BuddyPress.org

I wouldn’t rely on messing with visibility settings.
To make a profile field only editable by admins, do this in bp-custom.php or a plugin:

// only admins can edit the Skills field
function chief_hide_profile_fields( $retval ) {
	
	if( is_super_admin () )
		return $retval;

	if(  bp_is_profile_edit() || bp_is_register_page() )
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '3';	//profile field ID's separated by comma

	return $retval;

}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'chief_hide_profile_fields' );

Note that you need to add the correct id(s) for exclude_fields.
And that ‘ || bp_is_register_page() ‘ keeps the field(s) off the register page – which you may not need to do.

Re how to create profile fields in code, there a couple of ways to do it depending on the kind of field and how it will be used.
Take a look at these plugins for more info:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress-xprofile-custom-fields-type/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress-xprofile-image-field/

try this in bp-custom.php.
You’ll have to get the ids of the fields you want to exclude on the register page

function register_hide_profile_fields( $retval ) {
     if( bp_is_register_page() )
	  $retval['exclude_fields'] = '3';  //field ID's separated by comma

     return $retval;

}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'register_hide_profile_fields' );

Another snippet, more accurate with the suggested way above. Snippet goes into bp-custom or functions.php

The field/field group is only shown to site admins. A small bug in the current BP version(.0 -> 2.0.2) prevent of completely remove the group tab from the edit screen. Bug is fixed and this will work with BP 2.1.

function bpfr_hide_profile_field_group( $retval ) {
	if ( bp_is_active( 'xprofile' ) ) :	
	
	// hide profile group/field to all except admin	
	if ( !is_super_admin() ) {		
		//exlude fields, separated by comma
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '60';  
		//exlude groups, separated by comma - this may work with BP 2.1
		$retval['exclude_groups'] = '7'; 			
	} 
	return $retval;		
	
	endif;
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'bpfr_hide_profile_field_group' );

@csimpson,

oh crossposting ! haven’t seen henry’s answer.

nobody visibility doesn’t exist. This setting is called “only me“. This means that only the member can see this field – and the site admins. Such fields are not for site admins, but for the members !

I don’t really understand what is not working for you, as what you’re looking for doesn’t exist in BuddyPress. Sorry if i’m misunderstanding you.

When you create such a field visibility, you should also set “Enforce the default visibility for all members“, so the member cannot modify it later on his profile settings.

Little weird side effect, when a “only me” field is used and member A wrote hello, this word becames clickabke, by default. When member B write also hello, it becames also clickable. And if A or B clcik on Hello, it shows a list of all members who wrote the same word. In this case A and B !

Not really confidential, isn’t it ? The solution is to remove the clickable link.
Here’s a snippet which let you do that selectively.

function my_xprofile_filter_link_profile_data( $field_value, $field_type = 'textbox' ) {
    // Access the field you are going to display value.
    global $field;
	
    // In this array you write the ids of the fields you want to hide the link.
    $excluded_field_ids = array(2,9,54); // field ID separated by comma
	
    // If the id of this $field is in the array, we return the value only and not the link.
    if (in_array($field->id, $excluded_field_ids))
	return $field_value;

	if ( 'datebox' == $field_type )
	return $field_value;
	
	if ( !strpos( $field_value, ',' ) && ( count( explode( ' ', $field_value ) ) > 5 ) )
	return $field_value;
	
	$values = explode( ',', $field_value );

	if ( !empty( $values ) ) {
		foreach ( (array) $values as $value ) {
			$value = trim( $value );
			
			// If the value is a URL, skip it and just make it clickable.
			if ( preg_match( '@(https?://([-\w\.]+)+(:\d+)?(/([\w/_\.]*(\?\S+)?)?)?)@', $value ) ) {
				$new_values[] = make_clickable( $value );
				
				// Is not clickable
			} else {
				
				// More than 5 spaces
				if ( count( explode( ' ', $value ) ) > 5 ) {
					$new_values[] = $value;
					
					// Less than 5 spaces
				} else {
					$search_url   = add_query_arg( array( 's' => urlencode( $value ) ), bp_get_members_directory_permalink() );
					$new_values[] = '<a href="' . $search_url . '" rel="nofollow">' . $value . '</a>';
				}
			}
		}
		
		$values = implode( ', ', $new_values );
	}
	
	return $values;
}

/**
 * We remove the buddypress filter and add our custom filter.
 */
function remove_xprofile_links() {
    // Remove the old filter.
    remove_filter( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_value', 'xprofile_filter_link_profile_data', 9, 2 );
    // Add your custom filter.
    add_filter( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_value', 'my_xprofile_filter_link_profile_data', 9, 2);
}
add_action('bp_setup_globals', 'remove_xprofile_links');

I think the field visibility settings are applicable to the member who is performing the setting.

The suggested way to do what you want would be to make your notes profile field hidden to all non-admin members.

The first step would be to create /wp-content/themes/your-theme/buddypress/members/single/profile/edit.php inside your theme.

You can copy the contents of edit.php from:

bp-templates/bp-legacy/buddypress/members/single/profile/edit.php

Then you need to modify edit.php. In edit.php, find <?php while ( bp_profile_fields() ) : bp_the_profile_field(); ?> and add the following immediately after it:

if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) && ( bp_get_the_profile_field_name() === 'notes' ) )
    continue;

Note: I’m assuming your field name is notes

Hi @ww2boy,

Yes ! 😉 Give this a try. Add it to child theme’s functions.php or bp-custom.php

function bpfr_hide_profile_edit( $retval ) {	
	// remove field from edit tab
	if(  bp_is_profile_edit() ) {		
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '54'; // ID's separated by comma
	}	
	// allow field on registration page     
	if ( bp_is_register_page() ) {
		$retval['include_fields'] = '54'; // ID's separated by comma
		}		
	
	// hide the filed on profile view tab
	if ( $data = bp_get_profile_field_data( 'field=54' ) ) : 
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '54'; // ID's separated by comma	
	endif;	
	
	return $retval;	
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'bpfr_hide_profile_edit' );

Codex reference:
https://codex.buddypress.org/plugindev/using-bp_parse_args-to-filter-buddypress-template-loops/

Would it matter that I have my group_order (i.e., the order in which my field groups are displayed) arranged in a specific order?

No !
Anyway, i was wrong myself. Apologize. My snippet hides groups from viewing, not from editing. But you can get another trick on this post. And this one works realy. 😉

Hi @simpleone,

you can actually only hide xprofile fields. Hiding field groups is not possible, due to a bug.
But it is corrected for 2.1 and you’ll find a patch on the trac.

You can already apply the patch to 2.0.2 bp-xprofile-classes.php and the above snippet will work. Add it to bp-custom.php or theme’s functions.php

To hide an xprofile group, use bp_parse_args like this:

function bpfr_make_profile_tab_members_only( $retval ) {
	// hide to non members
	if( !is_user_logged_in() ) {
           // exlude groups, separated by comma
		$retval['exclude_groups'] = '4,5';
           // exclude fields, separated by comma
       		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '1,39';			
	} 
	return $retval;	
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'bpfr_make_profile_tab_members_only' );

Hi there, i have an additional question… can this be used to hide profile groups from the edit profile group tab ? I tried;

// commoneasy hide fields
function commoneasy_hide_some_profile_fields( $retval ) {	
	if(  bp_is_profile_edit() ) {		
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '15';	//multiple field ID's should be separated by comma
		
	}	
	
	return $retval;
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'commoneasy_hide_some_profile_fields' );

// commoneasy hide groups
function commoneasy_hide_some_profile_groups( $retval ) {	
	if(  bp_is_profile_edit() ) {		
		$retval['exclude_groups'] = '4';	//multiple field ID's should be separated by comma
		
	}	
	
	return $retval;
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'commoneasy_hide_some_profile_groups' );

unfortunatly it didn’t work, i hope somebody can help!

sorry to bump this old topic. I use both BP 2.0.1 and BP custom fields type and i got the the links removed with:

function remove_xprofile_links() {
    remove_filter( 'bp_get_the_profile_field_value', 'xprofile_filter_link_profile_data', 9, 2 );
}
add_action('bp_setup_globals', 'remove_xprofile_links');

I was wondering if you could use this to only hide the links from certain profile fields, like only for profile field 2, 6 & 7 ?

@simpleone,

Can you show how you solved your problem? danbp‘s code did not work for me. As you, I also wanted to hide some xprofile fields and tabs that I don’t want users to be able to edit.

you should try to hide the fields from the edit profile page but not from the profile page. try editing the wwwroot/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/members/single/profile/edit.php. more information here https://buddypress.org/support/topic/ow-to-hide-more-than-one-profile-field/

Hi SimpleOne, I’m working on the same problem here! I tried to hide some fields from the edit profile page . i tried <

div class="clear"></div>

		<?php while ( bp_profile_fields() ) : bp_the_profile_field(); if ( bp_get_the_profile_field_id() != '15' ) :?>

			<div<?php bp_field_css_class( 'editfield' ); ?>>

to hide profilefield 15 from the editing page, unfortunatly it doesnt work, can you maybe send me a duplicate of your edit.php file? you would help me big time 🙂

Since BP 2.0, you can use bp_parse_args to customise template loops and on a much easier way as never before.

The example function below will hide profile groups with ID 1 and profile fields IDs 6, 18 & 39 on the public profile screen of each member and stay visible on the edit screen. Tested & approved 2.0.1

If you get some php warning while using this function, be aware that there is a bug in 2.0.1 bp-xprofile-classes.php (fixed. See ticket). Simply apply the lattest patch to get rid of this error.

function flegmatiq_profiles( $retval ) {	
   // conditionnals to set accordingly to your purpose
	if( !is_user_logged_in()  && !bp_is_profile_edit() ) { 
		$retval['exclude_groups'] = '2';	
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '6,18,39';	
		
	} 
	return $retval;
	
}
add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'flegmatiq_profiles' );

In your particular case, you have to play with the conditionnals

The example below is to give you an idea how to handle this. Not tested !

function flegmatiq_profiles( $retval ) {
$myfield = xprofile_get_field_data( 'Faculty', $user_id );
if( empty( $myfield ) )
return; // or echo

   if( $myfield == "Faculty" ) 
      if( bp_is_profile_edit() ) { 
		$retval['exclude_groups'] = '1,56';	
		$retval['exclude_fields'] = '6,18,39';	.
      }
   if $myfield == "field_name_2";
     // do something other...

return $myfield;

add_filter( 'bp_after_has_profile_parse_args', 'flegmatiq_profiles' );

@simpleone,
you found the reason why it doesn’t work on one site and not on the other !
1.9.1 and 2.0.1 are sligthly different BP version !
And the function you mention whas only introduced in BP 2.0, so this can’t anyway work on previous versions.

Actually there is a small bug in BP 2.0+ when using this function to modify profile groups. I opened a ticket about this and @imath provided a patch that works and let the function handle correctly on profile groups. I personnally use this function to conditionnally show/hide fields from the base group without problems. My profile form contains over 20 fields in differents groups, even Base, and are all required and viewable by members only.

I advise you to cancel whatever you have done about this so far, to apply the patch, to add the function to bp-custom.php and to test again.

danbp’s function works fine here.
Although in BP 2.0+, bp_is_profile_edit() should be bp_is_user_profile_edit() to avoid the deprecation notice.

Are you sure you’re inserting the correct ids?

Try this and see if it hides the Name field:

$retval['exclude_fields'] = '1';