Installation

Installing the plugin

From the WordPress admin

1. Log in to your WordPress admin area.
2. Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
3. Search for BuddyPress Friend & Follow Suggestion or upload the ZIP file you received from Wbcom Designs.
4. Click Install Now, then Activate.

Via FTP or file manager

1. Unzip the plugin archive on your computer.
2. Upload the buddypress-friend-follow-suggestion folder to /wp-content/plugins/ on your server.
3. Go to Plugins in your WordPress admin and activate Wbcom Designs - BuddyPress Friend & Follow Suggestion.

What happens at activation

The plugin checks two things before it finishes activating:

1. BuddyPress must be installed and active. If it is not, you will see an error message and the plugin will not activate.
2. The BuddyPress Extended Profiles (xProfile) component must be active. If it is not active, the same error message appears.

If both checks pass, the plugin:

• Sets up default general settings (profile matching enabled, 20 % universal match score).
• Installs BuddyPress email templates for suggestion notifications.
• Initializes analytics counters.
• Adds two database indexes to the BuddyPress xProfile tables to improve query performance.

After activation, WordPress redirects you to the plugin’s settings page at WB Plugins > BP Friend & Follow automatically.

First-time configuration

When you land on the settings page after activation, the most important step is configuring at least one profile field for matching:

1. Go to WB Plugins > BP Friend & Follow (or click Settings in the Plugins list).
2. Open the Profile Match Settings tab.
3. Make sure Enable Profile Matching is turned on.
4. Click Add Field (or View Suggestions to see recommended fields).
5. Select a profile field from the dropdown, set a weight percentage, and optionally mark it as Required (members who do not match on this field will not appear as suggestions at all).
6. Repeat for any additional fields. The plugin normalizes weights automatically if they exceed 100 %.
7. Click Save Matching Settings.

The plugin will start generating suggestions based on your configuration. Suggestions appear on member profiles, in widgets, and through shortcodes.

Adding suggestion widgets

Once the plugin is configured, add the widgets to your site:

1. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
2. Find BuddyPress Friend & Follow Suggestion (vertical or horizontal list view) or (Swiper) BuddyPress Friend Suggestion (swipe-card view).
3. Drag either widget to a sidebar or widget area.
4. Configure the widget title, the maximum number of members to show, the minimum match percentage, and the layout style.
5. Click Save.

The widget displays only for logged-in members. It shows nothing if the logged-in member has no matches above the configured threshold, or if the Enable Profile Matching toggle is off.

Deactivation and uninstall

Deactivating the plugin does not remove any data. Plugin settings, analytics data, and BuddyPress email templates remain in the database.

To remove all data before uninstalling, use the Clear All Data option in the plugin’s advanced settings. Once you have cleared data, you can delete the plugin from the Plugins screen.