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Wbcom Designs – Private Community for BuddyPress icon
Maintained Tested up to 6.8.11 #51 in buddypress

Wbcom Designs – Private Community for BuddyPress

Create a private BuddyPress community by restricting access to non-members. Control who sees what with flexible privacy settings.

Active installs300+100+ tier
Downloads · 30d233▲ +11% vs prev. 30d
Rating4.9/525 reviews
Health score58/100Fair
All-time downloads30KSince Jun 2017
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 4.0PHP any
Downloads · 7d56▼ -12.5% week over week
Our verdict

Use with caution

Wbcom Designs works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 300+ sites, is rated 4.9/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 58/100 on our health check.

  • Loved by users — 4.9/5 from 25 reviews
  • Small user base (300+ active installs)
  • Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

4812Jul 12Aug 25Oct 9
Yesterday9
Daily average (1y)11
Peak day212Nov 12, 2025
Last 12 months4K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Wbcom Designs stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
buddypress #61 1,073 Best buddypress plugins →
lock #29 2,535 Best lock plugins →
privacy >100 10,000 Best privacy plugins →
private #34 5,171 Best private plugins →
Restrict access >100 1,688 Best Restrict access plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 2.172.9%
  • 1.927.1%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 from 25 reviews

  • 5★88.0%
  • 4★12.0%
  • 3★0.00%
  • 2★0.00%
  • 1★0.00%

About Wbcom Designs

From the official readme · v2.1.2

Description

Turn your BuddyPress site into an exclusive private community in minutes!

Private Community 2.0 helps you create members-only areas on your WordPress site. Whether you’re building a company intranet, paid membership site, or exclusive community, this plugin gives you complete control over who can access your content.

🎯 Perfect For:
• Company intranets and team portals
• Paid membership communities
• Private family or group websites
• Educational course platforms
• Exclusive member networks

✨ What’s New in Version 2.0:
We’ve completely rebuilt the plugin from the ground up with a focus on simplicity and performance. The new tabbed interface makes setup a breeze, while powerful features work behind the scenes to keep your site secure.

🔒 Two Simple Protection Modes:

1. Partial Protection – Keep some areas public
• Lock specific member directories or group pages
• Protect certain URLs while keeping others open
• Use wildcards to protect entire sections (like /premium/*)

2. Full Protection – Lock everything except what you choose
• Make your entire site members-only
• Whitelist specific pages for public access
• Perfect for private company sites

⚙️ How Your Visitors See It:
• Built-in Login – Beautiful login form that matches your theme
• Custom Forms – Use your favorite form plugin
• Smart Redirect – Send visitors to a specific welcome page

💪 Why Choose Private Community?
• Set up in 2 minutes – No complicated configurations
• Works with any theme – Tested with popular BuddyPress themes
• Lightning fast – Optimized for sites with thousands of pages
• Secure by default – Blocks brute force attacks automatically
• Always compatible – Regular updates for latest WordPress versions

Documentation

📚 Comprehensive Documentation Available:

• User Guide – Complete setup and configuration guide
• Developer Guide – Hooks, filters, and API reference
• Testing Guide – Quality assurance and testing procedures

THEME – WORDPRESS THEME WITH OUTSTANDING BUDDYPRESS SUPPORT

  • FREE BuddyPress Theme: BuddyX – Offers unique layouts with clean code and easy-to-customize options, giving you a whole new way to visualize BuddyPress.

OUR ADON PLUGINS TO FURTHER IMPROVE YOUR BUDDYPRESS OR BUDDYBOSS PLATFORM COMMUNITY

Check out free community add-ons by Wbcom Designs:

Check out paid community add-ons by Wbcom Designs:

EXPERT SUPPORT

We are ready to provide incredible support. Ask your questions at contact us directly.

Installation

Quick Setup (2 minutes):

  1. Upload the plugin to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory
  2. Activate ‘Private Community for BuddyPress’ in your Plugins menu
  3. Go to Settings → Private Community
  4. Choose your protection mode and save

That’s it! Your private community is ready.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need BuddyPress to use this plugin?

Yes, this plugin is designed specifically for BuddyPress communities. It won’t work without BuddyPress installed and active.

How quickly can I set this up?

Most users have their private community running in under 2 minutes. Just choose your protection mode and you’re done!

Can I keep some pages public while protecting others?

Absolutely! Use Partial Protection mode to choose exactly which pages to protect, or use Full Protection with a whitelist for public pages.

Will this slow down my site?

No. Version 2.0 is optimized for performance and can handle sites with thousands of pages without any speed issues.

Can members still register if my site is locked?

Yes! The registration page can be whitelisted so new members can still sign up while the rest of your site remains private.

Does it work with my theme?

Private Community works with any properly coded WordPress theme. It’s been tested with all major BuddyPress themes.

What happens when non-members try to access protected content?

You choose! Show them a login form, redirect to a specific page, or display a custom message using any shortcode.

Is there a limit to how many pages I can protect?

No limits! Protect one page or your entire site – the plugin handles both equally well.

Changelog

Major update with new features and improvements. Your settings will be automatically migrated. Backup recommended before upgrading.

2.1.2

  • Security: Fixed critical registration bypass vulnerability that allowed user registration without proper nonce verification
  • Security: Hardened nonce verification with separate checks for presence and validity
  • Security: Added WordPress registration setting validation to prevent unauthorized registrations
  • Enhancement: Optimized script and style enqueuing to load only for logged-out users, preventing conflicts
  • Enhancement: Admin AJAX assets now properly load minified versions in production for better performance
  • Enhancement: Added wbcom assets to build process for complete minification and RTL support
  • Fix: All CSS/JS files now properly use minified versions when SCRIPT_DEBUG is disabled

2.1.1

  • Fix: Fixed BuddyPress activation pages being locked in both partial and full protection modes
  • Fix: Activation URLs now properly bypass protection to allow new user account activation
  • Enhancement: Implemented BuddyPress-native detection for URL-structure agnostic handling
  • Enhancement: Added activation patterns to default whitelist template

2.1.0

  • Enhancement: Improved login and registration popup display and functionality
  • Enhancement: Enhanced UI for login and register forms with better styling
  • Enhancement: Improved save settings button design and user experience
  • Enhancement: Enhanced locked message content display and formatting
  • Enhancement: Better form handling with custom content messages positioned above forms
  • Enhancement: Modernized CSS styling throughout the plugin
  • Enhancement: Advanced whitelist support with wildcard patterns for flexible URL protection
  • Fix: Fixed protection rules form submission and validation issues
  • Fix: Fixed line break rendering in restriction messages to display properly
  • Fix: Fixed custom content message positioning in login/registration forms
  • Fix: Fixed settings persistence to prevent data loss
  • Fix: Fixed duplicate entry prevention in protection rules
  • Fix: Fixed null post object handling to prevent PHP warnings
  • Fix: Fixed AJAX handler to properly preserve newlines and HTML formatting in rich text fields
  • Security: Implemented double sanitization for enhanced security across all inputs
  • Security: Improved data validation and escaping
  • Dev: Enhanced translation system for better internationalization support
  • Dev: WordPress Coding Standards (WPCS) compliance improvements
  • Dev: Updated default content and messaging
  • Dev: Improved code quality and maintainability

2.0.0 – Major Update

  • Completely rebuilt from the ground up for better performance
  • New modern admin interface that’s easier to use
  • Added Partial Protection mode for selective content locking
  • Added Full Protection mode for complete site privacy
  • URL patterns with wildcards now supported (/docs/*)
  • Choose how to display login: built-in form, custom shortcode, or redirect
  • Automatic brute force protection (5 login attempts per 15 minutes)
  • Works smoothly with sites having 1000+ pages
  • Fixed compatibility with PHP 8.2
  • Your existing settings are automatically migrated

1.9.3

  • Enhancement: Managed register button style for better user experience.
  • Fix: Resolved BP lock login page issue and removed tab for register option.
  • Enhancement: Improved admin UI for a smoother workflow.
  • Update: Ensured consistent and meaningful labels throughout the interface.
  • Update: Changed label text to be more descriptive and consistent.
  • Enhancement: Used constants, consistent output functions, and correctly escaped attributes.
  • Fix: Addressed deprecation notices, including PHP deprecated implicit conversion from float to int.
  • Fix: Resolved PHP deprecated issue.

1.9.1

  • Fix – (#55)Fixed notice on the logged-out template
  • Fix – (#56)Fixed deprecated notices with PHP 8.0
  • Fix – Compatibility fixes with BuddyPress 12.0
  • Fix – Compatibility fixes with WordPress 6.5

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

Welcome tab - Quick setup and overview of the plugin features
Welcome tab - Quick setup and overview of the plugin features
Partial Protection tab - Select specific BuddyPress components and URLs to protect
Partial Protection tab - Select specific BuddyPress components and URLs to protect
Full Protection tab - Enable site-wide protection with whitelist configuration
Full Protection tab - Enable site-wide protection with whitelist configuration
Protection Rules tab - Configure how protected content is displayed (forms vs redirect)
Protection Rules tab - Configure how protected content is displayed (forms vs redirect)
Frontend view - Login form displayed on protected pages
Frontend view - Login form displayed on protected pages

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

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FAQ

Wbcom Designs: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 10, 2026

Is Wbcom Designs free?

Yes. Wbcom Designs is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Wbcom Designs safe to use in 2026?

Wbcom Designs works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 300+ sites, is rated 4.9/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 58/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Wbcom Designs?

Wbcom Designs is active on 300+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 30,002 times since it launched in June 2017. It was downloaded 233 times in the last 30 days.

Does Wbcom Designs work with WordPress 7.1?

Wbcom Designs is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.11, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Wbcom Designs last updated?

The latest version, 2.1.2, was released on November 28, 2025 (11 months ago).

Who makes Wbcom Designs?

Wbcom Designs is developed and maintained by wbcomdesigns.

What are the best alternatives to Wbcom Designs?

The most popular alternatives to Wbcom Designs are Better Messages (10K+ installs), rtMedia for WordPress, Budd… (7K+ installs) and BuddyPress Docs (6K+ installs).

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