and site administrators. |
| All Members | Any logged-in user. |
| My Friends | The author, and the author’s friends. Requires the BuddyPress Friends component or the PeepSo Friends add-on. |
Two points worth being clear about, because both have surprised people:
“Only Me” is not invisible to you. It has always been readable by site
administrators - the value stored behind it is literally adminsonly. Before
2.4.2 the member-facing label said “Private - Only you”, which was misleading, so
it now reads “Private - You and site admins”. Nothing about the behaviour
changed; only the label. If you need stories that even administrators cannot
read, this setting is not that, and the plugin does not offer it.
Friends-only got wider in 2.4.2. The friendship lookup previously only ran inside the activity stream, so on a member profile or a shortcode page a friends-only story behaved as if it were private. It now resolves friendships everywhere, which is what the option always claimed to do. If your members posted friends-only stories before 2.4.2 expecting them to be near-invisible, those stories are now visible to their friends on every surface.
Authorized User Roles
Section titled “Authorized User Roles”Specify which WordPress user roles have permission to create and publish stories. Only users with the selected roles will see the story submission form. Tick one or more roles in the checkbox grid; the grid has select-all and clear-all controls.
Members outside these roles do not see the Your story control or the posting form, and the site refuses a story upload from them even if it is sent directly. When no role is ticked, every logged-in member can post.