bbPress Integration

Protect bbPress forums and use iMember360 shortcodes in forum content.

Introduction

bbPress is a popular WordPress plugin for creating discussion forums on your website.

iMember360 provides built-in integration with bbPress, enabling forum protection based on Keap contact data and shortcode support in forum content.

Automatic Integration

Unlike other iMember360 extensions, bbPress integration is built into the iMember360 core plugin. There is no separate extension to enable.

No Activation Required

When bbPress is installed and active on your site, iMember360 automatically detects it and enables the integration features.

Forum Protection

The iMember360 Protection metabox appears when editing forums, allowing you to restrict forum access based on:

• Membership Levels – Require specific membership levels to access the forum.
• Tag-Based Access – Require or exclude contacts with specific Keap tags.
• WordPress Roles – Restrict access to specific user roles.

How to Protect a Forum

1. Go to Forums → All Forums in WordPress admin.

2. Edit an existing forum or create a new one.

3. Find the iMember360 Protection metabox.

4. Configure your access rules.

5. Save the forum.

Topic and Reply Inheritance

Topics and replies automatically inherit protection settings from their parent forum.

Content Type	Protection Setting
Forum	Configurable via iMember360 Protection metabox
Topic	Inherits from parent forum
Reply	Inherits from parent forum

Tip

You don’t need to configure protection on individual topics or replies. Protecting the forum automatically protects all content within it.

Shortcode Support

iMember360 shortcodes work in bbPress content, enabling personalization and dynamic content in your forums.

Supported Locations

• Forum descriptions
• Topic content
• Reply content
• Forum, topic, and reply titles

Examples

Personalized welcome in forum description:

Welcome back, [i4w_db_firstname]! This is your exclusive members forum.

Display contact data in a topic:

Your membership status: [i4w_db_custom field="MembershipLevel"]

Conditional content in replies:

[i4w_has_tag tag_id="123"]
Thank you for being a Premium member!
[/i4w_has_tag]

Shortcode Security

For security reasons, when users submit topics or replies containing shortcodes, iMember360 converts the square bracket syntax [i4w_...] to curly brace syntax {i4w_...}. This prevents users from executing arbitrary shortcodes.

Administrators can use standard shortcode syntax [i4w_...] in forum descriptions and other admin-created content.

Use Cases

Members-Only Discussion Forum

Create a private forum for paying members:

Setting	Value
Membership Level	Premium Members

All topics and replies within this forum are automatically protected.

VIP Support Forum

Restrict access to customers with a specific tag:

Setting	Value
Has Tag	VIP Customer (Tag ID: 500)

Tiered Forum Access

Create multiple forums with different access levels:

Forum	Access Requirement
General Discussion	All logged-in users
Bronze Members Forum	Bronze Membership Level
Silver Members Forum	Silver Membership Level
Gold Members Forum	Gold Membership Level

Course Community Forum

Create a forum for course participants:

Setting	Value
Has Tag	Course Enrolled (Tag ID: 750)

Best Practices

1. Protect at forum level – Since topics and replies inherit protection, configure access at the forum level for easier management.

2. Use clear forum names – Name protected forums clearly so members understand the access requirements.

3. Combine with roles – Use WordPress role requirements alongside tag-based protection for additional security layers.

4. Test access – Preview your forums as different user types to verify protection works correctly.