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Profile Search Settings

Profile Search Settings

Section titled “Profile Search Settings”

Go to WB Plugins > Profile Pro > Profile Search to access these settings.

This tab adds a search form to the BuddyPress members directory that filters members by your extended profile fields. You control which fields appear in the search form and how each one matches member data.

Section titled “Enable profile search”

Check this box to display the search form on the BuddyPress members directory page. When unchecked, the field list below is hidden and no search form appears on the frontend.

After checking this box the field configuration section appears.

Configuring search fields

Section titled “Configuring search fields”

Each row in the table is one search field that will appear in the frontend search form.

Columns:

Column Description
Sort handle Drag rows up and down to change the order fields appear in the search form.
Search Field Choose which profile field to search. The dropdown includes base member data (First Name, Last Name, Nickname, User ID, User Login, Email, Display Name) and all extended fields you have created. Image fields are excluded.
Field Label The label shown to members above this search input. Defaults to the field name but can be overridden here.
Field Description Optional helper text shown below the search input on the frontend.
Search Mode How the search matches against member data (see below).
Delete Remove this row from the search form.

Search modes

Section titled “Search modes”

The available search modes depend on the type of field you select. The plugin shows only the relevant modes for each field type.

Mode Matches when…
is The stored value exactly equals what the member typed.
contains The stored value contains the search text anywhere within it.
is like Similar to contains but case-insensitive. Useful for partial name matches.
is one of For dropdown or radio fields — matches any member whose stored value is one of the selected options.
match any For multi-select fields (Selectize, Checkbox) — matches members who have at least one of the selected values.
match all For multi-select fields — matches members who have all of the selected values.

Field type and available modes:

  • Textbox, Textarea, Email, Phone, URL, Place Autocomplete — is, contains, is like.
  • Select, Radio Button, Year Dropdown — is only (exact match).
  • Textbox & Dropdown Combination — is one of (targets the dropdown portion).
  • Checkbox, Selectize — match any, match all.
  • Calendar — is, contains, is like (date string matching).

Adding a search field

Section titled “Adding a search field”
  1. Click Add Field. A new row appears at the bottom of the table via an AJAX request.
  2. Select a field from the Search Field dropdown.
  3. The Search Mode dropdown updates automatically to show modes appropriate for that field type.
  4. Optionally enter a Field Label and Field Description.
  5. Click Save Changes when done.

You can add the same profile field more than once with different search modes if needed.

Reordering search fields

Section titled “Reordering search fields”

Drag rows by the sort handle (the double-arrow at the left of each row) to change the order. Click Save Changes after reordering.

Deleting a search field

Section titled “Deleting a search field”

Click Delete on the row you want to remove, then click Save Changes. Deleting a search field row removes it from the frontend form but does not affect any member data.

How search works on the frontend

Section titled “How search works on the frontend”

When a member submits the search form, BuddyPress Profile Pro runs a filtered query against the WordPress usermeta table using the stored wbbpp_<group_key>_<field_key> meta keys. Results are returned as a filtered version of the standard BuddyPress members directory.

For fields stored as serialized arrays (Selectize, Checkbox, repeater fields), the query uses a LIKE prefix match to find members whose serialized meta value contains the search term.

Saving

Section titled “Saving”

Click Save Changes at the bottom of the form. All search field configurations are saved to the wbbpp_profile_search_fields option.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

The search form does not appear on the members directory. Confirm that Enable profile search is checked and that you have saved the settings. Also check that your BuddyPress members directory is using the standard BuddyPress template.

Search returns no results even when members have filled in the searched field. Check that the Search Mode matches the field type. For example, using “contains” on a Year Dropdown field may not return results because year values are stored as plain strings and the match is exact. Try switching to “is”.

All members show up in every search. This can happen if the field key in the search configuration does not match the key of the stored meta. Check the Field Key and Meta Key values on the Field Settings tab to confirm the mapping.

Section titled “Related docs”