Co-Authors
Pro. This feature requires WB Member Blog Pro. The free plugin must be installed and active first. See the Pro index for every Pro module.
Lets several members work on one post together, with invitations, a shared byline, and an optional editorial review step. Off by default.
Turn it on at Member Blog > Features, then configure it at Member Blog > Co-Authors.
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”- The post author invites a co-author from the post form, by username or (optionally) by email address.
- The invitee is notified and can accept or decline.
- Once they accept, they can edit the post and their name appears in the byline.
Invitations expire if they are not answered. You can see every outstanding invitation, and revoke any of them, in the Pending Invitations table at the top of the Co-Authors tab.
General Settings
Section titled “General Settings”| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Co-authors Per Post | 5 | How many co-authors one post can have |
| Allow Email Invitations | Yes | Invite by email address as well as by username |
| Invitation Expiry (Days) | 7 | How long an invitation stays open |
| Email on Invitation | Yes | Email the invitee |
| Email on Acceptance | Yes | Email the post author when an invitation is accepted |
| Co-authors Can Remove Themselves | Yes | A co-author can step off a post |
| Editing Session Length (Minutes) | 15 | See Post Locking, below |
The Byline
Section titled “The Byline”| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Show All Authors in Byline | Yes | Show every co-author, not just the original author |
| Byline Separator | , |
Between names |
| Last Author Separator | & |
Before the final name |
The settings tab shows a live preview of the byline as you change the separators.
Post Locking
Section titled “Post Locking”When a co-author opens a post for editing it is locked, so two people cannot overwrite each other. Anyone else opening it sees who is editing and can take over once the session expires.
The Editing Session Length setting controls how long the lock holds. The default is 15 minutes.
Editorial Workflow
Section titled “Editorial Workflow”Off by default. Switch it on and a post goes to a reviewer before it is published.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Editorial Workflow | No | Posts require approval before going live |
| Reviewer Roles | Administrator, Editor | Which roles can approve or reject |
| Require Feedback on Rejection | Yes | A reviewer must say why, so the author knows what to change |
| Workflow Email Notifications | Yes | Email the author when their post is approved or rejected |
A rejected post is returned as a draft, not trashed, and the reviewer’s feedback goes with it.
Approving a post that is not pending does nothing. Two reviewers with the same post open cannot publish it twice or notify the author twice.
This workflow is separate from the free plugin’s review queue, which reviews all member posts from the WordPress Posts list. Use whichever fits your site; you do not need both.
Shortcodes
Section titled “Shortcodes”| Shortcode | Shows |
|---|---|
[bp-member-blog-coauthors] |
The byline for a post |
[bp-member-blog-invitations] |
The logged-in member’s pending invitations, with Accept and Decline |
[bp-member-blog-coauthored-posts] |
Posts a member co-authored (but did not write) |
See Pro Shortcodes for attributes.