buddypress/docs/developer/components/messages/db-schema.md

Messages database tables

When first activated, the Messages component creates 4 tables. One is storing sent messages data ({$table_prefix}bp_messages_messages), the second one is about managing messages recipients ({$table_prefix}bp_messages_recipients) and the last one is used to store meta data about messages ({$table_prefix}bp_messages_meta).

Note

The {$table_prefix} value is wp_ by default but it can be customized within the WordPress wp-config.php file.

{$table_prefix}bp_messages_messages

This table stores private messages data.

Name	Type	Description
id	BIGINT	Unique message ID.
thread_id	BIGINT	ID of the conversation thread, the message belongs to.
sender_id	BIGINT	ID of the user who inited the conversation thread.
subject	VARCHAR	Subject of the message.
message	LONGTEXT	The message content.
date_sent	DATETIME	The date when the message was sent.

{$table_prefix}bp_messages_recipients

This table stores messages recipients data.

Name	Type	Description
id	BIGINT	Unique field ID.
user_id	BIGINT	ID of the user involved into the private conversation.
thread_id	BIGINT	ID of the conversation thread, the user is involved in.
unread_count	INT	The number of unread messages for the thread and user.
sender_only	TINYINT	Whether the recipient is the only sender or not.
is_deleted	TINYINT	Whether the recipient has deleted the message or not.

{$table_prefix}bp_messages_meta

This table is used to store meta data about messages.

Name	Type	Description
id	BIGINT	Unique meta ID.
message_id	BIGINT	ID of the message entry, the meta data relates to.
meta_key	VARCHAR	Metadata key.
meta_value	LONGTEXT	Metadata value1.

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1. Arrays or Objects are stored as serialized data. ↩︎