User Publishing Settings
Navigate to WP Stories > Settings > User Publishing Options to control how users create and submit stories.
Display Existing Stories
Section titled “Display Existing Stories”When enabled, users can view all their previously published individual stories on the story submission page.
Default Publication Status
Section titled “Default Publication Status”Controls what happens when a user submits a new story:
- Published – Stories go live immediately.
- Draft – Stories are saved as drafts (visible only to admins in the backend).
- Pending Review – Stories require admin approval before being published.
- Private – Stories are saved as private posts.
Use Draft or Pending Review if you want to moderate story content before it becomes visible.
Story Submission Limits
Section titled “Story Submission Limits”Sets the maximum number of stories each user can publish. This limits the total number of story posts a user can create.
Default: 10 stories.
Content Limit Per Story
Section titled “Content Limit Per Story”Defines the maximum number of items (images or videos) allowed within a single story. Each story can contain multiple slides; this setting caps that number.
Default: 10 items.
Story Duration
Section titled “Story Duration”Sets the default visibility period for user stories in seconds. This controls how long each story item is displayed before automatically advancing to the next one.
Default: 6 seconds.
Maximum File Size
Section titled “Maximum File Size”Sets the upload file size limit in megabytes (MB) for story media. Users will not be able to upload files exceeding this size.
Set to 0 to disable client-side file size validation entirely. Note that server-level PHP limits (upload_max_filesize and post_max_size) still apply regardless of this setting.
Default: 10 MB.
Available Visibility Options
Section titled “Available Visibility Options”Select which privacy levels members can choose from when posting a story. Tick any combination in the checkbox grid; members see only the options you enable.
| Option | Who can see the story |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Anyone, including logged-out visitors. |
| Only Me (plus site admins) | The author, and site administrators. |
| All Members | Any logged-in user. |
| My Friends | The author, and the author’s friends. Requires the BuddyPress Friends component or the PeepSo Friends add-on. |
Two points worth being clear about, because both have surprised people:
“Only Me” is not invisible to you. It has always been readable by site
administrators - the value stored behind it is literally adminsonly. Before
2.4.2 the member-facing label said “Private - Only you”, which was misleading, so
it now reads “Private - You and site admins”. Nothing about the behaviour
changed; only the label. If you need stories that even administrators cannot
read, this setting is not that, and the plugin does not offer it.
Friends-only got wider in 2.4.2. The friendship lookup previously only ran inside the activity stream, so on a member profile or a shortcode page a friends-only story behaved as if it were private. It now resolves friendships everywhere, which is what the option always claimed to do. If your members posted friends-only stories before 2.4.2 expecting them to be near-invisible, those stories are now visible to their friends on every surface.
Authorized User Roles
Section titled “Authorized User Roles”Specify which WordPress user roles have permission to create and publish stories. Only users with the selected roles will see the story submission form. Tick one or more roles in the checkbox grid; the grid has select-all and clear-all controls.