Robin W

An add-on to the bbPress forum plugin – creates private forum groups
This Plugin creates unlimited private forum groups.
Forums are then allocated to one or more groups, and users allocated to one or more groups.
What this achieves 
unlimited private groups 
Each user is set to a group or groups, and each forum can have any or all the groups associated with it 
Any number of public forums combined with any number of group forums. The group forums can be individually set to public or private. 
Forum title and description (but not topics or replies) can be set to be visible to non-group users, allowing people to see that a forum exists but not access it 
Separate pages can be set to allow redirection of non group users for sign-up or information 
Topic Permissions 
Topic Permissions is designed for sites where users need to have different permissions to different forums. 
For instance the ability for users to contribute to one forum whilst only being able to view another, or only start topics in one forum, or only reply to topics in another.
Example
So if 
User a belongs to group 1 
User b belongs to group 2 
User c belongs to group 3
and 
Forum x is set to allow group 2 
Forum y is set to allow group 2 and group 3 
Forum z is set to allow group 1 and group 3
Then 
User a can access only forum z 
User b can access forum x and forum y 
User c can access forum y and forum z
Restrictions/warnings
The widgets (bbpress) forums list, (bbpress) recent replies, and (bbpress) recent topics SHOULD NOT BE USED, as they will show topics headings and author names for all forums. Replacement widgets called (private groups) forums list, (private groups) recent replies, and (private groups) recent topics are available instead
Works with bbpress 2.5.3 or higher

Private groups

After wasting hours trying to get Skyverge's WooCommerce Memberships to do what I needed (no practical way to protect topics), I tried this and had it doing everything I needed in under 15 minutes.

Setup a group, manually assigned users to that group.
Set the forum to private and assigned that that group to it.
Viola, everything worked exactly as I wanted.

Public doesn't even see the forum exists. Group members can when logged in.  Non-members can't go directly to to topic URL and bypass the protection.

Only suggestions would be:
1. cleanup the settings pages and instructions, they're a bit overly complicated and hard to follow. 
2. some way to trigger group membership programmatically based on a WooCommerce purchase (I know, to specific and I'll probably code it myself for what I need).

Thanks again for an awesome bbp plugin!

Easy setup and protected forums exactly as I needed

For bbPress - Creates private forum groups

codejp3

This Plugin lets you style bbPress, and add display features.
You can change the forum styling for elements, letting you match (or contrast!) bbPress to your theme
Many features are available at the click of a button, such as creating vertical lists, adding create new topic links, hiding counts and much more.
<ul>
<li>Style font sizes colors etc. in forums and topics</li>
<li>Change forum display layouts</li>
<li>Add or take away forum elements, such as adding descriptions or removing ‘this forum contains..’</li>
<li>Change the forum order</li>
<li>Change the freshness display to date and time, or combination date and freshness</li>
<li>Change the breadcrumbs to alter or remove elements, or remove breadcrumbs completely</li>
<li>Add Create new Topic, Subscribe and Profile buttons, making navigation easier</li>
<li>Add login Register and profile to menus</li>
<li>Change forum role names or add role images</li>
<li>Amend subscription email headings and text</li>
<li>Amend the topic list order</li>
<li>Add topic previews to make topic navigation easier</li>
<li>Change how the topic and reply forms display – adding, removing or changing elements</li>
<li>Amend how profiles display and configure who sees them</li>
<li>Amend the search styling</li>
<li>Use additional shortcodes to improve how you display your forums and topics</li>
<li>Add an unread posts section so that users can easily see new topics and replies</li>
<li>Add a quote button to topics and replies</li>
<li>Add moderation tools to allow to to control </li>
<li>Add an unread posts section so that users can easily see new topics and replies</li>
<li>Use additional widgets to better display latest activity, or forum and topic information</li>
<li>Find a list of other useful bbPress related plugins</li>
<li>Let bbpress work with FSE themes
</li>
</ul>

bbp style pack


I've been a user of this plugin for years. It's a HUGE time-saver customizing the look-and-feel of bbPress forums and even adds some essential forum functions like subscriptions, moderation, and site integrations.



Disclosure: I've contributed code to this plugin, so of course my rating is biased. Don't take my word for it, just look at the swift responses in the support forum and the abundance of 5-star reviews.


Swiss Army Knife for bbPress

For bbPress - Lets you style bbPress, and add display features

Private groups vs bbp style pack