Integration Notes

Notes on how the plugin behaves with common companion plugins and themes. No code changes are required for standard setups — the plugin auto-detects what is available.

BuddyBoss Platform

BuddyBoss ships its own follow system inside the Activity component. The plugin detects this automatically using bffs_is_buddyboss() and bp_is_activity_follow_active().

How follow rendering works on BuddyBoss:

If BuddyBoss Platform is active and activity-follow is enabled, bffs_render_follow_button() calls bp_add_follow_button() — the BuddyBoss native function.
If BuddyBoss activity-follow is disabled, the Follow button is hidden entirely. The suggestion widget still works for friend suggestions.
The bffs_get_follow_component() helper returns 'activity' on BuddyBoss (instead of 'follow') so that any integration code checking the component name gets the right value.

Check which path is active:

if ( bffs_is_buddyboss() ) {
    // BuddyBoss environment
    $follow_active = function_exists( 'bp_is_activity_follow_active' ) && bp_is_activity_follow_active();
} else {
    $follow_active = function_exists( 'bp_is_active' ) && bp_is_active( 'follow' );
}

BP Follow plugin

When the standalone BP Follow plugin is active and BuddyBoss is not, bffs_render_follow_button() calls bp_follow_add_follow_button() with leader_id and follower_id args.

The bffs_is_follow_available() function returns true when:

BuddyBoss is active and activity-follow is active and bp_add_follow_button() exists, or
The BP Follow plugin is active (bp_is_active( 'follow' )) and bp_follow_add_follow_button() exists.

If neither condition is met, the Follow button is omitted silently.

Profile field matching

The scoring engine uses BP_XProfile_ProfileData::get_all_for_user() to batch-load profile data. If that class or method is unavailable (older BuddyPress versions), it falls back to a single batched $wpdb query.

Fields must be configured in the admin under General settings → Match Data for the engine to compare them. Fields that have not been added there are ignored.

Multi-value fields (checkboxes, multi-select boxes): any overlap between the two users’ selections awards the full configured weight for that field. Multiple overlapping values do not stack — the weight is awarded once or not at all.

Single-value fields: exact string equality is required.

Required fields (“stop match”): if either user has no value for a required field, or if the values do not overlap, the entire pair scores 0 regardless of other fields.

Caching

The plugin supports two cache backends, configurable under Advanced settings:

Backend	How it works
Transients (default)	Uses WordPress transients stored in `wp_options`. Compatible with all hosting environments.
Object cache	Uses `wp_cache_get()` / `wp_cache_set()` with the `bp_suggestions` and `bp_suggestions_scores` groups. Requires a persistent object cache (Redis, Memcached).

To clear the cache from code:

bp_suggestions_clear_cache();

This clears both backends. To clear for a single user, delete the specific transient:

delete_transient( 'bffs_suggestions_' . $user_id );

The bp_suggestions_cache_cleared action fires after a full cache clear. The bffs_cache_cleared action fires after an admin-triggered clear.

WooCommerce / EDD

The plugin includes an EDD-powered license updater (edd-license/EDD_BFFS_Plugin_Updater.php). This is only used for license validation and update delivery. It does not integrate with WooCommerce and has no effect on suggestion functionality.

Shortcodes

Eight shortcodes are available. See docs/SHORTCODES.md in the repository for the full reference including attributes, output, and logged-out behavior.

Quick list:

Shortcode	Description
`[bp_friend_suggestions]`	Friend suggestion grid/list
`[bp_follow_suggestions]`	Follow suggestion grid/list
`[bp_match_percentage user_id="X"]`	Compatibility score between current user and a target
`[bp_top_matches]`	Highest-scoring matches, sorted descending
`[bp_common_interests user_id="X"]`	Shared profile field values
`[bp_mutual_friends user_id="X"]`	Friends in common
`[bp_suggestions_count]`	Count of available suggestions
`[bp_match_breakdown user_id="X"]`	Field-by-field score breakdown

Theme compatibility

The plugin’s CSS uses a BEM-style naming convention under the .bffs- prefix. All layout classes are listed in Template Overrides.

Known theme interactions:

Some themes override .members-list styles. The list-layout template uses this class for BP directory compatibility. If the layout looks broken, inspect whether the theme targets this class globally.
The Swiper slider injects its own CSS via the swiper-style handle. If you are already loading Swiper independently, check for version conflicts — the plugin bundles Swiper 11.1.0.
The plugin registers (but does not auto-enqueue) bp-friend-follow-public-css. It is enqueued on demand by the widgets and when a BFFS shortcode is detected in the current page. Use the bffs_force_public_enqueue filter to load it unconditionally if needed.

Multisite

The plugin’s options (bffs_general_setting, bffs_advanced_setting, etc.) are stored at the site (blog) level, not the network level. Each site in a multisite network has independent settings and suggestion data. There is no network-wide configuration interface.