Feeds fade. Posts compound.
A status update scrolls away in a day. A long-form post gets indexed, searched, and shared for years. Member Blog gives your community a way to create content that lasts.
FREE · GPL WB Member Blog · v4.0.0 · Built for BuddyNext · Runs on any WordPress
Drop one shortcode. Members write.
Front-end publishing for any WordPress community. No wp-admin invitations, no template hacks.
Give every member a publishing home on their own profile: a writing form, drafts with auto-save, moderation you control, and shortcodes to surface their posts anywhere.
- GPLv2 licensed
- No license key
- Unlimited sites
- Shipping since 2018
Gutenberg page editor
Shortcode
[bp-member-blog] Renders the submission form. Logged-in members only. renders
Why we shipped the new module toggle
We kept hearing the same request in support: let members write from the front end without ever seeing wp-admin.
The new module toggle puts the whole editor inside the community, right where members already are.
Auto-saved 14s ago
Why it exists
The publishing tool your community always needed. Free.
Your community already has people with something to say. Member Blog turns them into writers: long-form posts, published from the front end, owned by your site.
Members never see wp-admin.
Writing happens on the member's own profile: a clean editor, drafts with auto-save, and a personal dashboard. No admin access to hand out, no second login, no broken experience.
Standard WordPress posts. No custom tables.
Every member post lands in wp_posts as a regular WordPress post. Yoast indexes it. Your theme renders it. Your SEO plugins pick it up. Your export ships it. Nothing custom to maintain, ever.
Free for 7 years. Free forever.
Shipping continuously since 2018. GPL v2. No license key. Unlimited sites. The Pro upgrade is there when you need premium modules, but the free plugin is the complete posting workflow on its own.
New in 4.0.0
Writers publish. Now readers stick around.
Version 4.0.0 adds the audience layer: writer profiles, following, claps, reading lists, and topic hubs. All of it in the free plugin, and all of it off until you switch it on.
Writer profiles at /author/
Every writer gets a public page at /author/{name}/ with an avatar, bio, post and view counts, and a Follow button. Works with or without a community plugin.
Follow writers and topics
Readers follow a writer, or a whole topic, and get a feed of what matters to them. An optional digest email rounds up what the writers they follow have published.
Claps and reading lists
Members clap for a post up to fifty times, and the public count tells the next reader it is worth their time. Save posts to a private reading list for later.
Topic hubs and featured posts
Category and tag archives become topic hubs: the topic description, the members writing about it, and their posts. Editors surface picks with the Featured Posts block.
Related posts and blocks
Related posts render under every article, and every shortcode the plugin ships now has a matching block for the editor.
Everything ships switched off
Updating an existing site changes nothing. Each feature has its own switch on the new Features screen, so you turn on exactly the audience layer you want.
Distribution
Six shortcodes, each with a matching block. Drop them where they belong.
One plugin installs once. Six shortcodes let you place the publishing form, the post grid, the popular feed, and the author list wherever your site flow calls for them. Theme builders welcome.
01
[bp-member-blog] Submission form
The publishing surface. Drop on a /write/ page or a member profile tab. Auto-detects logged-in members, hides the form from guests, renders the editor they picked in settings.
Where to put it /write/ · profile Blog tab
02
[member-blog-dashboard] Member dashboard
My drafts, my published, my pending review. The author home page.
03
[bp-member-blog-list] Posts grid or list
Paginated. Filter by category, tag, author. Theme inherits the styling.
04
[bp-member-blog-recent] Recent posts widget
Latest 5 or N posts. Sidebar, footer, homepage hero.
05
[bp-member-blog-popular] Popular posts
By views, comments, or activity engagement. Trending feed.
06
[bp-member-blog-authors] Authors listing
Every member who has published. Grid with avatars + counts.
Works in Gutenberg, Classic editor, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Bricks, Divi, and every page builder that renders shortcodes. No block, no widget, no setup wizard.
Writing experience
Members pick the editor they think in.
Three editor styles ship with the free plugin. Members choose in profile settings. Admins lock to one editor or allow free choice. Every editor saves to standard wp_posts and inherits your theme styling.
Editor.js
Notion-style blocks. Members compose with text, headings, images, embeds, quotes, lists, and code blocks. Each block is its own thing.
- Drag to reorder blocks
- Image and embed blocks
- Code and quote blocks
TinyMCE
The familiar WordPress WYSIWYG. The veteran admin's home. Buttons for bold, italic, headings, lists, links, blockquote, exactly where members expect them.
- Standard WordPress UX
- HTML view available
- Shortcode pass-through
Distraction-free
Title plus body. Formatting toolbar surfaces on text selection. The long-form surface members coming from Medium will recognize on first click.
- Formatting on selection
- Title + body, nothing else
- Auto-save every 60 seconds
Plus, across every editor:
- Auto-save drafts every 60 seconds
- Featured image + media library
- Categories, tags, activity entries
- Mobile-responsive on every theme
- CJK word counting for Asian languages
- REST + AJAX image upload endpoints
Platform support
Activate the plugin. The right UI shows up.
Built for BuddyNext, our community engine, and it runs on plain WordPress out of the box. Third-party community plugins are auto-detected on activation: the Blog tab appears in the right place with the right styling.
BN
BuddyNext
Our engineMember Blog and BuddyNext come from the same team. Member blogs run inside BuddyNext communities over its app-ready REST API, and BuddyNext installs in one click from the Discover screen.
Third-party integrations
BP
BuddyPress
Most commonBlog tab on every member profile. Posts surface in activity feed. Role-based access. Notifications via BP API.
BB
BuddyBoss Platform
NativeNative member-type support. Group privacy honored. BuddyBoss app activity action format. Compatible with BuddyBoss themes.
PS
PeepSo
Profile tabProfile tab next to Activity / About. Posts render in the PeepSo stream. PeepSo media library reuse.
WP
Standalone WordPress
No plugin neededNo community plugin? Members get a publishing dashboard on the WP user profile. Magazine sites and course platforms run fine without BuddyPress.
Admin control
Members write. You decide what publishes.
Three publishing workflows ship in the free plugin. Pick the one your community needs, switch later. The pending queue uses the standard WordPress post review screen, so your existing moderation muscle memory works on day one.
- Auto-publish Trusted members publish straight to live. Their posts appear in the activity feed instantly.
- Pending review Every member post lands in the pending queue. Admin reviews on the standard WordPress posts screen. Approve, edit, or send back.
- Hybrid by role Specific roles auto-publish, others go to pending. Editors trusted, contributors moderated. Set once in the plugin settings panel.
Posts pending review
3- Pending Approve Edit
Migrating from Medium, part 1
- Pending Approve Edit
A field schema for product reviews
- Draft View
Why we ship modular plugins
When you outgrow free
Need a paywall, custom fields, or co-authors? Pro layers in.
The free plugin is the complete posting workflow for single-site communities. When you need to monetize, structure, or collaborate, WB Member Blog Pro adds nine independent modules on top. Same plugin underneath. Toggle each on or off in admin.
Pro · paid upgrade
See Pro → WB Member Blog Pro
9 modules · from $49 Personal · $99 Professional · $129 Agency
- Post Credits Membership-tier paywall. WC + PMPro + MemberPress + WC Memberships.
- Co-Authors Invite collaborators. Shared byline. Per-post edit access.
- Custom Fields 15 field types with conditional logic. Reviews, recipes, classifieds.
- Post Series Multi-part guides. Series navigation shortcode with prev/next.
- Group Blogs BP + BuddyBoss group admins publish for their groups.
- Restrictions Per-role + per-member-type post caps with upgrade-popup conversion.
- Scheduling Members schedule future-dated posts from the front-end form.
- Notifications Email + on-site BuddyPress notifications, linked direct to posts.
- Analytics Per-member publishing dashboard. Counts, streaks, credit balances.
Free remains required. Pro extends what's already working.
Free, Personal, Agency
Start free. Add Pro modules when you monetize.
The free plugin is the complete posting workflow for single-site communities. Pro layers nine independent modules on top: paywall, co-authors, custom fields, series, group blogs, and more. Every Pro tier is available annual or lifetime, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Read the refund policy.
WB Member Blog
Free forever
Free
Unlimited sites · no license key
- Front-end blog tab on every member profile
- Standard WordPress posts, no custom tables
- 8 shortcodes for listing + submission
- Moderation queue for member posts
- Works with BuddyPress and BuddyBoss
Most popular
WB Member Blog Pro
Personal
$49 /year
or lifetime $149 once
1 site
- Everything in free
- Post Credits: membership-tier paywall
- Co-Authors with shared bylines
- Custom fields + post series
- Group blogs + restrictions
- Scheduling, notifications, analytics
WB Member Blog Pro
Agency
$129 /year
or lifetime $349 once
Unlimited sites
- Everything in Pro Personal
- Unlimited sites, client projects included
- All nine Pro modules on every site
- Priority support
Need 5 sites? Pro Professional $99/year, 5 sites, or lifetime $299 once.
FAQ
Before you install.
Answered by the team building the plugin. Anything else, the contact page gets a same-day reply.
I'm updating from 3.x. Will my site change?
No. Every new 4.0.0 feature arrives switched off: your author archives, posts, and member dashboards stay exactly as they are until you turn a feature on from the new Features screen.
Is it really free? What's the catch?
Truly free, GPLv2 licensed, no license key, unlimited sites. The Pro upgrade is optional. If you only need the free plugin, you have the complete posting workflow on its own. No usage limit, no nag, no email capture wall.
Do I need a community plugin to use it?
No. It runs on plain WordPress and gives members a publishing dashboard on their user profile. With BuddyNext, our community engine, member blogs become part of the community. Third-party plugins (BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, PeepSo) are auto-detected and get a Blog tab on member profiles.
Will it conflict with my SEO plugin or theme?
No. Member posts are standard WordPress posts in wp_posts. Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO index them normally. Elementor, Gutenberg, Bricks, Divi all render them with your theme's single post template. No special template overrides needed.
Can members publish without a wp-admin login?
Yes, that's the point. The submission form is a shortcode you drop on any page. Logged-in subscribers and contributors publish straight from there. Their wp-admin access stays at default (none).
How does moderation work?
Three workflows ship in the free plugin: auto-publish (members are trusted), pending review (admin approves each), or hybrid (specific roles auto-publish, others go to pending). The pending queue uses the standard WordPress posts review screen, so your existing workflow already works.
Which editor should I default to for members?
Editor.js is the modern default - block-style, similar to what members already use in Notion or modern Medium. Classic TinyMCE for users who prefer WYSIWYG. Medium-style for distraction-free long-form. Admins can lock to one editor or allow members to pick in their profile settings.
How does auto-save work?
Every 60 seconds while a draft is open, the plugin saves the current content to a server-side draft cache. Closed tab, dropped connection, browser crash - open the editor again, the draft is restored. Members never lose work.
Does it work with Multisite?
Yes. Activate per-site or network-wide. Each site has its own posts. Network admins can set defaults via wp-config constants if needed.
Can I migrate Medium content in?
Yes - via Medium's export ZIP plus the official Medium importer plugin for WordPress. Posts land as standard WordPress posts; reassign them to the right author from the admin posts screen. New content uses the plugin's frontend flow.
When should I upgrade to Pro?
When you need any of: a paywall (Post Credits with PMPro / MemberPress integrations), invited co-authors with shared bylines, 15-type custom field schemas, multi-part Post Series with prev/next nav, group blog posting on BP / BuddyBoss, post limits per role or member type, scheduled publishing, advanced notifications, or per-member analytics. The free plugin remains required - Pro layers on top.
Free forever · GPLv2 · Unlimited sites
Give your members a publishing home today.
Install the plugin. Drop a shortcode. Members start writing on the same domain they already follow. Zero per-seat cost. Zero waiting list.
No license key · Activate and ship · Shipping continuously since 2018