How to Display the Number of Discussions under Sub-Forums in the Forums List Widget

Introduction

BuddyBoss does not provide an option to display the number of discussions (topics) under sub-forums when using the BB Forums List Widget. However, you can enable this functionality by adding a small custom function to your active theme. This will allow the widget to show topic counts for each sub-forum, making forum activity more visible to users. This guide explains how to display the number of discussions under sub-forums in BuddyBoss to improve forum clarity, navigation, and user engagement. Enable it today.

Custom Workaround

Before proceeding, make sure you have a complete site backup.

1. Go to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Under Select theme to edit, choose your active theme (preferably a BuddyBoss Child Theme), then click Select.
3. From the Theme Files list, open Theme Functions (functions.php).
4. Add the following code just before the closing PHP tag (?>):

add_filter( 'bbp_after_list_forums_parse_args', 'bb_show_sub_forum_count' );

function bb_show_sub_forum_count( $args ) {

    $args['show_topic_count'] = true;

    return $args;

}

5. Click Update File to save the changes.

Once added, the Forums List Widget will display the number of discussions under each sub-forum.

Note: Modifications are typically considered custom work, but we are making an exception in this case. Please review the BuddyBoss Support Policy.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Q: The discussion count is still not showing.
A: Ensure the code is added to your child theme’s functions.php file and not the parent theme. Clear any caching plugins and refresh the page containing the Forums List Widget.

Q: Does this affect forum pages outside of the widget?
A: No. This change only affects the Forums List Widget display.

Q: Will this impact performance?
A: The impact is minimal. However, on very large forums, displaying additional counts may slightly increase query usage.

Q: Can I revert this change easily?
A: Yes. Simply remove or comment out the code from functions.php and save the file.