Permission Rules

When a member tries to post, the plugin runs through a set of checks in a specific order. Understanding this order helps you predict whether the anonymous checkbox will appear for a given user.

How checks are evaluated

Is the user logged in?
  No  → checkbox hidden
  Yes ↓

Is the feature enabled for this location?
  (sitewide / group / profile / comment / forum — whichever applies)
  No  → checkbox hidden
  Yes ↓

Is "Verified Members Only" enabled and is BP Verified Member active?
  Yes, and user is NOT verified → checkbox hidden
  No, or user IS verified       ↓

Are specific roles selected in "Role Based Anonymous Posting"?
  Yes, and user's role is NOT in the list → checkbox hidden
  No roles selected, or user's role IS in the list ↓

Is the user's member type listed in "Exclude Member Types"?
  Yes → checkbox hidden
  No  ↓

Show the anonymous checkbox

Administrators bypass the role check entirely. All other checks still apply to administrators.

Common configurations

Open anonymous posting for everyone

Leave all location toggles on, leave the role list empty, and leave the member type exclusion empty. Every logged-in user sees the checkbox everywhere.

Restrict to a single role

Select that role in “Role Based Anonymous Posting” and leave everything else at defaults. Only members with that role see the checkbox.

Allow anonymous posting in groups only

Turn off “Allow Anonymous Posts in Sitewide Activity” and “Allow Anonymous Posts in User Profiles”. Leave “Allow Anonymous Posts in Groups” on. Members can only post anonymously when inside a group.

Verified members only

Enable “Allow Anonymous Activity for Verified Members”. Members who have not been verified by BP Verified Member will not see the checkbox, even if every other condition passes.

Block a specific member type

Add that member type to “Exclude Member Types from Anonymous Posting”. Members of that type lose the checkbox regardless of their role or verification status.

What the anonymous member can and cannot do

Action	Allowed
Post an activity anonymously	Yes, if the location is enabled and all checks pass
Comment anonymously on any activity	Yes, if “Allow Anonymous Comments” is on
Edit their own anonymous post	Yes — standard BuddyPress edit permissions apply
Delete their own anonymous post	Yes — standard BuddyPress delete permissions apply
See their own anonymous posts in their profile	Yes
See who posted another member’s anonymous activity	No

What admins can and cannot see

Administrators do not see a “reveal identity” button in the activity stream UI. To find the real author of an anonymous activity, you must query the activity meta directly.

For activity stream posts, the real author is the standard user_id on the activity row (no sentinel value is used as of version 1.5.5). The meta key is_anonymous on the activity confirms it is an anonymous post. A secondary UUID key anonymous_slug is also written at post time but is not used to determine anonymous status.

For forum topics and replies, the real author ID is stored in _bp_anonymous_user_id post meta on the topic or reply post.

Notifications

When a post is marked anonymous, the plugin suppresses all notifications that would otherwise identify the author:

Mention emails and on-site mention notifications
Reply and comment notification emails
BuddyBoss group activity notification emails
bbPress forum subscriber notifications

Notifications triggered by non-anonymous replies to an anonymous post are not suppressed — they behave normally because the replier’s identity is not anonymous.

Frequently asked questions

Does disabling anonymous posting remove existing anonymous posts?

No. Existing posts remain unchanged. Disabling a location setting only hides the checkbox for new posts going forward.

What happens when a role restriction is removed?

The change takes effect immediately. Users who were blocked by the restriction see the checkbox again on their next page load.

Can a user accidentally de-anonymize themselves?

Not through the plugin. Display name, avatar, and profile link are all replaced. Notifications are suppressed. However, if a user includes personally identifiable information in the text of their post, that content is not filtered.

Does anonymous posting work in private or hidden groups?

Yes. Group privacy settings are respected independently. An anonymous post in a private group is visible only to group members, and shows as anonymous to all of them.

Do anonymous posts count in member statistics?

Yes. The post is still tied to the real user in the database, so activity counts, post totals, and similar statistics include anonymous posts.