Introduction
BuddyPress Friend & Follow Suggestion is a WordPress plugin that calculates profile-compatibility scores between members of a BuddyPress or BuddyBoss Platform community and surfaces those scores as friend or follow suggestions.
What the plugin does
Section titled “What the plugin does”When a member views another member’s profile, the plugin shows a match percentage in the profile header. Widgets, a Gutenberg block, and shortcodes let site owners add “People you may know”-style suggestion lists anywhere on the site.
The matching engine compares the values each member has entered in BuddyPress Extended Profile (xProfile) fields. You pick which fields matter and how much weight each one carries. The plugin then calculates a score for every pair of members it evaluates.
Surfaces
Section titled “Surfaces”| Surface | What it shows | Where to place it |
|---|---|---|
| Profile header badge | Match percentage between the viewer and the viewed member | Automatic — appears on BuddyPress member profiles |
| BuddyPress Friend & Follow Suggestion widget | List of matched members; vertical or horizontal layout | Appearance > Widgets |
| (Swiper) BuddyPress Friend Suggestion widget | Swipe-card view of matched members | Appearance > Widgets |
| Friend & Follow Suggestions block | Suggestion cards in the block editor | Any page or post |
| Shortcodes | Suggestion lists and match data embeddable in any page or post | Any page, post, or text widget |
Shortcodes
Section titled “Shortcodes”The plugin registers eight shortcodes:
| Shortcode | Output |
|---|---|
[bp_friend_suggestions] |
Friend suggestion list for the current member |
[bp_follow_suggestions] |
Follow suggestion list for the current member |
[bp_match_percentage] |
Match percentage between two members |
[bp_top_matches] |
Top-matched members for the current member |
[bp_common_interests] |
Shared profile field values between two members |
[bp_mutual_friends] |
Mutual friends between two members |
[bp_suggestions_count] |
Number of available suggestions for the current member |
[bp_match_breakdown] |
Field-by-field match breakdown between two members |
Follow support
Section titled “Follow support”Follow suggestions appear only when at least one follow surface is available:
- BuddyBoss Platform with the Activity Follow feature turned on, or
- The BuddyPress Follow plugin with the Follow component active
If neither is present, the plugin shows friend suggestions only and hides all follow-specific UI automatically.
How match scores are calculated
Section titled “How match scores are calculated”The match score for two members is built from two parts:
- Universal match score - A baseline percentage added to every pair. The default is 20%. It ensures all members start with some compatibility even before field values are compared.
- Weighted field scores - For each profile field you configure, the plugin checks whether both members share the same value (or any overlapping value for multi-select fields). If they do, that field’s weight is added to the score. Field weights are automatically normalized if they add up to more than 100%.
You configure both parts under WB Plugins > BP Friend & Follow in your WordPress admin, in the General tab under the Profile Match Settings section. See Requirements for what needs to be active before the matching engine runs.
Compatibility
Section titled “Compatibility”The plugin works with:
- Standard BuddyPress installations
- BuddyBoss Platform (free or paid)
- Most BuddyPress-compatible themes (BuddyX, Reign, Youzify, SocialV, and others)
See Requirements for exact version numbers.