Social networks run on notifications and BuddyPress helps make that happen. BuddyPress sends out notifications for various actions on the site, like when you get a message from a friend or when someone replies to your status update. Though BuddyPress sends out quite a few notifications, you might want to add custom notifications for other actions. For example, you may want to send out a notification when a friends birthday is near.
In this tutorial, we will go over the code necessary to send a member a notification when someone comments on their blog post. You don’t need a lot of code to add notifications; they just require special formatting.
The first thing required is that notifications are attached to a BuddyPress Component. No worries though–you do not actually have to create a full component! It just needs to be registered by adding to an array. Adding a “fake” component to the registered component array is done by adding a filter to bp_notifications_get_registered_components. In the code snip below we are adding a fake component called “custom”. You can name this fake component anything. We will use this name later when adding the notification.
function custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components( $component_names = array() ) {
// Force $component_names to be an array
if ( ! is_array( $component_names ) ) {
$component_names = array();
}
// Add 'custom' component to registered components array
array_push( $component_names, 'custom' );
// Return component's with 'custom' appended
return $component_names;
}
add_filter( 'bp_notifications_get_registered_components', 'custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components' );
Once we have the fake component registered, we need to create a function to format what is actually displayed on the members notification table list. In the image below you can see the column “Notification”. The content of this box is what we need to format. This should be a short message to explain the notification and to link back to a piece of content. In this case, it’s the comment link:
There are a couple caveats when formatting this callback function. We need to take into account the admin bar markup. We need to pass back a string and also an array. Formatted as such:
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( 'string' === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( 'custom_filter', '<a href="' . esc_url( $custom_link ) . '" title="' . esc_attr( $custom_title ) . '">' . esc_html( $custom_text ) . '</a>', $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( 'custom_filter', array(
'text' => $custom_text,
'link' => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
The other caveat is adding a notification doesn’t really add anything until it is displayed. The only thing that is saved is the item id (what you want to link to). In our code we are doing notifications for comments, so we save the comment id and then during the call back formatting function get the required data to display. See the code below where we get the $item_id and use it with get_comment() to compile whats shown in that Notification box in the table list. The $item_id is set during the action that adds the notification. The $custom_text can be customized to fit the content you are linking to.
The format code needs to be wrapped in an action check; if this is not done it will reformat every notification. Note: Notifications are built each time they are displayed. In the code example I have set the action to be ‘custom_action’. You can name this anything–when adding the notification later you specify this action.
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = 'string' ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( 'custom_action' === $action ) {
$comment = get_comment( $item_id );
$custom_title = $comment->comment_author . ' commented on the post ' . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
$custom_link = get_comment_link( $comment );
$custom_text = $comment->comment_author . ' commented on your post ' . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( 'string' === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( 'custom_filter', '<a href="' . esc_url( $custom_link ) . '" title="' . esc_attr( $custom_title ) . '">' . esc_html( $custom_text ) . '</a>', $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( 'custom_filter', array(
'text' => $custom_text,
'link' => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( 'bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user', 'custom_format_buddypress_notifications', 10, 5 );
Now we need to hook to an action to run the bp_notifications_add_notification() function and save that item id. You can hook to almost any action for the type of notification you want to send. That birthday notification example mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial could be hooked to run on login and then cycle through friend ids and then when it finds a friend with a birthday in a set time, save that user id and then the format callback function can retrieve that friends id and display an appropriate notification.
In our case we are hooking to wp_insert_comment. This hook allows us to get the comment id to save as the item id to be used in the format callback function. You also need to provide the user id of who will be receiving this notification.
In this case, we want to notify the post author. We can tap into the wp_insert_comment hook, as it has the comment object and provides the post id the comment is getting attached to. Then we can get the author id from the get_post() response. You will see an argument for ‘component_name’ and ‘component_action’. The ‘component_name’ is the fake component we registered in custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components(). The ‘component_action’ is the action we wrapped around our formatting code earlier. This is so the format code only runs on specific notifications.
function bp_custom_add_notification( $comment_id, $comment_object ) {
$post = get_post( $comment_object->comment_post_ID );
$author_id = $post->post_author;
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
'user_id' => $author_id,
'item_id' => $comment_id,
'component_name' => 'custom',
'component_action' => 'custom_action',
'date_notified' => bp_core_current_time(),
'is_new' => 1,
) );
}
add_action( 'wp_insert_comment', 'bp_custom_add_notification', 99, 2 );
Thats about it–only three functions to get custom notifications in BuddyPress. Click here for the full code in this tutorial. If you got any questions, post in the comments and I’ll get notified…see what I did there?
THANK YOU!
Thank you for the post. It really helped getting my head around this.
I copied your full sample code into bp-custom.php. I didnt change a single line. The notification is added to the db, no problem. But the notification is blank. I went through the normal debugging routine and it turns out that there is a conflict with bbPress 2.5.8
Here’s my setup
WP 2015 Theme
WP 4.3.1
All plugins deactivated except BP 2.3.4 (works. notification isn’t blank)
All plugins deactivated except BP 2.3.4 & bbPress 2.5.8 (doesnt work. notifications are blank)
If I try to echo $action in custom_format_buddypress_notifications its blank so it never steps through the custom_filter filtering.
Okay, I figured out the issue. bbPress is not returning the action in their $action doesnt = bbp_new_reply located in bbp_format_buddypress_notifications. I figured it out by reading this: https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6669
You might want to add it to your sample code as well.
Again, thank you for a great article.
Hello Shawn,
I assume you fixed this issue ?
Can you provide the full code ?
I am terrible at .php and my notifications are showing blank.
To prevent a blank notification message for the user sending the notification to another user, I had to use this code, like it is done in the BuddyPress Poke plugin:
if ($action !== ‘custom_action’) {
return $action;
}
I think this tutorial should be updated with this code.
Shawn, did you manage to solve this issue ?
Im having the same problem with blank notifications.
Replace the bbp_format_buddypress_notifications function in /bbpress/includes/extend/buddypress/notifications.php with the new one here: https://bbpress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/includes/extend/buddypress/notifications.php#L41
Hello. First of all thank you for your contribution. By testing your code I see that in reviewing the message remains as unread.
I am very interested in this question because I want to use my blog as a forum without installing wordpress bbPress and notify the users that are friends, which has created a new blog post.
My knowledge of php are basic. For now understand that would have to double if (‘custom_action’ === $ action) {} and modify it to reach my goal. Am I on track?
Again thank you very much time
You would put a parameter on the end of the $custom_link to your post in the notification then when clicked it would move that notification as read.
You would create a function that was hooked to run when yo view a blog post. Look here for example of bbPress marking notifications based on url parameter.
https://bbpress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/includes/extend/buddypress/notifications.php#L146
The function to mark items is bp_notifications_mark_notifications_by_item_id()
Hi Ryan,
i’m not a developer, but i’d like to add to notification the new activity on group.
When there is a new activity in one of groups of a member, i’d like to see a notification.
Can help me to do it?
I can’t write the code for you but its same as above but youd need to hook into the correct filter instead of wp_insert_comment and get the correct info to pass back to notification
Hi, I really appreciate Your work +1.
But… I’m facing one problem, how to mark notification as read after user click in that notification (title)?
Cheers
doh…
I have not noticed comments with solution 😛
Now if only we will get a tutorial that will notify of new posts from friends. Otherwise thank you for the tutorial. musch appreciated
Hi Ryan, how would this work if I were to create a notification that lets the admin know when someone has left a private group – is that possible with your code?
instead of wp_insert_comment action use
do_action( ‘groups_leave_group’, $group_id, $user_id );
Hello Ryan,
FIrst of all thank you very much for the tutorial! Its by far the best resource I’ve found on custom notifications.
I’m pretty new to buddypress and been trying to “hack” my way to an app.
I’m currently using the buddypress live notifications which works like a charm but I also need notifications for post/activity likes.
I’ve tried both Buddypress Like and WPUlike withouth any success.
Is this something you have attempted? I’m a bit surprised how hard it has been to achieve such functionality.
I tried incorporating your tutorial but I’m not sure which hooks to use to save the notifications.
Any light you can shed would be much appreciated!!
Thank you very much for your time.
Kind regards,
Gab
You can add a notification for anything you can hook an action to. You basically need a trigger to send off the notification. BuddyPress Like doesn’t have any hooks but you could tap into the ajax or $_POST.
Hi, i need your help. I receive all the buddypress notification but never the activity post member notification. I really do not understand. Somebody can help me?
Thanks a lot
Hi Alex,
BuddyPress only sends a notification when posting activity if the poster @ mentions.
If you are having issues with your install I suggest you post in the buddy press.org forums
Hi, i really do not found a solution. It is possible for you change the code of your notify email activity comments with activity stream feed?
Thanks a lot
Can you do another tut showing how to send a email notification when a Buddypress “friend” submit a “post” to a WordPress Site.
This was already requested:
pempho says:
March 8, 2016 at 9:53 am
Now if only we will get a tutorial that will notify of new posts from friends. Otherwise thank you for the tutorial. musch appreciated
Exceptional work by the way.
Hi, I modified your example, I wanted to add posts notifications and it worked fine, except when I tried to filter them. First you need to know how I want to filter them. – I’ve a profile field named ‘Field’ which is a dropdown list with 5 options. – I have also 5 post categories with the exact names of the ‘Field’ values. – When a post is added, If it has (e.g. A,B,C) categories I want a notification for every user who has his ‘Field’ value is equal to A,B or C.
Here is the full code:
`
function custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components( $component_names = array() ) {
if ( ! is_array( $component_names ) ) {
$component_names = array();
}
array_push( $component_names, ‘custom’ );
return $component_names;
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_registered_components’, ‘custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components’ );
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$post = get_post( $item_id );
$recent_author = get_user_by( ‘ID’, $post->post_author );
$author_display_name = $recent_author->display_name;
$custom_title = $author_display_name . ‘ has posted a new post: ‘ . get_the_title($post);
$custom_text = $author_display_name. ‘ has posted a new post: ‘ . get_the_title($post);
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
function bp_custom_add_notification( $post_id, $post_object ) {
$args = array(
‘blog_id’ => $GLOBALS[‘blog_id’],
‘role’ => ’employer’,
‘role__in’ => array(),
‘role__not_in’ => array(),
‘meta_key’ => ”,
‘meta_value’ => ”,
‘meta_compare’ => ”,
‘meta_query’ => array(),
‘date_query’ => array(),
‘include’ => array(),
‘exclude’ => array(),
‘orderby’ => ‘login’,
‘order’ => ‘ASC’,
‘offset’ => ”,
‘search’ => ”,
‘number’ => ”,
‘count_total’ => false,
‘fields’ => ‘all’,
‘who’ => ”
);
$all_users = get_users($args);
foreach ($all_users as $user) {
$acc_type = xprofile_get_field_data(‘Field’, $user->ID);
if (in_category($acc_type, $post_object->ID)) {
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
‘user_id’ => $user->ID,
‘item_id’ => $post_id,
‘component_name’ => ‘custom’,
‘component_action’ => ‘custom_action’,
‘date_notified’ => bp_core_current_time(),
‘is_new’ => 1,
) );
}
}
}
add_action( ‘wp_insert_post’, ‘bp_custom_add_notification’, 99, 2 );
`
PS: It works without the IF STATEMENT.
Hi Ryan,
Thanks a lot for your awesome tutorials. They have been incredibly helpful. I’ve managed to create multiple notifications. When I click on the notification from the dropdown, i’d like to have it marked as read.
I have added the following parameter action=read in the url. I cannot however manage to get the notification id to be sent as a parameter in the link. Any guidance will be super helpful as I feel very lost with this.
Thanks
Hi Claudio,
This is sounding like custom functionality with regards to how Notifications work in BuddyPress. That said, I have looked over how the “read” link from http://DOMAIN.com/members/USERNAME/notifications/ work, and they also include a nonce value and the notification ID to be marked as read, on top of the action you’re already providing. I’d recommend looking over the bp-notifications/bp-notifications-template.php file as well as the top of bp-notifications/bp-notifications.actions.php file to see what all is available. Hopefully that gives a better idea of what all is involved to potentially make the dropdown in the admin bar work that way.
Hi Claudio,
You can retrieve the notification ID and wpnonce using bp_get_the_notification_mark_read_url(). These can then be added to the custom link to the comment using add_query_arg. The problem is that when action=read, the function bp_notifications_action_mark_read calls the function bp_notifications_mark_notification, which calls bp_displayed_user_id(), but the latter doesn’t return anything when used in the dropdown. Creating a replacement bp_notifications_mark_notification function that uses bp_loggedin_user_id() instead seems to do the job!
Ed
Hello,
this works great.
I have a question thought. I’ve tried to implement this same functionality with new posts. However it breaks in buddypress and no information shows.
I’m following this tutorial to accomplish this.
http://opentuteplus.com/how-to-create-a-custom-buddypress-notifications-while-posting-a-new-post/
Would you have any idea why it would conflict with your code and show nothing inside the notification tab?
Thanks very much!
Hard to say what may be causing the conflicts, if any. Would you be willing to provide the code you have at the moment? I know you’ve been following tutorials, but as you’ve tinkered and tried things, the code has evolved, and that’s what I’m most interested in.
Hi Michael,
Sure – first block sends notifications on post updates to two connected users
function custom_filter_notifications_publish_post_get_registered_components( $component_names = array() ) {
// Force $component_names to be an array
if ( ! is_array( $component_names ) ) {
$component_names = array();
}
// Add ‘custom’ component to registered components array
array_push( $component_names, ‘custom’ );
// Return component’s with ‘custom’ appended
return $component_names;
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_registered_components’, ‘custom_filter_notifications_publish_post_get_registered_components’ );
function bp_custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$post_info = get_post( $item_id );
if(get_field(‘approved’) == 1){
$custom_title = get_the_title( $item_id ). ‘ has been approved!’;
$custom_link = get_post_permalink( $item_id );
$custom_text = get_the_title( $item_id ). ‘ has been approved!’;
}else{
$custom_title = ‘New update for idea: ‘ . get_the_title( $item_id );
$custom_link = get_post_permalink( $item_id );
$custom_text = ‘New update for idea: ‘ . get_the_title( $item_id );
}
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘bp_custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
function bp_post_published_notification( $post_object) {
$post_object = get_post();
$post_id = $post_object->ID;
$author_id = $post_object->post_author; /* Post author ID. */
$userField = get_field( ‘claim’);
$userID = $userField[‘ID’];
$usersArray= array($userID,$author_id);
foreach ($usersArray as $userArray) {
if ( bp_is_active( ‘notifications’ ) ) {
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
‘user_id’ => $userArray,
‘item_id’ => $post_id,
‘component_name’ => ‘custom’,
‘component_action’ => ‘custom_action’,
‘date_notified’ => bp_core_current_time(),
‘is_new’ => 1,
) );
}
}
}
add_action( ‘acf/save_post’, ‘bp_post_published_notification’, 99 );
This is the code from this tutorial for comments.
function custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components( $component_names = array() ) {
// Force $component_names to be an array
if ( ! is_array( $component_names ) ) {
$component_names = array();
}
// Add ‘custom’ component to registered components array
array_push( $component_names, ‘custom’ );
// Return component’s with ‘custom’ appended
return $component_names;
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_registered_components’, ‘custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components’ );
// this gets the saved item id, compiles some data and then displays the notification
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$comment = get_comment( $item_id );
$custom_title = $comment->comment_author . ‘ commented on the post ‘ . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
$custom_link = get_comment_link( $comment );
$custom_text = $comment->comment_author . ‘ commented on your post ‘ . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
// this hooks to comment creation and saves the comment id
function bp_custom_add_notification( $comment_id, $comment_object ) {
$post = get_post( $comment_object->comment_post_ID );
$author_id = $post->post_author;
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
‘user_id’ => $author_id,
‘item_id’ => $comment_id,
‘component_name’ => ‘custom’,
‘component_action’ => ‘custom_action’,
‘date_notified’ => bp_core_current_time(),
‘is_new’ => 1,
) );
}
add_action( ‘wp_insert_comment’, ‘bp_custom_add_notification’, 99, 2 );
They both add a notification but the title of the notification comes up blank.
Thanks very much
Dear Ryan,
You are a STAR! Amazing!
May I ask you something?
Please, when users post a reply to a comment on buddypress group…. his profile activity is missing links to where he/she made a comment… so it looks like this:
Mike posted a new activity comment
the actual comment
Is there any way, I can change the activity to
Mike posted a new comment on GROUP-NAME
the actual comment
So, user can actually click on Group-name ???
I know there is solution to remove ALL of the activity_comment from the activity completely, but we don’t want to do that. ( https://buddypress.org/support/topic/i-am-trying-to-remove-activity-comments-as-separate-entries/ )
Bizarrely, this problem isn’t on all users activity page.
Thank you very much
any ideas please?
Hey Lucy, can you please provide a copy of the code you’re using at its present state? The biggest “hurdle” so to speak that I can think of at the moment is accurately getting the group that something is posted to. However, knowing what you’re seeing would be a big help.
Thank you so much for your reply @MichaelBeckwith
I think the main problem is in main way the buddypress profile feeds works.
I’m not sure what code I should change to have the actual feed as for example:
“Mike posted a new comment on GROUP-NAME”
the actual comment
It’s only
“Mike posted a new activity comment”
the actual comment
….
Keep in mind this happens only when user Post A reply to a existing comment on Group Page. When you post the first initial comment… everything is fine and the feed is including ‘common sense’… aka the link to the Group comment.
Anyway, I thought I would use the code:
function my_bp_activities_include_activity_types( $retval ) {
// only allow the following activity types to be shown
$retval[‘action’] = array(
‘activity_update’,
‘activity_comment’,
‘new_blog_post’,
‘new_blog_comment’,
‘friendship_created’,
‘created_group’,
);
return $retval;
}
add_filter( ‘bp_after_has_activities_parse_args’, ‘my_bp_activities_include_activity_types’ );
The problem is that simply by adding
// in-front of the
‘activity_update’ or ‘activity_comment’,
removes too much :((
So, the solution should be
A, removing this reply of comment from user’s profile feed completely (but still keeping the the feed when comment is posted)
B, or IDEALLY – add the link to the group-page-reply so people can amke sense of what that comment is about.
Hope it’s clear 😉
Thank you so much :))
I think the code provided is the wrong part for what we’re looking for. The current version that you have, that I want, would be from the “custom_format_buddypress_notifications” function in Ryan’s example code above. That’s where the content for the notification is getting set. It’s there that we need to see if we can get any information about the group name, and use that as part of the output.
Thank you so much Michael,
the biggest problem I have found out is that there simply isn’t the FULL list of those activity_types … there are bits and pieces everywhere.
Last thing, if I may, please…
You know the code above will trigger those activity_types included in that code… the problem is… that if I have missed some (and I do because I don’t know the whole list of what’s there), the activity_types excluded from there will be disabled.
…so, please, is there a code that can just add the activity_types to existing one?
Thank you 🙂
My thoughts here were to not try to limit/edit the available activity types in some way, I was aiming more at trying to conditionally change the notification content that gets generated. This is why I was requesting what you have for the “custom_format_buddypress_notifications” function in your own site at the moment. If we have access to the group in some way, say via group ID, we can make it say what group the activity was posted in.
Thank you so much Michael,
the biggest problem I have found out is that there simply isn’t the FULL list of those activity_types … there are bits and pieces everywhere.
Last thing, if I may, please…
You know the code above will trigger those activity_types included in that code… the problem is… that if I have missed some (and I do because I don’t know the whole list of what’s there), the activity_types excluded from there will be disabled.
…so, please, is there a code that can just add the activity_types to existing one?
Thank you 🙂
Hi, thanks for posting. I use a rating plugin. Authors can rate posts. How can I create notification to the author of post when his/her post gets voted by other authors? I know the hook of the rating plugin, but I don’t know where to adjust the code to meet my case.
Thanks.
Good day Topy,
The biggest question is going to be if some sort of WordPress action is executed at the time of the rating. This would allow you to “hook into” the rating event, and also set up the notification portion as Ryan outlines above. This will be very much how he creates the notification on the `wp_insert_comment` action hook.
add_action( ‘wp_insert_comment’, ‘bp_custom_add_notification’, 99, 2 );
If the rating plugin has something similar to that, you should be golden.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I’ve tried the code below but it doesn’t work for me. Any idea?
function custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components( $component_names = array() ) {
// Force $component_names to be an array
if ( ! is_array( $component_names ) ) {
$component_names = array();
}
// Add ‘custom’ component to registered components array
array_push( $component_names, ‘custom’ );
// Return component’s with ‘custom’ appended
return $component_names;
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_registered_components’, ‘custom_filter_notifications_get_registered_components’ );
///Once we have the fake component registered, we need to create a function to format what is
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html($custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$post = get_post( $post_id );
$custom_title = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘ . get_permalink($post);
$custom_link = get_permalink($post);
$custom_text = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘ . get_permalink($post);
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
function bp_custom_add_notification( $post_id ) {
$post = get_post( $post_id );
$author_id = $post->post_author;
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
‘user_id’ => $author_id,
‘item_id’ => $post_id,
‘component_name’ => ‘custom’,
‘component_action’ => ‘custom_action’,
‘date_notified’ => bp_core_current_time(),
‘is_new’ => 1,
) );
}
add_action( ‘my_post_rating_star’, ‘bp_custom_add_notification’, 99, 2 );
What rating plugin are you using? Hopefully it’s a free one that I can download somewhere, instead of a premium one.
I’m curious about what may be getting passed in for the referenced `my_post_rating_star` action.
Hi, Michael,
It’s a premium plugin but if you would like to have a look into it, I can send you. Please give me your email address.
Thanks,
michael @ webdevstudios . com will reach me.
Looks like the closest (and only) action hook available will be this:
do_action( ‘rating_form_new_rating’, $new_rating_id, $post_id, $user );
You’ll want to make these changes, and customize more from there:
https://gist.github.com/tw2113/66e47cb707a2034f9e72b0e706288d9b
Thanks so much! It works now! You save my days! By the way, how can I change the notification message from “voted your post” to “{username} voted your post” from the following code. I just would like to display the username who gives a vote.
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$post = get_post( $item_id );
$custom_title = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘;
$custom_link = get_permalink($post);
$custom_text = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘;
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
I believe you’re going to need to replace the use of $post->post_author. since that would just return the user numeral ID.
$user = get_user_by( ‘id’, $post->post_author );
$custom_title = $user->user_login . ‘ voted your post ‘;
Hi, thanks. Sorry, it doesn’t work. Still it displays “1 voted your post”
I would like to display as, for example, “Michael voted your post” and when clicking on the message, it brings me to the post that Michael voted.
function custom_format_buddypress_notifications( $action, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’ ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘custom_action’ === $action ) {
$post = get_post( $item_id );
$user = get_user_by( ‘id’, $post->post_author );
$custom_title = $user->user_login . ‘voted your post’;
$custom_link = get_permalink($post);
$custom_text = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘;
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, array(
‘text’ => $custom_text,
‘link’ => $custom_link
), $custom_link, (int) $total_items, $custom_text, $custom_title );
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘custom_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 5 );
Need to update this line as well:
$custom_text = $post->post_author . ‘ voted your post ‘;
Have it match the $custom_title version.
My bad for not specifying both originally.
It seems that I get closer. Now It displays a username, but it’s the “admin” username. I have used another username, for example, “topy” to vote a post of the admin. But the result is that when I login to the admin account to check, the notification message displays “Adminvoted your post” It should have been “Topy voted your post”, right? I think I can get the author of the post to display. What I cannot is to displays the author who rates the post, not the author of the post.
Thanks.
At this point, it may be best to contact the rating plugin’s support on how to potentially get user info for a given rating. Just looking over the spot of the action hook they provide, it’d apparently require doing a database query against their plugin’s tables.
Nonetheless, we’re definitely darn close as a whole.
Understand. I think this is the only thing the author has. But thanks so much for your help, very useful to me and I get educated a lot from this.
Thanks!
Hi !
Thanks a lot for this post, its help me to do my own custom notification system for alert of new messages if you add a forum topic to your favorite.
Everything work well but I have a last problem that I dont arrived to fixe : when I click on my new notifications they don’t disappear by her self. I use bbp_mark_read for generate my notification link but without sucess
$topic_link = wp_nonce_url(
add_query_arg(
array(
‘action’ => ‘bbp_mark_read’,
‘topic_id’ => $topic_id
),
bbp_get_reply_url( $item_id )
),
‘bbp_mark_topic_’ . $topic_id
);
I saw your different answers to this question but nothing work. What should I use and how?
Thanks !
hey ArnoSr,
Do you think you could share your entire code customizations here. It’ll help me visualize what you’re trying to accomplish and where you’re presently at.
Okay, guys, I am dealing with this for months now, so I seriously hope you can help me, I am devastated.
I successfully register a component, get a hook and add a notification:
bp_notifications_add_notification( array(
‘user_id’ => $author_id, // User to whom notification has to be send
‘item_id’ => $item_id, // Id of thing you want to show it can be item_id or post or custom post or anything
‘secondary_item_id’ => $second_id,
‘component_name’ => ‘pitch-requests’, // component that we registered
‘component_action’ => ‘request’, // Our Custom Action
‘date_notified’ => bp_core_current_time(), // current time
‘is_new’ => 1, // It say that is new notification
I find the notification sitting beautifully in the SQL DB, just as it’s supposed to be.
However, it gets displayed empty in both the Notifications screen as in the Admin Bar.
So I guess the problem has to be found in the formatting, which I use and call like this:
function bp_request_format_buddypress_notifications( $content, $item_id, $secondary_item_id, $total_items, $format = ‘string’, $action, $component ) {
// New custom notifications
if ( ‘request’ === $action ) {
$comment = get_comment( $item_id );
$custom_title = $comment->comment_author . ‘ commented on the post ‘ . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
$custom_link = get_comment_link( $comment );
$custom_text = $comment->comment_author . ‘ commented on your post ‘ . get_the_title( $comment->comment_post_ID );
// WordPress Toolbar
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = “abc”;
// Deprecated BuddyBar
} else {
$return = “abc”;
}
return $return;
}
}
add_filter( ‘bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user’, ‘bp_request_format_buddypress_notifications’, 10, 7 );
I tried using apply_filters before, like this:
if ( ‘string’ === $format ) {
$return = apply_filters( ‘custom_filter’, ‘‘ . esc_html( $custom_text ) . ‘‘, $custom_text, $custom_link );
But none of both works.
What might be wrong here?
Hope so much you can help me … please, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.
Just to help confirm some details, have you made sure your $action variable is matching what’s passed, in your “bp_request_format_buddypress_notifications()” function?
Also I think BuddyPress expects an array if $format isn’t set to string. Similar to below
$return = array(
‘text’ => “Text”,
‘link’ => ‘https://url.com”,
);
If needed, may not hurt to get a pastebin.com paste or a GitHub Gist of all your applicable code, instead of trying to paste too much code into a comment here.
Stupid me… it was bbpress. Thanks for your support!
Alright, guys, guess my hair is not yet grey enough, so time to mark my custom notifications as read. As you stated above, it could be an option to send additional information to the notification’s link by adding something like “#delnote222”.
That would allow me to then mark the note from within the link’s page, when visited. BUT: How and where could I get an id of the notification to add it to my link?
Or: Any other way to mark a custom notification as read?
Thank you!
@Tassilo What’s your current code for what you’re using?
I know there are various helper functions inside /bp-notifications/bp-notifications-functions.php as part of BuddyPress core, but some will depend on what you already have available to you, code wise.
Hello!
I’m looking to create a custom bbpress notification hooked with a new woocommerce order. Could you point me in the right direction for doing this? I’m not exactly sure how the “function custom_format_buddypress_notifications(..” works and how the filter following it works.
Any help would be appreciated.
-Trevor
@trevor
Does bbPress have notifications the same way that BuddyPress does? Asking because this tutorial is going to be specific for BuddyPress.
The WordPress BuddyPress software is relatively a good plugin for it gives you the freedom to experience social media on a higher level. Since it is suitable for a smaller community, you can manage your friends on a personal level and that is what makes it stand out.
Very useful. Thanks for sharing. 😀 Looking forward for a plugin that can do this easily. Haha. 😀
Hi. i use buddyboss platform. How to send notifications to all members ?
this only send me (admin). and is there any other way?
Is there a special plugin instead of writing it as a comment. If we put it in it.
or
how to send notifications or notice to all members ?
I would recommend talking to BuddyBoss support regarding your questions about notifications. It’s my understanding that they’re a fork of sorts of BuddyPress and will probably have their own customizations in place for this topic. The code originally presented by Ryan here is written specifically for BuddyPress
Nice, I used the exact code but it is not working correctly. The notification name is empty. What is wrong with it? Is this outdated?
Hmm. I am managing to recreate the missing text issue, I just can’t seem to figure out why yet.
It seems this line from BuddyPress core, is resulting in a
nullvalue which is why nothing is showing up.$description = apply_filters_ref_array( 'bp_notifications_get_notifications_for_user', array( $notification->component_action, $notification->item_id, $notification->secondary_item_id, 1, 'string', $notification->component_action, $notification->component_name, $notification->id ) );I’ll keep poking at it soon to see what I can come up with for what needs edited.
Hey Cedric,
Sorry for the long delay in followup here.
By chance, do you have bbPress installed and active too? I’m curious if it was having an effect on things, as I noticed at least with bbPress 2.6.1 now active, it was returning the component_action value instead of our intended value. Once I disabled bbPress, I got the all the parts of the notification I was expecting, link and all, as demo’d by Ryan originally here. Also when I downgraded bbPress back to 2.5.14, the empty notification version returned.
So I think it’s more a bbPress bug than anything, and I’ll be filing a bug report for the plugin.
Some irony in that I opened the original enhancement that changed the behavior between 2.5.x and 2.6.x and now I’m opening the regression ticket to help fix it 😀
https://bbpress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3287
Hi,
I am using BuddyBoss (which I think includes bbPress) and have the same problem : notifications are created, but their content is empty.
Is there any news on this issue ?
Thank you.
Olivier