buddypress/docs/developer/theme-compat/features.md

Theme compatibility features

BuddyPress allows members and groups to upload and manage their Cover Images. This feature enhances the visual appeal of profiles and group pages by providing a customizable background image.

Under the hood it uses the BP Theme Compat Features API which was developed in order to transpose the WP Theme Supports API into the BP Template Packs world.

Theme compatibility feature registration

Just like WordPress is allowing Themes to opt-in for specific functionalities (eg: the custom header) using the add_theme_support() function inside a 'after_setup_theme' hook callback function, you need to wait for the 'bp_after_setup_theme' hook to be fired to register your Theme Compat feature using the bp_set_theme_compat_feature() function.

function set_my_template_pack_features() {
    $template_pack_id = 'my-template-pack-id';
    $feature_args     = array(
        'name'    => 'my_theme_compat_feature',
        'settings' => array(
            'components' => array( 'groups', 'members' ),
        ),
    );

    // Registers the Theme Compat feature into your template pack.
    bp_set_theme_compat_feature( $template_pack_id, $feature_args );
}
add_action( 'bp_after_setup_theme', 'set_my_template_pack_features' );

bp_set_theme_compat_feature()

Use this function to set a Theme compatibility feature.

This function was introduced in version 2.4.0

Arguments

bp_members_get_user_url() accepts two arguments: the Template Pack ID and an associative array of settings.

Argument	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
$template_pack_id	string	Yes	''	The Template Pack ID to set the feature for
$feature_args	array	No	[]	This associative array of arguments is described below

$feature_args list of arguments:

Array key	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
name	string	No	''	The name key of the feature.
settings	array	No	[]	Used to pass as many as needed additional variables. NB using a components key with an array listing component IDs that the feature is targeting will link it to these components. In this case you can use bp_is_active( 'members', 'my_theme_compat_feature' ) to check whether you should load the feature's code or not.

Getting the Theme compatibility feature settings

When you need to get the settings of a registered Theme Compat feature, you can use the bp_get_theme_compat_feature() function.

bp_get_theme_compat_feature()

Use this function to get a Theme compatibility feature's settings. It returns false if something went wrong or an object keyed with the settings argument keys containing the settings values.

This function was introduced in version 2.4.0

Arguments

bp_get_theme_compat_feature() accepts one argument: $name.

Argument	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
$name	string	Yes	''	the name key of the feature

Get inspired by the Cover Image Theme compatibility feature

Just like this feature does, including extra filters into your code to let advanced users to customize it to better match their Theme can be a good idea.

Below are examples to feed your imagination about how it's possible to modify the BP built-in Cover Image Theme compat feature default settings or completely disable it.

Changing Cover Image Sizes

You can change the default Cover Image sizes by adding a filter in your bp-custom.php file.

/**
 * PS: The Cover Image feature is using the `bp_parse_args()` function. 
 */ 
function my_custom_cover_image_dimensions( $settings = array() ) {
    $settings['width']  = 1400;
    $settings['height'] = 300;

    return $settings;
}
add_filter( 'bp_before_members_cover_image_settings_parse_args', 'my_custom_cover_image_dimensions' );
add_filter( 'bp_before_groups_cover_image_settings_parse_args', 'my_custom_cover_image_dimensions' );

Changing default Cover Image

When users haven't customized their Cover Images yet, this image will be used as a fallback.

/**
 * PS: The Cover Image feature is using the `bp_parse_args()` function. 
 */ 
function my_custom_cover_xprofile_cover_image( $settings = array() ) {
    $settings['default_cover'] = 'https://site.url/to/your/default_cover_image.jpg';

    return $settings;
}
add_filter( 'bp_before_members_cover_image_settings_parse_args', 'my_custom_cover_xprofile_cover_image', 10, 1 );

Disable Cover Images for members or groups

You can disable Cover Images by adding a filter to your bp-custom.php file.

// For members :
add_filter( 'bp_is_members_cover_image_active', '__return_false' );

// For groups :
add_filter( 'bp_is_groups_cover_image_active', '__return_false' );

Note

Using a bp_is_{$component_id}_{$feature}_active filter is made possible by the fact the Cover Image feature is using the $components feature argument to set it to members & groups.