Member Email Preferences
Where members find this: Profile menu > Settings > Notifications (BuddyPress standard path: /members/[username]/settings/notifications/)
Option stored per member: bffs_email_frequency in user meta
Admin controls: Notifications tab - Member Preferences section
This is the member-facing side of the notification system. It surfaces on each member’s own BuddyPress notification settings page, not in the admin.
Who sees this section
Section titled “Who sees this section”The “Friend & Follow Suggestions” section appears in member notification settings only when all of the following are true:
- “Enable Profile Matching” is on in the General tab
- “Enable Email Notifications” is on in the Notifications tab
- “Show in Member Settings” is on in the Notifications tab
- The BuddyPress Settings component is active
If any of these conditions is not met, the section is hidden.
Frequency choices
Section titled “Frequency choices”When “Allow Member Opt-Out” is on in the admin, members see four radio buttons:
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Instant | Member receives an email as soon as new suggestions are calculated for them |
| Daily | Member receives suggestions in a daily digest |
| Weekly | Member receives suggestions in a weekly digest on the day configured by the admin |
| No | Member receives no suggestion emails from this plugin |
The selected value is saved to bffs_email_frequency in user meta when the member saves their BuddyPress settings page.
When opt-out is disabled
Section titled “When opt-out is disabled”If “Allow Member Opt-Out” is off, the radio buttons are hidden. Instead, the section shows a single row with the text: “Email notification preferences are managed by site administrators.”
Members cannot change their frequency when opt-out is disabled. The admin controls whether emails are sent.
Default frequency for new members
Section titled “Default frequency for new members”When a member has never set a preference, the plugin picks a default:
- If “Default Opt-In” is off in the Notifications tab: the member defaults to “Never” (no emails).
- If “Default Opt-In” is on and Weekly Digest is enabled: defaults to “Weekly”.
- If “Default Opt-In” is on and only Daily is enabled: defaults to “Daily”.
- If “Default Opt-In” is on and neither digest type is enabled: defaults to “Weekly” as a fallback.
The default is applied at send time, not written to user meta until the member explicitly saves their preference.
Security
Section titled “Security”The save handler verifies that the logged-in member is editing their own settings (or has the bp_moderate capability). A logged-in user cannot POST to another member’s settings URL to change that member’s email preference.