How to Display Group Members Alphabetically

Introduction

BuddyBoss does not currently provide a built-in option to display group members in alphabetical order. However, you can achieve this behavior by adding a small custom function to your active theme. This customization will sort group members alphabetically based on their display names, improving readability and usability within groups. This guide explains how you can display group members alphabetically.

Custom Workaround

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

1. Go to Appearance > Theme File 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 (?>):

/**
 * Filter the group member IDs and return them sorted alphabetically by display name.
 *
 * @param array $value The array of user IDs to be filtered.
 * @return array $sorted_users The array of sorted user IDs by display name.
 */
add_filter( 'bp_group_member_query_group_member_ids', 'bb_bp_group_has_members' );

function bb_bp_group_has_members( $value ) {

    // Arguments for fetching users by specified IDs and ordering by display name
    $args = [
        'include' => $value,          // Include only the specified user IDs
        'orderby' => 'display_name',  // Order by display name
        'order'   => 'ASC',           // Ascending order
    ];

    // Fetch users based on the provided arguments
    $users = get_users( $args );

    // Initialize an empty array to hold sorted user IDs
    $sorted_users = [];

    // Loop through the users and collect their IDs
    foreach ( $users as $user ) {
        $sorted_users[] = $user->ID;
    }

    // Return the sorted user IDs
    return $sorted_users;
}

5. Click Update File to save the changes.

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: Group members are still not sorted alphabetically.
A: Make sure the code is added to your child theme’s functions.php file and not the parent theme. Clear any caching plugins and refresh the group page.

Q: Will this affect member listings outside of groups?
A: No. This only affects the display order of members within BuddyBoss groups.

Q: Does this sort by username or full name?
A: This sorts members by their display name, as set in their WordPress profile.

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