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Release notes / BuddyNext
Free Plugin Plugin

BuddyNext

Standing up a community usually means BuddyPress plus a dozen add-ons to patch the gaps. BuddyNext is a complete community platform in one free plugin: activity feed, spaces, member profiles, direct messaging, a member directory, and a full moderation suite. Fast at any size, yours to run forever.

8 releases
v1.0.7 latest
July 9, 2026 shipped
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v1.0.7 Latest

July 9, 2026
New 7 Improve 7 Fix 16 Security 1 Dev 2 Compat 1

New

  • Private Community lockdown so the whole community can be members-only, with a buddynext_private_community_can_access filter to customise access.
  • "Get your community live" first-run setup checklist on the admin dashboard that auto-tracks your setup progress and dismisses when done.
  • Two-way discussion sync between the activity feed and Jetonomy forums, propagating edits and deletes both ways.
  • Unban control for members banned from a space, so an owner can reverse a ban from the space settings.
  • Unpin control on a space's pinned-posts strip.
  • Unread direct-message badge on the header Messages icon.
  • "Resend verification email" action in the composer when a member's email is not yet verified.

Improve

  • The add-field form now sets "Show on registration" directly and explains what each field type does.
  • The Skills profile group can now be removed, like the other starter groups.
  • The three gamification profile tabs are folded into a single Achievements tab.
  • Error toasts stay longer and are dismissible instead of auto-hiding early.
  • Space discussion buttons open the new-topic composer directly.
  • Members stay on the community front end after login and logout.
  • Dark mode now covers native form controls, skill chips, leaderboard badges, and the BuddyX and Reign mode toggle.

Fix

  • The delete-group confirmation in the profile-fields admin no longer overlaps the toolbar controls.
  • The profile "Edit avatar" and "Edit cover" links now open the matching picker.
  • Spaces filter pills no longer shrink or vibrate on hover, verified on BuddyX and Reign.
  • Reposting no longer fails silently and single-post comments toggle correctly.
  • Private images now display in the media lightbox for viewers allowed to see them.
  • The mobile bottom navigation no longer covers Save and Cancel on the Profile Edit and Settings screens.
  • Navigation and profile-tab labels now respect the active translation.
  • The post pin label no longer reads "Pin to profile" inside a space.
  • The gamification "on cooldown" points nag is suppressed; points are awarded silently.
  • Turning off the desktop sidebar rail no longer leaves an empty column on hub pages; content reflows to full width.
  • Member profiles with an empty sidebar no longer show a large blank gap on the right.
  • The Spaces directory count now matches the spaces shown instead of also counting hidden sub-spaces.
  • Profile action menus, the Share popover, and the Block and Report dialogs now close when you click outside them.
  • The "Remove Demo Data" button stays readable on hover instead of turning blank.
  • The media lightbox comment box now matches the BuddyNext style and centres its empty state instead of inheriting the theme's fonts and leaving a blank gap.
  • Linking an existing discussion in a space's settings now shows an error if the search request fails, instead of silently returning no results.

Security

  • Media lightbox actions are gated to logged-in viewers.

Dev

  • New buddynext_redirect_url filter for login and logout redirect control.
  • Notification and PageRouter audit fixes: removed dead code and corrected dependency wiring.

Compat

  • Aligned with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.7. Install both updates together.

v1.0.5

July 6, 2026
New 4 Improve 3 Fix 12 Security 1 Dev 1

New

  • Media shared to the community links back to the activity it was posted in; a dedicated per-item media page is opt-in under Settings.
  • Direct messages gain per-conversation mute, load-older history, and in-thread search.
  • Scheduled posts get an hourly catch-up sweep so a missed cron never strands a post.
  • The member profile API exposes the Profile Strength checklist, and developers can reshape the checklist for custom profile schemas via a filter.

Improve

  • One navigation source powers both the web rail and the native app, so menus stay in sync.
  • Visiting Notifications clears the unread badge, and search adds a debounced typeahead with viewer-scoped visibility so members find only spaces they can see.
  • Onboarding can seed opt-in sample content from the setup wizard, and companion installs retry per row.

Fix

  • Authentication hardening: login rate-limiting, an email-verification gate before first sign-in, and an application-password token flow for the native app.
  • Spaces: a deleted space returns a proper 404 instead of a fatal, decline notifications send, and member avatars resolve in the API.
  • Followers and following lists respect connection visibility.
  • Auto-moderation matches on word boundaries (no false positives on substrings) and covers profiles and direct messages; bulk moderation runs asynchronously with progress.
  • Required profile fields are enforced on the full write path, and member-directory visibility honors the configured tier.
  • Search suggestions return grouped results and boost exact and prefix name matches.
  • Toggle switches keep a visible off-state track, the selected tab keeps its highlight, and modal close buttons keep their hover state under themed buttons.
  • Profile completion rewards fire only when the completion percentage actually changes, closing a refresh-to-farm-points loophole and a repeating cooldown notice.
  • Hashtag, mention, member, and space links resolve correctly on sites that renamed their community page slugs.
  • The profile completion reward milestone now follows the Profile Strength checklist members actually see, so finishing the visible tasks triggers it reliably.
  • Reshared posts cap their image and video preview height instead of filling the screen on wide layouts.
  • Email unsubscribe now shows a clear confirmation, digest unsubscribes actually stop digest emails, and digest emails carry working links instead of raw placeholders.

Security

  • Registration and auth stay self-contained (in-house spam protection and optional TOTP two-factor); no third-party captcha is reintroduced.

Dev

  • Outbound webhooks cover membership events with a filterable catalogue, 30-day log retention, auto-disable on repeated failure, and PATCH updates.

v1.0.4

July 2, 2026
New 12 Improve 17 Fix 44 Dev 3 Compat 1

New

  • Members can pick their interests from your space categories during onboarding and edit them any time on their profile, where each interest links to the matching spaces in the directory.
  • People and space suggestions are now personalized by the interests each member picks, so a brand-new member sees relevant members and spaces to follow and join from their very first session.
  • The For You feed ranks posts from spaces in a member's picked interests higher, and Explore suggests popular spaces from those interests instead of only the newest ones.
  • Developers can add their own per-space settings that appear on the space management screen, save automatically, and are available over the REST API - the same system the built-in space settings now use.
  • Profile sections can be limited to a member type, so each type gets its own profile fields - a restricted section appears only on profiles of members with that type and never on the signup form.
  • Every profile field can carry owner-written help text under its name and an example placeholder inside the input, shown on both the profile editor and the signup form.
  • A My Spaces view at /spaces/mine/ lists the spaces a member belongs to, with a friendly empty state.
  • Direct messages show a live typing indicator while the other person writes.
  • A read-only Email Log in the admin lists every message the community has sent, so owners can answer "did that email go out" without guesswork.
  • Connection request rows show the requester's headline and how many connections you share.
  • Space cards in the directory show how many sub-spaces a space has, counting only the ones the viewer is allowed to see.
  • The admin spaces list shows each space's last activity and can sort by it, so you can tell active spaces from quiet ones at a glance.

Improve

  • Core profile fields (bio, headline, location) are now protected from accidental deletion, so search and member cards keep working no matter how the profile form is customized.
  • The Social Links, Work Experience, and Education profile sections can now be removed when they do not fit your community; profile pages simply hide a section that is gone.
  • Deleting a profile field or group that holds member data now shows exactly how many members are affected and asks you to type its name to confirm, and the cleanup runs in small background batches so large sites stay responsive.
  • Member lists inside a space and nested sub-spaces stay fast in very large communities.
  • Per-space settings no longer load on every page request, keeping large sites fast as the number of spaces grows.
  • All email subject lines now follow one consistent style; your own customized subjects are left untouched.
  • The admin left navigation and stacked toggle rows now breathe with the same calm rhythm as the rest of the Wbcom admin family.
  • License moved to its own entry in the WordPress admin menu, so activating it no longer means hunting through tabs.
  • Every guest-facing login and register link routes through the community's branded auth pages instead of the bare WordPress form.
  • Members read as offline the moment they log out, and the feed's new-post check stops re-counting when nothing changed.
  • Choosing a member type at signup now shows each type's description, not just its name.
  • Integration Display is rebuilt as one card per integration with proper switches and descriptions instead of a plain checkbox list.
  • The admin works comfortably on iPad: the navigation keeps its sidebar layout instead of pushing content below the fold.
  • The Webhooks screen now uses the full panel width and lays event choices out as a comfortable grid.
  • Logo fields now use the WordPress media library with a preview and Remove button instead of a bare file input.
  • Settings cards fill the panel on every screen with inputs capped at a comfortable reading width, and the Custom CSS box gains syntax highlighting.
  • The Navigation screen leads with plain language; developer hook names and the capability field now live behind For developers and Advanced disclosures.

Fix

  • Required profile fields are now enforced when saving: an empty value is rejected with a clear message next to the field instead of being silently accepted.
  • The setup wizard's profile sections now create the same real field types as a fresh install (URL inputs, date pickers, yes/no checkboxes) instead of plain text boxes with mismatched field names.
  • A photo added to the activity composer is shared only when you click Post; removing it or leaving the page no longer publishes it on its own.
  • Sharing a photo from the media viewer now opens the full Share menu with Repost and Copy link instead of silently copying the page link.
  • Deleting a space now keeps its sub-spaces by moving them to the top level, instead of leaving them stranded under a space that no longer exists.
  • The privacy choice on each Work Experience and Education entry is saved and shown correctly after you reload the profile editor.
  • The site-wide login redirect setting is now honored, so members land on the page you configured after signing in.
  • The after-login, after-logout, and after-onboarding redirect fields on Registration & Login now save, so the destinations you set are actually applied.
  • Signing in from a page a caching layer served stale no longer fails with "Cookie check failed" - the form retries with a freshly minted security token instead of re-sending the stale one baked into the cached page.
  • The email verification message is now actually sent when you require email verification; it was silently dropped, leaving new members waiting on the "check your inbox" screen forever.
  • The Welcome email now uses the template you edit in the admin; it previously sent built-in copy no matter what you wrote.
  • The confirmation popup for removing media or deleting an album now explains what you are confirming; it previously opened with empty text.
  • Removed a repeated PHP notice about translations loading too early that filled the debug log on WordPress 6.7 and newer.
  • The community rail and mobile navigation toggles can now actually be turned off; unchecking them previously saved but silently reverted to on.
  • Changing a community page slug now takes effect immediately instead of returning "page not found" until permalinks were re-saved by hand.
  • Turning an integration menu off no longer silently disables its sub-tabs behind the scenes when you next save the screen.
  • Resetting an email template to default now restores the standard copy immediately; it previously left that email silently disabled until re-saved.
  • The media lightbox reaction bar now honors your enabled-reactions choice instead of always showing all six.
  • The email digest setting now reflects its real state; a fresh install previously displayed Disabled while digests were actually on.
  • The allowed email domains list is now enforced even when spam protection is switched off; it is an access policy, not a spam check.
  • The member data-export and account-deletion permissions can now actually be turned off on a fresh install.
  • New spaces now honor the default space type chosen in Spaces settings; the create dialog previously always preselected Open.
  • Deleting a member now also removes their pending email-verification tokens immediately.
  • Values saved in owner-created repeater profile groups now persist; they previously vanished after a success message.
  • Removed a PHP warning that fired on profiles whose fields hold multiple values, such as interests.
  • BuddyNext emails now always carry your configured sender identity, even when another plugin overrides the site-wide email sender.
  • Registration works out of the box: a fresh install now enables WordPress registration to match the plugin's default Open mode.
  • New members are searchable immediately in the members directory, messages, and site search, even on hosts where background jobs cannot run.
  • The onboarding wizard respects private spaces: joining one now sends a join request instead of granting instant membership, and the wizard only suggests open spaces.
  • Demo data files every space under a category so the directory's category filters work from the first click.
  • The Integrations screen no longer shows a Save button with nothing to save, drops a duplicate Connected label, and its description now matches the companion grid it shows.
  • Keyword rules set to Block now reject a new member's post instead of only holding it for review; a block always outranks a hold.
  • Posts using a banned hashtag are now rejected as the setting promises; previously the tag was silently dropped while the post published.
  • Blocked domains now also catch links pasted into the post text and subdomains of a blocked entry, not just the attached link field.
  • Moderation Log entries now record what was acted on and show correct times on hosts whose database timezone is not UTC.
  • Choosing a member type in the directory now filters the member list, and each type count matches the members shown when you open it.
  • A private space now shows a single join button instead of two.
  • The direct-message typing indicator clears as soon as you stop typing or send, instead of lingering.
  • The profile Media tab, albums, and other interactive profile sections load reliably, and album dialogs no longer flash open on page load.
  • The "loading more posts" indicator shows a clean loading bar instead of an empty bordered box.
  • Dragging a navigation tab by its handle in Settings > Navigation now reorders it; the drag was previously ignored, forcing you to edit each tab's position number by hand.
  • On your profile Activity tab, the post box now has a gap below it instead of sitting flush against the first post.
  • A secret space's name no longer appears in the browser tab title for members who cannot see the space.
  • Sharing works from the profile feed too; the share dialog previously opened only on the main feed.

Dev

  • Add-on plugins can register their own community hubs (pages, rules, templates) through the new HubRegistry, and their own template directories via buddynext_template_locations.
  • Bundled Action Scheduler updated to 4.0.0.
  • Every member-delete path funnels through one canonical purge event, including the WordPress GDPR eraser.

Compat

  • Requires PHP 8.1. Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.4 - install both updates together.

v1.0.3

June 1, 2026
New 4 Improve 9 Fix 13 Dev 1 Compat 1

New

  • Members can upload photos and videos from their profile Media tab, choose who can see each upload, and the media appears in the activity feed right away.
  • Albums on the profile Media tab: create albums, add and remove media, set a cover, drag to reorder, rename, change privacy, and delete.
  • Links you paste into a post or comment now turn into clickable links.
  • Object-cache health indicator on the Tools screen so owners can confirm a persistent cache is active.

Improve

  • Community pages, the home feed, search, widgets, and polls are cached and free of per-row queries, so they stay fast as membership grows.
  • Photo and video previews now generate a fast downscaled thumbnail, so uploads on the Media tab, the feed composer, and direct messages feel instant.
  • Online presence reads from an indexed table with object-cache throttling, so the online-members list stays accurate without loading the database.
  • Background jobs run through Action Scheduler with automatic retention pruning, keeping scheduled-task tables small.
  • Direct-message threads stop polling when the tab is hidden or closed, reducing battery and server load.
  • The following count is capped to keep the home feed fast for highly-followed accounts.
  • Member-directory results refresh immediately after a block or unblock instead of serving a stale cached list.
  • The mobile bottom navigation bar is taller with larger tap targets, and the center Create button opens the composer ready to type.
  • Admin settings fields, sidebar icons, and Explore result cards are visually consistent across every screen.

Fix

  • The profile display-name field no longer reverts to the login name when you click away, so members can change their name.
  • A video without a poster image now shows a generated thumbnail instead of a black tile.
  • Posting a poll without a question now shows a prompt to add one, instead of the Post button doing nothing.
  • The emoji button in the comment box now lines up with the send button.
  • The profile editor no longer warns about unsaved changes after you have already saved.
  • If the bundled licensing and update SDK is ever incomplete, the site stays up with a notice instead of a critical error.
  • Editing or deleting a comment you do not own returns a clear permission message instead of a server error.
  • Ending or dismissing an announcement updates the home feed straight away.
  • Type-scoped search for members, spaces, and posts returns results whether the type is named in singular or plural form.
  • Appeal decisions and member warnings are now recorded correctly in the moderation audit log.
  • The Online Members widget now lists members who are actually online.
  • Deleting a space clears its member and ban caches immediately.
  • Hardened activity hooks so a third-party listener can no longer trigger a fatal error when a post is created.

Dev

  • Removed legacy presence dual-writes, a dead database table, and unused cache methods; per-space settings and custom CSS no longer autoload.

Compat

  • Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.3. Install both updates together.

v1.0.2

June 1, 2026
New 2 Improve 3 Fix 5 Dev 1 Compat 2

New

  • The admin left navigation collapses into an accordion that opens the active section and remembers your last open section.
  • Delete and Unsend actions in the direct-message menu.

Improve

  • BuddyNext adopts the host theme's colour scheme and font family (BuddyX, BuddyX Pro, Reign), so community pages match your theme; header icons follow the theme's header menu colour.
  • Sign-up Terms and Privacy links are admin-configurable instead of guessed from slugs.
  • Notification rows polished with a system-icon avatar and a clean fallback for unknown types.

Fix

  • Hashtag search returns results again, hashtags are indexed for every post type, and hashtag voting registers correctly.
  • The favourite toggle in the media lightbox now responds.
  • Removed the blank gap below the footer on BuddyX and BuddyX Pro auth pages, and fixed the header chrome layout inside the BuddyX header.
  • Host-theme button fill no longer leaks into message action buttons.
  • A deleted user's profile values and bookmarks are now purged.

Dev

  • Composer is no longer required at runtime (hand-written autoloader, vendor is dev-only).

Compat

  • Aligned with the WordPress 6.9+ and 7.0 Abilities API (ability category plus execute and permission callbacks).
  • Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.2. Install both updates together.

v1.0.1

June 1, 2026
New 2 Improve 1 Fix 2 Dev 1 Compat 1

New

  • Media shared from the WPMediaVerse upload surface now appears in the community activity feed. Images post inline; audio and video link to the media page. A deferred, attached-to-post guard prevents duplicating media that was posted through the BuddyNext composer.
  • Link posts to supported providers (YouTube, Vimeo, and other oEmbed sources) now render an embedded player instead of a plain link card.

Improve

  • Link previews use the provider's real oEmbed title instead of a placeholder such as "- YouTube".

Fix

  • Resharing a photo or a video/link post now previews the original's image or thumbnail instead of rendering an empty quote.
  • The companion installer retries a transient store timeout once, so onboarding no longer fails to install a companion when the store is briefly slow to respond.

Dev

  • The admin hub name and logo resolve through the buddynext_brand_name and buddynext_brand_logo_url filters, and a shared logo-upload helper backs both Appearance and Pro white-label.

Compat

  • Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.1. Install both together.

v1.0.0

June 1, 2026
New 7 Compat 1

New

  • Activity feed with posts, polls, reactions, threaded comments, bookmarks, hashtags, and site-wide announcements.
  • Spaces: public, private, and hidden communities with membership, roles, and per-space feeds.
  • Member profiles with customizable field groups, a social graph (follows and connections), and a member directory.
  • Direct messaging with media, a conversation info panel with shared media and safety actions, and a full-bleed media lightbox.
  • Moderation suite: reporting, a review queue, strikes, suspensions, and appeals backed by an immutable audit log.
  • Onboarding wizard, gamification achievements, notifications, and a Progressive Web App with branded install icons.
  • Full translation readiness: every template, admin label, and JavaScript module is internationalized with a complete buddynext.pot.

Compat

  • Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 1.0.0. Direct messaging and media are powered by the WPMediaVerse companion plugin.

v0.6.0

beta1
New 2 Improve 5 Fix 4 Security 1 Compat 1

New

  • Membership enforcement seams (entitlement gates) that BuddyNext Pro plans hook into.
  • Custom navigation tabs can now be deleted.

Improve

  • Moderation: full audit trail; the admin queue now surfaces action failures instead of false-success notices.
  • Email: every seeded template is shown in the editor; Preview Text is applied as the inbox preheader; sends are logged.
  • Navigation: Messages and integration-bridge options are gated on their required plugin being active.
  • Appearance logo and default theme reflect on the front end; pin/unpin updates the feed without a reload.
  • Settings: hide Connect for unconfigured social providers; gate Direct Messaging on WPMediaVerse.

Fix

  • Duplicate transactional emails on moderation actions (2-3 copies) reduced to one.
  • Social-login verified email is now recognized (meta key mismatch).
  • Isolation mu-plugin no longer strips BuddyNext Pro on front-end routes, and matches route segments exactly so pages like /membership/ are not mis-isolated.
  • Allow assigning an existing page whose slug matches a hub.

Security

  • Masked secret input fields for admin credentials.

Compat

  • Pairs with BuddyNext Pro 0.6.0-beta1. Install both together.

Seriously, one of the best software tech experiences I've ever had!

After 16 years of buying WordPress themes and plugins, I know exactly what bad support looks like and Wbcom Designs is the polar opposite. My setup was a nightmare: multiple tools, deep integrations, custom configurations that required…

Duston McGroarty US