BuddyDev

Limit Groups Per User Plugin For BuddyPress

A few days ago, I got a comment on my other plugin "Limit blogs per user" that it would be great to have something to limit the number of groups a user can create. So, here is the plugin to allow you limit the maximum number of groups a user can create on the BuddyPress based social network. Thanks to mika for the suggestion.

What It does:-

This plugin allows site admins to restrict the maximum number of groups a user can create. Once the User has created allowed number of groups, he will no more be able to create new groups.

How it works:-

It checks for the allowed number of groups and the no. of groups a user is admin. Once the User reaches the limit, this plugin will remove the BuddyPress action which handles group creation and show an error message.

How to Use it

  • Download Limit Groups Per User
  • Unzip it and upload limit-groups-per-user to wp-content/plugins
  • Login to WordPress backend.
  • Go to Dashboard->Plugins and activate Limit Groups per user(activate sitewide if BuddyPress is activated sitewide with Multiblogs enabled)
  • Go to Dashboard->BuddyPress ->general settings and enter the number of Groups you want to limit.
  • Have fun! no, wait, you will need to add following to your theme/groups/index.php since buddypress default theme does not include this action on directory pages.

It is used to show the error message to the user.

Screenshots

The admin option to limit the number of groups. You can access it via Dashboard->BuddyPress->General Settings

And here is the error message shown to the user if he  exceeds the number of groups allowed

Hope it will be  useful for some of you 🙂

Looking forward to your feedback 🙂

96 Responses to Limit Groups Per User Plugin For BuddyPress

    • hi Mel,
      Thanks for the comment. I have not tested it with that plugin, but I think both should work together without any issue.
      If you find any trouble, please do let me know, i will post an update if required.

      Thanks
      Brajesh

  • Hi there Brajesh!
    Thank you for taking the time for not only creating this plug in but also sharing it.
    I just wanted to say Thank You for the plug-in.
    Have a great weekend
    Rebecca

    • hi Rebecca
      Thanks for the comment. Glad it helped you 🙂
      Have a great weekend to you too

      Thanks
      Brajesh

  • Hi Brajesh,

    Thanks for this awesome plugin. Any chance we can make exceptions? Maybe you would want to allow certain users to create more groups?

    Think of it like user groups and settings in advanced level, or simply just add an exception for a user (so it becomes unlimited) at a simpler level.

    What do you think?

    Cheers.

    • hi Mazen
      Thanks for the comment. yes, It can be done. Do you want to do it by role or just for a particular user.
      If for a particular user, add a line above line 28 with something like this

      if($user_id=="the id of that user")
      return false;

      Please let me know if you need more details.

      Thanks
      Brajesh

      • Man you are the dude 🙂

        That's exactly what I needed.

        Thanks a lot.

        Cheers.

  • Hi brajesh,

    the code works to make an exeption and the user with identified ID can create more groups again. However, the user is having problems creating forum topics, what happens is after the topic is posted they get a message that there was an error posting the forum topic. Yet the topic shows on the forum as title, but with no content, and it cannot be deleted from the front end obviosly (will have to delete it via phpmyadmin).

    Any ideas?

    Cheers.

  • I am using this plugin on WP 2.9.2 and BP 1.2.4.1.

    When I try to create a group (limit not yet exceeded) it never takes me to the second step of group creation i.e settings ….however the group is created.

    And when I exceed my limit the error does not show up.

    Any idea what is happening ?

    Thanks

    • hi gwu123
      This should not be caused by Limit Group plugin.Please try deactivating this plugin and creating group, is that working ?

      • Hi Brajesh,

        Thanks for your quick reply. I tired by following what you suggested, no luck though. Creation does not take me to step 2. Any idea?

  • gwu #

    Still the same. Any idea is some other plugin or something is messing it up?

    • gwu #

      my bad forgot to add –

  • Dan #

    I came across this feature looking for a plugin that would allow me to limit the number of groups people can actually join. Do you know if there is there anything like that out there?

    • Hi Dan,
      Thanks for the comment. I am not aware of any such plugin, but that should not be a difficult thing.

      If you don't mind the delay, I can put a plugin after 8th of this month.

      Thanks
      Brajesh

      • Dan #

        Brajesh, did you manage to put this feature in? "limit the number of groups people can actually join" Would be awesome if you have.

        • Hi Dan, sorry, the group join feature was not in update. I am checking and hoping to put it after Christmas Breaks.
          Merry Christmas 🙂

  • I was hoping that if the setting was 0 then the user couldn't create any groups at all. Is there a way of making this possible?

    • Hi Rich,
      Do you want to keep the group creation rights to site admin only ?

      • Hi, Brajesh: I have the same need as Rich (see full description filed earlier) but I also want to limit group creation rights AND FORUM CREATION RIGHTS to site admin only. Thanks for your help.

  • yes basically, The administrators must be the only ones who can create a group. This keeps it safe

    thanks for coming back to me

  • Ash #

    Great Work!

    I was just wondering whether it is possible to restrict the number of pages a user can create, preferrably by making certain groups for users.

    Sorry, I am pretty new in WordPress, and would really appreciate your comments.

    Ash

    • Hi Ash,
      this plugin does not work in that way. It won't work for restricting pages. It is mean for the buddypress groups. Sorry for the confusion.

  • I'm testing Cosmic Buddy with the limit number of groups a user can create plugin.

    I have the same need as Rich – I only want the Admins to be able to create groups and forums.

    I set to zero the General Settings > Limit Groups Per User > How many Groups a user can create?

    But, every user can still set as many groups and forums they want to. We haven't published the site yet because we can't risk letting just anyone establish groups.

    Please let me know if you have a solution for this, because I think it will make the plugin very hot.

  • Hi Brajesh:
    Thanks for update so FAST.
    I uploaded it, unpacked it, activated it.
    When an already registered user/subscriber tries to login now, they get the error: "Cheatin’ uh?" and cannot log in.
    When a newly registered user/subscriber tries to login now, they get the error: "invalid username, lost your password?"
    So far, only me, the Admin can log in to our test site for this after loading and activating the new update to

    limit-groups-per-user-v-1.1.zip

    ANY SUGGESTIONS? Thanks for your attention, Carson : )

  • Brajesh:
    OK, I logged all users out including Admin. Closed out all browsers. Tried again with limited success.
    Additional testing shows the following:

    1. Nobody is able to register as a new user after installing the update. WordPress promises an activation link that is never received in their email acct. This process did work before the update. One old user is unable to login now.

    2. The only old user (besides Admin) who was able to log in is NOT able to create groups (as should be); but, CAN create forums.

    I was hoping to RESTRICT forum creation to Admins only.

    Summary of problems encountered after loading/activating update to limit number of groups users can create and logging out, etc.:

    1. One old user/tester acct out of 2 is NOT able to login but Admin can see his old stuff in his account and it shows up in Groups and Forums, etc., he just can't login. – Juarez
    2. One old user/tester acct out of 2 who CAN log in is also able to create FORUMS. – Myleah
    3. No new user/tester accounts can be set up because they never get the registration activation link to the WP account.

    ANY IDEAS ? – Carson %(

    • Hi Carson,
      I am surprised to know this plugin is causing such issue. Please disable this and try again. Is everything working fine? I guess, it is not limit blogs per user but some other plugin causing the issue. Please check and let me know.

      Thanks
      Breajesh

  • Brajesh:
    Thanks for prompt replies; please don't worry until i test further. I am retesting with mixed results.
    For example, I deactivated the plugin (limit # grps user can create) and then Juarez was able to login again.
    Seems to be related to that plugin. But no new users can register.
    Tomorrow i will deactivate other plugins and see what happens. I have only 4 other minor ones installed on this test site.
    I will leave results tomorrow night but don't expect you to work on it until after the holiday.
    Note: My religion does NOT observe Xmas but I realize most people do; and respect everyone's choice.
    -Regards, Carson

  • Brajesh:
    Mon. Dec. 27, 2010
    Hi again, thanks for creating this plugin. I deactivated all plugins except BuddyPress and Limit # grps user can create.

    Tested today and it DOES allow only admin to create groups. – IT WORKS ! : )

    It DOES allow NON-admins to create forum topics on existing groups.

    Is there anyway to block non-admins from creating FORUM topics also?

    THANKS FOR your great software engineering.

  • when I set the max Number to ZERO, users can create unlimited number of groups. I'm not sure if any other issues cause the problem.

    • I guess, something else is wrong. It will only allow super admins to create the groups in that case.

  • If you want to allow administrators and super admins to create groups, you should update your function inside your plugin.

    //no restriction to site admin
    if ( $bp->current_component != $bp->groups->slug || 'create' != $bp->current_action ||is_site_admin())
    return false;

    the is_site_admin() is a depreciated call. It has been replaced with is_super_admin automatically. Thus, the way you have this function written, it will only allow a super admin to create groups. If you want to allow a regular administrator as well as a super admin to create groups, consider replacing the is_site_admin() with
    current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) so your function looks like this:

    //no restriction to site admin or super admin
    if ( $bp->current_component != $bp->groups->slug || 'create' != $bp->current_action ||current_user_can( 'manage_options' ))
    return false;

    Hope that helps you!

    • Hi Jeff,
      you are right. the is_site_admin was deprecated in 3.0, but I might have left it in some of the plugins. I will update it with the next version. since the plugin does not allows setting limits for levels rather it works for 2 groups, site administrators/all other users, so I did not use current_user_can(cap check).

      Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Will take care of this in future.

  • Hello Brajesh, Great plug-in…I'm in a beta setup right now on my site and your plug-in works great! I just have a question and it is probably a simple answer, but not being a developer/programmer etc. I am just grappling my way through the maze of BP codes.

    Here is my question; I would like to change the wording on the popup to the user where it states they have created too many groups or do not have permission. I would like something like "Oops! You have already created your allowed number of groups or you do not have group creation rights. If you would like another group, please contact site admin."

    How can I change the popup to read something like above. Also, if the user deletes a group, will they then be able to create another group in its place?

    • Hi Dave,
      sorry for my too delayed reply.
      If you are using v 1.1, then you can easily do that.
      here is some sample code you can put in the functions.php of your theme
      http://pastebin.com/1ZpL83ZP

      If a user deletes a group, yes, he will be able to create new group.

  • Pingback:let member know they cant make more groups « Windows.DonalDold.Com

  • If I select 0 will that make it so they can not create any groups?

    • Yes, that is right. If you enter 0, only super admins can create group. If it does not work, please let me know.

  • Hi!
    Thanks for the plugin, it works great.
    I just have one question. Is it possible to hide the Create a Group button? That would be great, so it doesn't confuse the users.

    Simon

    • Thanks Simon for the suggestions. Sure, I will put it. Please check back in the evening today for the update.

    • Hi Simon, checked it again. Currently, It is not possible with the current bp-themes without modifying groups/index.php.

  • No problem. Thanks for your effort.

  • Hi Brajesh,

    Very cool thing you've done here at buddydev. I want to echo a request from last year, is there code I could add to not only limit the number of groups a user can create, but the number they can join?

  • Hi Brajesh,

    I want to set permission to group member to change the avatar of group.

    Can you please help me ??

    Thanks,
    Vishal

  • Hi Brajesh,
    I want to set permission to group member to change the avatar of group.
    Can you please help me ??
    Thanks,
    Vishal

  • Hi Brajesh,
    I would like to echo the needs listed above – need to limit a user to one group. The user joins group A, if user then requests membership to group b a message that only can belong to one group.
    This seems to be a popular request.
    Thanks for your work!!
    L

  • Hey Brajesh,

    I love your plugin and just like Brian, I am also looking for a way to restrict the number of groups a user can join. Are you still planning on adding this functionality to the plugin?

  • Hi Brajesh, is it possible to limit the number of groups people can join to 1 group at a time? Thank you

  • Same problem… is it possible to limit number of groups user can join at a time?

  • The number they can join? :))

  • @all
    Thank you so much for asking for the Limit Group join.
    Here is the plugin for that

    https://github.com/sbrajesh/bp-limit-group-membership-per-user

    It will restrict a user to join only the no. of groups the admin has permitted. I will have a blog post for this plugin tomorrow.

    Thanks
    Brajesh

  • Thanks for putting this plugin together, it works well. If a user is a member of the set number of groups, the "join" option is no longer available to them. I just discovered one problem with this, they are still able to create a new group. Looking at the plugin code it would appear that this should not be possible. Perhaps a conflict with another plugin?

    Thanks for all your work!

  • Thank you Brajesh, only a little bug. In the group list, if you're not yet member of a group you can join all the groups. It seems to need something like a refresh after you join the group to make other buttons disappear.

    • Same problem for me…

      • That is right. I will be publishing this plugin tomorrow, will have some workaround for it.

  • Hi Brajesh, another little problem with Limit Group join. If a friend send you an invitation for a group, you can join that group and "collect" more than one group.

    Thank you again for your great plugin!

    • Hi Flavio,
      have you got the most recent copy from github. Currently, It will not allow friends to send invitation to a user if he has exhusted the limit.

  • Is there any way to track the number of Group join requests for a user, and limit the number of Group join requests per set time period for that user? For example, if a certain level of user is allowed to submit 3 join requests per month, and the user already has already submitted 3 join requests this month, then the user will not be able to submit another join request until the next month. Another level of user might be allowed 10 join requests per month, etc.

  • Hey Brajesh,

    I'm loving all of your plugins. If the freebies are this good, I'm seriously considering buying a membership for the paid plugins!

    That said, I've run into a snag with the Limit Groups Per User plugin. It works fine, just that there is a small issue with my slug, I believe.

    On my BP site, I've renamed Groups to Legions (as the groups feature is used for a guild creation for an MMO game fan site.) So the slug is no longer /groups but instead is /legions.

    When I activated the plugin and a regular user creates 3 groups/legions (which I set the limit to 3) instead of being redirected back to the /legions alug, it gets sent to a /groups slug page that comes up as a 404 error page.

    I'm looking to edit the plugin to reflect the new slug. I just don't know where to start.

    Any help would be great!

    Thanks,
    Bill

    • Hi Bill,
      Thank you for the comment. Sorry I could not reply earlier.

      Yes, this was a bug. I have fixed it in v 1.1.2 and It should work. hope it helps in case you still want to use it.

      Regards
      Brajesh

  • Hi Brajesh, thanks for your plugin! I downloaded version 1.1.1 and saw that you can still subscribe to more than the number of groups indicated.
    Try to go to the list of groups and click on "Join" button, opening in a new window. You'll be subscribed to all of them, doesn't matter the limit you entered.

    I digged into the plugin and saw that there was if(!self::can_join()) only for function ajax_joinleave_group(). But BP has another function that is used for Joining: groups_action_join_group()

    So, following the idea of your plugin, I copied the original groups_action_join_group() in your plugin/class and added the if(!self::can_join()) check. Then removed the original from the hook and added the modified one.

    Here are the parts to add in v1.1.1 of the plugin:

    in function remove_hook():
    remove_action( 'bp_actions', 'groups_action_join_group' );

    in function __construct:
    add_action( 'bp_actions', array($this,'groups_action_join_group') );

    and the entire method:

    //group join/leave (no Ajax)
    /* join or leave a group when clicking the "join/leave" button
    * A copy of groups_action_join_group function modified for our purpose
    * */
    function groups_action_join_group() {
    global $bp;

    if ( !bp_is_single_item() || !bp_is_groups_component() || !bp_is_current_action( 'join' ) )
    return false;

    // Nonce check
    if ( !check_admin_referer( 'groups_join_group' ) )
    return false;

    // Skip if banned or already a member
    if ( !groups_is_user_member( $bp->loggedin_user->id, $bp->groups->current_group->id ) && !groups_is_user_banned( $bp->loggedin_user->id, $bp->groups->current_group->id ) ) {

    //Difference with the original function - start
    if(!self::can_join()){
    // echo apply_filters('restrict_group_membership_message',__("You already have the maximum no. of groups allowed. You can not create or join new groups!"));
    echo bp_core_add_message( __("You already have the maximum no. of groups allowed. You can not create or join new groups!"), 'error');

    return false;
    }
    //Difference with the original function - end

    // User wants to join a group that is not public
    if ( $bp->groups->current_group->status != 'public' ) {
    if ( !groups_check_user_has_invite( $bp->loggedin_user->id, $bp->groups->current_group->id ) ) {
    bp_core_add_message( __( 'There was an error joining the group.', 'buddypress' ), 'error' );
    bp_core_redirect( bp_get_group_permalink( $bp->groups->current_group ) );
    }
    }

    // User wants to join any group
    if ( !groups_join_group( $bp->groups->current_group->id ) )
    bp_core_add_message( __( 'There was an error joining the group.', 'buddypress' ), 'error' );
    else
    bp_core_add_message( __( 'You joined the group!', 'buddypress' ) );

    bp_core_redirect( bp_get_group_permalink( $bp->groups->current_group ) );
    }

    bp_core_load_template( apply_filters( 'groups_template_group_home', 'groups/single/home' ) );
    }

    I can try to committ these mods to the git project if they're correct.

  • Glad to help…once in a while! 🙂

  • Brajesh Singh, you are a great guy. Even if your plugins does not give me what I want which I doubt, your timely response to comments suprises me. Thanks a lot.

    My question is how to install bp-limit-group-membership-per-user.

    • Hi Ntesat,
      Thank you for the comment and sorry for my delayed reply.
      If you still need that plugin, please get it from the git hub repo and activate it network wide(you will need to upload it to wp-content/plugins directory). Then you can set the limit from BuddyPress general settings page.

      Regards
      Brajesh

  • Hi Brajesh,
    here Matteo again 🙂 (https://buddydev.com/buddypress/limit-groups-per-user-plugin-for-buddypress/#comment-52697)

    Another bug, this time I can't fix 🙂

    Should be as easy as apply/remove function groups_action_join_group to the right hook (I tried with 'wp' but doesn't work).
    Here is the scenario:
    "Limit Groups Per User Plugin For Buddypress" plugin is installed and limit the subscription to 1 group
    A user receives more than 1 invitations.
    If he opens each "Accept" link in another tab he can join all the groups he's been invited to.

    Which hook should be apply lpugin's groups_action_join_group to? (If that's the solution)

    Thanks!

  • Typo:
    To which hook should be applied the pugin’s groups_action_join_group to? (If that’s the solution)

  • Did somebody had some time to fix the bug in the last comment?

  • Pingback:Introducing BuddyPress Limit Group Membership Plugin | Buddy Dev

  • any chance i can have it the other way around? as in limit users per group ??? please see most here http://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/will-pay-need-urgent-modification-done-to-membership-premium?replies=5#post-277132

  • Hi Brajesh,

    any ideas how I can use/ convert your plug-in into a membership plug-in that will allow a BP user to create a group as a paid service? There seems to be a lot of plug-ins out there that allows for paid access to groups, but what about pay to create a group?

    Many Thanks. Bernhard

  • Hi Brajesh Singh, in first place I would like to say great job ! this is awesome plugin.

    But I´m having a problem. When I put the limit for 2 groups per user, the "Creat Button", keeps showing in groups directory. And it instead of to notice, it allows we create a new group entering with the group name and description.

    How I can fix it ?

    • Hi Leonardo,
      1. It will not stop site admins to create groups

      If that is not the case and normal users are able to create groups, can you please tell me your WordPress/BuddyPress version and also the version of bp-limit-groups-pre-user plugin?

      Thanks
      Brajesh

      • Hi again !

        I´m trying the group creation with a not admin user. I put number 2 in the limitation, the correct is the button stay unavailable for users, but it show still. And when I click it allows that me create a group name and description, and after appears the notice, but the group is created on directory.

        I use WordPress/Buddypress version 3.1 and the plugin version is 1.1.3.

        Obs: Sorry by my english, I don´t speak/write very well. I´m brasilan.

        • Hi,
          No problem with the English.

          1. are you using older version of WordPress? Is it 3.1 or 3.5.1?
          2. which version of BuddyPress you are using, If you are using an older version, we may have to use previous version of the plugin. Please do let me know the BuddyPress version.

          Thanks
          Brajesh

      • Sorry, I can´t reply your last answer, ther is no option to reply in 3th level.

        I am using the most recently version of WordPress (3.5.1) and Buddypress is the version 1.7.2.

        I checked here, there is the condition in the code on the groups/index.php:

        <a class="button" id="create-group-button" href="">

        I believe that trouble is in there, but I don´t where.

  • @Brajesh,

    I love your wonderful plugin.

    Settings: 1 Group per User
    Wordpress und Buddypress: Actual Versions

    My problem is, if the user pushes the button for creating a new group and he adds the name and description… In the second step, suddenly the message appears "Sorry, you are not allowed to create groups." And the Wizzard stops.
    The group was created, but the user has no chance to set further settings for e.g. Avatar etc.

    Could you pls help me to find the problem?

    Thank you very much!!!!
    Regards
    Marco

  • Hi, and thanks so much for this great plugin! One issue I'm having is that when logged in as a user who has exceeded the limit, I clicked on Groups and there is no message displayed letting me know why I am unable to create a group. The 'create a group' button is just no longer there. Help?? Thanks in advance!

  • When a user create the last allowed group, the "error message to the user" ( you are not allowed to create more groups) pops up before the user have a chance to upload group avatar and adjust the settings of the new group.
    Anyway to fix that, so that user won't get confused and think that their last allowed group is not created.

    • Hi Michael,
      Thank you for reporting the bug. We did not notice it earlier. I will be testing and updating tonight for the issue.

      Thank you
      Brajesh

    • Hi Michael,
      I have updated the plugin. version 1.2 should work as expected. Please upgrade to version 1.2 and let me know if that works for you or not?

      Thanks you
      Brajesh

  • Hi,

    I am using S2 Member Pro – can I limit the numbers of groups users can set up based on their membership level?

    • Hi Diane,
      I am sorry for the delayed reply. Please use the filter 'limit_groups_get_allowed_group_count' to customize it based on s2 member level.

  • Any chance there's a way to change the number of groups for different user roles rather than just ALL users?

    • Hi Gigi,
      yes, It is possible to do so. There is a filter available 'limit_groups_get_allowed_group_count' which can be used to customize the count based on current user role.

  • I am wondering if there is any way this plugin could include different limitations based on the user? For example, User Role 1 = 5 groups, User Role 2 = 10 groups, etc.? Is this something I could get custom developed?

    • Hi Gigi,
      Thank you for asking. Yes, It is possible to do so. There is a filter 'limit_groups_get_allowed_group_count' available which allows us to customize the count as we want.

  • Hi Barjesh,
    Thanks alot for your plugin ,what i understood is it limit the number of groups user can create .. but is there a way to limit the number of the groups user can be admin in ? .. i need to limit the group creation to the website administrator only , and limit the number of groups user can be admin in to only one group

    • Hi Mark,
      You don't need this plugin in that case.
      You can simply enable the group creation for admin from BuddyPress settings(disable group creation).

      About second question, sorry, I haven't seen any plugin doing that but with some custom code, you should be able to restrict that.

      • Thanks for your reply , would you give me any hints for this code how would it look like? , where should i start .. i reached your plugin after long search journey , and it's the most similar plugin to what i need , i think the concept of your plugin is near to what i want

  • hello
    i am interested in limiting only a specific user-role to how many groups they can create, and every other role to be able to create unlimited groups, is that possible with this plugin?

    • Please feel free to customize the code for role based limits. Of you can sponsor/hire our team to do it for you.

      Thank you
      Brajesh