BuddyPress Favorite Notification closes the feedback loop in your community. When a member favorites an activity or a comment, the author is told about it right away through BuddyPress notifications, an optional email, and a realtime popup that appears without a page refresh.

It also adds a Facebook-style “who liked this” line under each activity, and gives site owners a dashboard showing what is trending. BuddyPress is required.

What you get

Notifications when content is appreciated
* A BuddyPress notification to the author whenever their activity or comment is favorited.
* Optional realtime on-screen popups powered by the WordPress Heartbeat API, so a member sees the favorite as it happens. Switched on by the site owner on the Display tab, checking every 30 or 60 seconds.
* Email alerts for favorited activities and favorited comments, sent through BuddyPress Emails. Edit the wording in Dashboard > Emails like any other BuddyPress email, and every email carries a working unsubscribe link.
* No notification when you favorite your own content.
* Works with all BuddyPress activity types, including group activities, blog posts, and comments.

Favorite count display
* Three display modes, chosen in Settings: inline usernames (“John, Jane, and 10 others”), an icon with the count, or an icon and count that opens the full list.
* A choice of icon for the “favorited by” line – heart, star, bookmark, thumbs up, or none – so favorites are not mistaken for the Like reaction. The Favorite button itself keeps the icon BuddyPress and your theme give it.
* A “View all” modal listing the members who favorited an activity, with clickable profile links. It loads a page at a time with a Load more control, so it stays usable on activities with thousands of likes. Set the page size with the bpfn_favorites_modal_per_page filter.
* Updates over AJAX as members like and unlike, with a 5-minute cache so the line loads instantly.
* The favorite display is shown to logged-in members only.

Admin dashboard
* Overview stats: total favorites, notifications sent, active users, and the most liked activity.
* Recent favorites from the last 7 days.
* Trending activities over the last 7 days and the last 30 days, top 10 each, with rank, content preview, author, and a direct link.

Tools and maintenance
* Optional automatic monthly cleanup of old read notifications, with a retention period of 7, 15, 30, 60, or 90 days. Off until the site owner turns it on.
* A manual cleanup button, the last cleanup result, and the next scheduled run.
* Chunked background migration of existing favorites, processed in batches so large sites do not time out, with progress tracking and a log.

Built for larger communities
* A custom, indexed favorites table for fast lookups instead of scanning user meta.
* Object caching on the favorite counts and the who-liked queries.

Member preferences
* Members choose favorite emails in their BuddyPress Settings > Email tab, next to every other BuddyPress email.
* A Settings > Favorite Notifications tab turns web notifications and realtime popups on or off per activity type (posts, comments).
* Everything is on by default, so members only visit these screens if they want less.

Developer friendly
* Action and filter hooks throughout, including bpfn_notification_string and bpfn_email_tokens.
* Display hooks for full control of the favorite line: bpfn_favorite_icon_html, bpfn_favorite_display_format, bpfn_favorite_display_html, bpfn_display_modes, and bpfn_favorite_icons.
* Modular architecture with separate notification, email, realtime, settings, admin, and favorite display modules.
* Translation ready with an included POT file, and RTL support.

Perfect For

BuddyPress communities that want members to know when their posts land well
Social networks where engagement and return visits matter
Membership sites that use the activity stream as the main feed
Any BuddyPress site that wants to see what content is trending

Premium Support

Our support team is ready to help with setup, configuration, and troubleshooting. Reach us through the links below.

Documentation

Documentation – Setup, display settings, member preferences, and troubleshooting
Developer guide – Every action and filter, with examples

Translations

English (default)
Ready for translation in your language with the included POT file
RTL language support included

Compatibility

WordPress 6.5 and higher
PHP 8.1 and higher
BuddyPress required – the plugin deactivates itself and explains why if BuddyPress is not active
Compatible with BuddyPress Nouveau and Legacy templates
Works with modern WordPress themes, including BuddyX and Reign

BuddyPress Favorite Notification