ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities vs Discussion Board – WordPress Forum Plugin

WordPress User Profiles & Membership Plugin Create WordPress user profiles, groups, communities, paid memberships, directories, WooCommerce profiles, bbPress profiles, content restriction, sign-up pages, blog submissions, notifications, social activity and private messaging, beautiful threaded interface and a lot more! The #1 Custom User Profile Plugin that brings together user data from all your plugins, which use custom posts or shortcodes. The #1 Free WordPress Community Plugin with inbuilt private messaging & friends system. The #1 Free WooCommerce User Profile Plugin. The #1 Free bbPress User Profile Plugin. For any issues, bugs, feature requests and general help, contact our awesome support team! ProfileGrid is a power-packed user profile, member, community and directory plugin. While ProfileGrid is fundamentally a user profile builder, it also offers User Groups. Groups are equivalent to Profile types where you can have different profile structures for different group of users. Advantages of Group based system is apparent from the very beginning: You can have multiple User Profile types. Each Group can have its own set of fields. Each Group can have its own Group Manager or Moderator. Group Manager can have special privacy level for group members. Each group can have its own registration workflow. You can offer visitors option to sign up or request membership for Group of their choice. Groups can have membership limits. Groups can be mapped to a specific WordPress Roles. Filter user profiles based on groups on directories page. Groups can be Open (public) or Closed (private) Closed Groups require membership approval from Group Manager or site Admin Users can join multiple Groups And so much more! If you do not need multiple Groups, there’s nothing stopping you to use the default Group as single profile type, membership or as user directories system. It’s a unique WordPress profile plugin that’s flexible and modular. A lot of stuff can be turned on or off by single click. ProfileGrid is pretty both on the frontend and the dashboard area. We understand you spend a lot of time inside the dashboard, therefore, we made sure the admin facing interface is clean and organized. You will absolutely love it when you first log into ProfileGrid. And it looks even better once profiles start to fill in! With release of version 4.1.0 we have added a bunch of new shortcodes which offer amazing amount of flexibility with displaying different types of user groups and user profiles data inside your WordPress theme and widgets. Brand new content enclosure shortcodes allow you to take control of content restrictions and membership access to granular level. Using new dynamic content shortcodes you can create personalized content for your users. WORDPRESS COMMUNITY PLUGIN & COMMUNITY BUILDER FEATURES What makes ProfileGrid a perfect WordPress community plugin? Here are a few reasons to start with: Ability to create public and private groups. Adding group specific modules like discussions, photos, events etc. Appointing group managers for community moderation. Community based privacy levels for content. Ability for users to join multiple groups. Allowing users to create their own groups from frontend. And the list does not stops here! There are many other features tucked inside ProfileGrid making it a robust WordPress community plugin for all types of community based websites. WORDPRESS MEMBERSHIP PLUGIN FEATURES ProfileGrid’s WordPress membership plugin features include: Paid membership groups with native checkout process. Separate Group membership registration forms. Content restrictions based on membership levels. Member exclusive group area. Member limits in groups. Member discounts for WooCommerce products (via extension). These, combined with many other similar features, make ProfileGrid the ideal WordPress membership plugin. Dashboard areas include: Group Manager to create, edit and manage groups, and set membership rules. Custom Fields Manager to manager Profile Sections and Fields. User Profiles area to view, search and filters User profiles and members. Requests to manage and moderate membership requests for closed groups. Email Template manager to create and edit email notifications for users. User Blogs to manage user submitted blog posts. Global Settings to fine tune your ProfileGrid installation. Shortcodes page to help you understand how shortcodes work. Frontend offers a slew of shortcodes to present custom user profile related areas to the visitors. These are: Groups page showing a grid of Groups for users to browse and sign up for them. Group page showing Group’s details and all its members. Profile page showing single custom User Profile with blogs and conversations. Single and Multipage sign up forms. Latter splitting Sections into pages. All Users page displays all members without grouping them, with global search. Login and Password Recovery pages. Find complete list of shortcodes here. Group Attributes Group Name Group Type – Open/ Closed Group Description Group Badge/ Icon/ Logo Option to Hide Group Card Membership Limit Associate WordPress User Role Group Manager (Selectable from Group Members) Label for Group Manager Membership Type – Free/ Paid Membership Price Redirection after group registration Custom message after group registration Custom Email notifications for members Email on joining Group Email on joining request being denied Email on account activation Email on account deactivation Email on password change Email on account deletion Email on publishing new post Email when Group Manager resets password Turn on Emails for Group Managers Email on new membership request Email on being assigned Group Manager Groups provide basic setup of using ProfileGrid as a WordPress Community Plugin. WordPress User Profiles Attributes User Profile page user avatar photo User Profile page Cover Photo Parent Group picture appears on user page User Profile page Sections Custom User Profiles (Custom Fields for user profiles) Custom Field Attributes Field Label (as it appears on registration form and user page) Field Description Field Type Placeholder Text CSS Class Maximum Length/ Rows/ Columns etc. Field Label Icon or picture Parent Group Parent Section Display on Sign Up form Required/ Not Required Fields visibility on Profile Page Fields visibility on Group Page Email Template Attributes Template Name Subject Body with Mail Merge fields. Content Restriction Restrict content to logged in users Restrict content to users of specific group Restrict content to friends Make contend private Multi Author Blogging Multi Author Blogs that integrate with frontend user profile Users can write and submit blog entries from a frontend user page Users can upload picture as featured image field Option to choose between WordPress blogs and ProfileGrid blogs Admins can moderate and approve Multi Author blog posts Define initial status of Multi Author blog posts on blog submission Private Messaging System ProfileGrid features an inbuilt private messaging system that works in realtime – a rare WordPress profile plugin that offers advanced messaging capabilities as part of the core. Once you install and visit custom user profile page, you will see Messaging among other profile tabs. Following features boost ProfileGrid user case as a Community Plugin: A system that works in realtime using WordPress Heartbeat API See live status of members you are chatting with Supports emoji Users can message anyone from their user profile page by clicking a button or typing username Users receive live notifications and unread count when messaging tab is not active Notifications also appear in left bar which shows active messaging threads Friends System ProfileGrid also comes with an inbuilt Friends system that allows users to other members as friends – once again a rare WordPress profile plugin that offers Friends system in core. Friends tab automatically appear on custom user profile page once it is activated in ProfileGrid Global Settings. The features include: Users can add other members as ‘Friends’ User can send Friend requests Users can accept or decline Friend request All friends appear on user profile page inside ‘Friends’ tab Users can remove friends from Friends tab. Admin can set rule for resending, once declined friend requests Friend request appear in Notification tab and add to unread count Users can accept or decline friend request from user notification box On accepting friend request friend’s user profile url appear inside user notification box Global Settings Global Settings page includes all plugin-wide settings. It is divided into following subsections: General Settings Template Selection Theme selection Light/ Dark Redirection for Authors Enable Gravatar Allow or Disallow WordPress login page access to visitors Allow or Disallow WordPress login page access to visitors Hide WordPress toolbar Set limit for password reset tries Multiple Attachments Map default WP Registration page Redirection after user login Redirect After logout Map All Groups page Map User Registration page Map Single Group page Define Sign Up form Style Map Profile page Map Login page Map Password Recovery and Password Reset pages Profile Templates A selection of readymade profile page layouts to chose from! Each layout is unique and adopts color scheme of your active theme for a clean native look. Security Settings Toggle reCAPTCHA reCAPTCHA language Site Key Secret Key Request method Auto Logout after inactivity Whitelist IPs Blacklist IPs Email Notifications (Global) Send notifications to site admin Manually define admin email notification recipients User Account review notification Account Deletion email notification Turn on SMTP configuration SMTP Host, Encryption, Port, Authentication, Username, Password Test SMTP Connection User Accounts Turn on automatic approvals Send User Activation Link in email Display User Password change option Show User Privacy options Allow User Profile deletion Account deletion warning text Allow User Email change Allow Users to hide their profiles Default Profile Image, default user avatar Default Cover Image Email Notifications Toggle Admin notifications Define additional notification recipients Toggle SMTP with credential fields Tools Import Users. Importing parameters and field mapping. Export Users. Exporting parameters. User Blogs Turn User Blog Post Submission On/ Off. Fetch Posts from WordPress Posts/ In-built System/ Both Default Post state after user submission Allow Feature Image Allow tags Use rich text editor Privacy settings Notify Users Notify Admin Private Messaging Toggle Messaging On/ Off Friends System Toggle Friend System On/ Off All resending friend requests Period after which resending request is allowed Uploads Profile Image Maximum File Size (in bytes) Cover Image Maximum File Size (in bytes) Image Quality Profile image minimum width Cover image minimum width SEO User Profile Page Title User Profile Description (HTML Meta) Payments Payment Processor – Paypal (Free) & Stripe (Extension). Toggle test mode. PayPal Email. Currency selection. PayPal page style. Currency symbol position. As you can see, ProfileGrid core is pretty powerful in its own right and many will find it useful standalone. For those who need extra, there are plenty of extensions available. Present set of extensions include: Free Custom User Profile Slugs Define how your frontend user profile URL will appear to site visitors and search engines. Take control of your frontend user profile url permalink and add dynamic slugs. Custom User Profile Slugs Group Photos Allow your users to create and share Photo Albums within their Groups. Albums can be public or restricted to group members. Users can browse and enlarge photos, and post comments. Group Photos Free User Display Name Take complete control of your users’ display names. Mix and match patterns and add predefined suffixes and prefixes. There’s both a global and a group based option, allowing display names in different groups stand out! User Display Name Custom Group Properties Create and add custom data fields to user groups! Now your user groups can have more detailed information and personality just like your user profile pages. These fields appear on single group page. Custom Group Properties Free bbPress Integration – ENHANCE BBPRESS USER PROFILES Integrate ProfileGrid user profile properties and sign up system with the immensely popular bbPress community forums plugin. bbPress User Profiles with Community Activity bbPress Custom User Profiles Fields. Edit bbPress User Profiles Free bbPress Integration User Geolocation Maps Publish interactive maps on your website showcasing locations of all registered users or members from a specific group using simple shortcodes. Features location markers with user info popovers. User Geolocation Maps Frontend Group Creator Give your registered users power to create their own user membership Groups. These Groups behave and work just like regular ProfileGrid membership groups. Frontend Group Creator MailChimp Integration Allow users to subscribe to your MailChimp lists. Comes with custom field mapping support and option for users to manage subscriptions right from their user profile area. MailChimp Integration Free WooCommerce Integration – ENHANCE WOOCOMMERCE USER PROFILES Combine the power of ProfileGrid’s user membership groups with WooCommerce to create enhanced WooCommerce user profiles with option to display purchases, reviews, manage addresses and more. This can be used instead of default WooCommerce user profile page for more engaging user experience. WooCommerce Profile Builder. WooCommerce User Profile with Payments, Reviews & Social Activity. WooCommerce Custom User Profiles Fields. Edit WooCommerce Customer Profiles. Social Login Allow users to connect and login using their social networking accounts. Users can manage connected accounts from their profile settings. Social Login Custom User Profile Tabs Display user specific, or custom content, from other plugins as additional tabs on user profiles. You can add as many custom tabs you like. Examples of practical uses include, events, meetings, forms, listings, directories etc. Custom User Profile Tabs myCred Integration Reward your website users with custom ranks and badges, on reaching predefined goals, using powerful and free myCred points system. Ranks and Badges will also be displayed on their user profiles. myCred Integration User Photos Allow users to create albums and upload photos to them. Albums can be public or private, or shared with fellow group members or friends. Other users can post comments on photos. User Photos = Menu Restrictions …

Discussion Board is an easy way to add a forum to your WordPress site. It has a one-click installation and stacks of essential features that make it the leading WordPress forum plugin. In brief: Users can register and log in via a front-end form Users post new forum topics via a simple form Each forum topic is displayed on its own page where other users can reply WordPress forum plugin demo Test out a live demo version of our forum plugin here. Note that this demo includes some features only available with the Pro version. Feel free to register and post some sample content. One-click installation Discussion Board has a unique, one-click set-up. When you activate the plugin, it will automatically create the three pages you need to get your WordPress forum up and running: A log-in page A page with a form for users to post new topics A page to view existing topics. Your WordPress forum is up and running straightaway with no need to do any further configuration if you don’t want to. User management A key feature of Discussion Board is the ability to control separately who can view your WordPress forum and who can actually post to it. You can specify the required role for users to post new topics and, separately, you can specify the required role for users to view topics. So, for instance, you could allow anyone to view the content but only permit specific user roles to post content. Registration You can specify which role new users will be assigned when they register. You can also require users to activate their registration by verifying their email address – this drastically reduces spam registrations. In the Pro version, you also have the option to approve new registrations yourself if you want. Front end log-in Discussion Board has a complete front-end registration and log-in system. You can choose whether to use the standard WordPress system or keep everything on the front-end. Spam reduction As well as the restrictions over registration, you can limit the frequency that users can re-post. This will reduce possible spamming. As the owner of the site, you can also choose whether new topics should be published immediately or held as draft in order for you to moderate them. You can use standard WordPress settings to determine moderation levels for comments or set different rules for topics. Even more, you can block specific email addresses or entire domains from being able to register accounts. Styles Discussion Board is designed to work with any theme. You can update colors through the Customizer. Currently, there is a choice of three layouts, using either the standard WordPress archive layout from your theme or more classic forum layouts. Discussion Board should work out of the box with your theme. However, if you want to extend it and integrate it more closely, there are some optional templates supplied with the plugin that have hookable opening and closing wrapper tags so you can style the templates to match your theme. Shortcodes Discussion Board has a number of shortcodes. Some of these are installed automatically when you activate the plugin. Others are optional for usage around your site, including: [discussion_board_form] – displays a form for users to post a new topic (automatically installed) [discussion_topics] – displays a list of all topics (automatically installed) [discussion_board_login_form] – displays a log-in and registration form for new users (automatically installed) [discussion_board_login_only] – displays a log-in form without a registration form [discussion_board_registration_only] – displays a registration form without a log-in form [discussion_board_log_in_out] – displays a log-in / log-out link [is_logged_in] – use this shortcode to display content only to users who are logged in [not_logged_in] – display content only to users who are not logged in What can I use this for? You can use this plugin to create any type of forum that you like. Typically, this would include: Community forums School or other education sites Training websites Support forums Discussion forums Niche sites Discussion groups Question and answer sites Technical forums Ecommerce sites Bulletin boards Job boards WordPress forum theme Although Discussion Board should work with pretty much any WordPress theme, we developed Singularity – a free theme that integrates with Discussion Board. It’s available to download from the WordPress themes directory. Why have a forum on my WordPress site? There are many, many reasons to want to install a WordPress forum plugin on your site. In brief, these might include: SEO benefits – there are two key benefits to having a forum on your site. Firstly, you are benefitting from user generated content, where your users are writing your content for you and coming up with all kinds of keywords you never would have included in your content yourself. Secondly, users will spend longer on your site because of your forum, either writing their own posts or reading other people’s content. Google considers dwell time on a website to be a key quality metric. Get closer to your users – a forum is a priceless way of learning more about what makes your users tick, whether the forum is support-based or just a general community discussion board. Market more effectively – when users register for your forum, they are providing you with their email address, meaning that you have a great opportunity to market directly to people you know are interested in your offering. Documentation Full documentation and guidance on getting started with the plugin and on its features is here. Is there a Pro version? Oh yes, there’s a Pro version to give you even more possibilities with your forum. Features include: Multiple Discussion Boards for different subjects Set statuses for topics, e.g. ‘Resolved’, ‘Open’, etc Categories and tags Image uploads User profiles Topic following (subscribe to topics) Board following – subscribe to a board and get notified of all new topics and comments for that board Board permissions – set topics within boards to be post-only (so no replies) or author-only (only the author can view replies) Admin approvals – optionally require all new registrations to be approved by an admin WYSIWYG editor Check out the Pro version here. Contributing If you would like to contribute to the plugin, we’ve put together a guide on how to contribute.