WordPress User Bookmarks (Standalone version)

From the makers of

Updated for 2026: PHP 8.3 and WordPress 7.1 ready

Version 3.6.0 is a full compatibility and security release. The plugin now runs cleanly on PHP 8.0 to 8.3 and WordPress 6.0 to 7.1, every AJAX action is protected with nonces and capability checks, the old TimThumb library has been removed entirely, and a long list of small bugs (wrong collection counts, phantom empty collections, notices in the widgets) has been fixed. No new setup is needed: upload the new version over the old one and your users’ bookmarks and collections are kept.

This is a standalone WordPress plugin. It has the same features as the User Bookmarks add-on for UserPro, but does not require UserPro to be installed, so it can be used on any WordPress site.

User Bookmarks lets your users bookmark any content they want (posts, pages, products, forum topics, categories and any custom post type) and organise their bookmarks into private or public collections. The plugin offers a simple way to show the bookmark widget and the collections list, and integrates with any theme.

• Works with any custom post type (WooCommerce products, bbPress topics, and so on)
• Ajax-powered, very fast execution, no page reloads
• Users can create their own collections and set them private or public (visible to all)
• Show the bookmark widget via a sidebar widget
• Show the bookmark widget automatically below post content (choose which post types, exclude specific posts)
• Show the bookmark widget anywhere via the shortcode
• Users can manage their collections and view bookmarks with a simple shortcode:
• Collections can also be shown in a grid layout:
• Display a user’s public collections with
• Optional heart icon for one-click bookmarking to the default collection
• Optional popup mode for the bookmark widget
• Users can share collections on social media (can be switched off)
• Top Bookmarked widget shows the five most bookmarked posts
• Bookmark count shown (and sortable) in the admin posts list
• Admin can create site-wide default collections, limit the number of collections per user and the number of bookmarks per collection, and disable new collections altogether
• Every label is editable in the settings, so “Bookmark” can become “Favourite”, “Save”, or anything in your language
• Shortcodes and PHP methods to display the bookmark widget and collections
• Comes with its own API for advanced use
• Translation ready (.po/.mo included)

Security and compatibility (v3.6.0)

• Full PHP 8.0, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 support (no TypeErrors, no dynamic-property deprecations)
• Tested with WordPress 7.1; fixes the WordPress 6.7+ “translation loading triggered too early” notice
• Nonce and capability checks on every AJAX action and on the settings form; logged-out visitors can no longer create or remove bookmarks
• Private collections stay private: only collections marked public are visible to other visitors
• All output escaped and all input sanitised; collection names cannot inject HTML
• The bundled TimThumb library has been removed; image resizing is limited to same-site images
• Update checker uses HTTPS and safe unserialisation

Users can favourite or bookmark posts, products, forum topics as well as any custom post types!

A sidebar widget to bookmark any content, add a new collection, and remove a bookmarked post!

You can enable auto-embedding of the bookmark widget on all the post types you WANT via the admin settings!

A simple shortcode that can be embedded anywhere to let a user manage their bookmarks and view/access them easily via ajax.

Admin settings to enable bookmarking only on the post types you want, exclude specific posts from being bookmarked, plus many other customisation options to tweak the wording and so on.

Allow entire collections to be removed, or give the user the choice to keep the bookmarks and remove just the collection!

Shortcodes and API

Embed the bookmark widget via shortcode (in addition to the sidebar widget and automatic embedding):

Or via the PHP API:

global $wpb;
echo $wpb->bookmark();

Embed the user’s collections via shortcode:

Or via the PHP API:

global $wpb;
echo $wpb->bookmarks();

Show a user’s public collections:

All the wording and layout settings available in the admin panel can also be passed as shortcode attributes, so you can rename “bookmark” to “favourite” or translate it into your language per instance:

This plugin is fully localised too!

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or newer (tested up to 7.1)
• PHP 7.4 or newer (tested on PHP 8.0 to 8.3)

UPDATES

Version 3.6.0 (16 Sep 2026)
============================
    - Compatibility : Full PHP 8.0-8.3 support. Fixed fatal/TypeError issues with count() on
      non-arrays, string-offset writes and the PHP 8 "0 != ''" change that broke
      featured-image thumbnail detection.
    - Compatibility : Removed extract() and variable-variables; declared admin class properties
      (PHP 8.2 dynamic-property deprecation).
    - Compatibility : Deferred the update check to the 'init' hook to avoid the WordPress 6.7+
      "translation loading triggered too early" notice.
    - Compatibility : Tested up to WordPress 7.1.
    - Security : Nonce verification on every AJAX endpoint; removed unauthenticated access from
      all write actions; capability checks on admin AJAX actions.
    - Security : CSRF nonce on the settings form, input sanitisation and output escaping
      throughout, whitelisted settings tab parameter.
    - Security : Removed the bundled, unused lib/timthumb.php. Image resizer limited to
      same-site images only.
    - Security : Update checker now uses HTTPS and safe unserialize().
    - Security : Collection names are escaped on output and sanitised on save.
    - Security : The public collection view no longer returns another user's private
      collection. Only collections marked public are visible to other visitors.
    - Security : Bookmark and collection actions reject array input, non-existent posts,
      empty collection ids and category id 0.
    - Fixed Bug : Per-collection bookmark counts were wrong.
    - Fixed Bug : Deleting a collection could leave bookmarks pointing at the deleted one.
    - Fixed Bug : A user's first collection could occupy the default collection slot.
    - Fixed Bug : Empty bookmark/collection data produced a phantom empty entry.
    - Fixed Bug : A post's bookmark counter could go negative.
    - Fixed Bug : A user could be recorded twice in a post's "bookmarked by" list.
    - Fixed Bug : Saving a duplicate admin collection name now shows a clear message.
    - Fixed Bug : "Rebuild pages" action called a missing method and caused a fatal error.
    - Fixed : PHP notices when removing a missing collection and in the widgets with no title.
    - Fixed : Notification-bar image now loads regardless of the plugin folder name.
    - Added standard plugin header fields (Requires PHP, Requires at least, Tested up to,
      Text Domain). Collection names capped at 100 characters.

Version 3.5.1 (02 Dec 2022)
============================
    - Fixed Bug : Removed auto-occurring backslash.

Version 3.5 (15 Apr 2022)
============================
    - Fixed Bug : Changed logo URL in wp-admin.

Version 3.4 (04 Aug 2017)
============================
    - Enhancement : Bookmark count column is now made sortable

Version 3.3 (21 June 2017)
============================
    - New Feature : Collections can be displayed in Grid Layout ( Use the shortcode as follows -  )

Version 3.2 (03 Apr 2017)
============================
    - Enhancement : The bookmark count is updated with AJAX after bookmarking the post
    - Enhancement : Administrator can now limit the number of collections to be created by users
    - Enhancement : Administrator can now limit the number of posts to be bookmarked in one collection

Version 3.1 (13 Feb 2017)
============================
    - Fixed Bug : Bookmark count not displayed correctly
    - Fixed Bug : More than one collections showing as selected at a time

Version 3.0 (24 June 2016)
============================
    - New feature : Added configurable setting for displaying Heart Icon for bookmarking the content to Default Collection
    - New feature : Added option for Administrator to create multiple collections

Version 2.9 (12 Feb 2016)
============================
    - New feature : Added configurable setting for displaying bookmark widget in popup

Version 2.8 (29 Dec 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Added configurable option in backend to display the Social buttons on the collection

Version 2.7 (15 Dec 2015)
============================
    - New feature : User can now share their private bookmarks on social media

Version 2.6 (26 Nov 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Added configurable setting to enable/disable creating new collection

Version 2.5 (9 Nov 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Now Bookmark Count is displayed on Posts and Pages in backend

Version 2.4 (27 Oct 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Added widget( Top 5 bookmarks ) to show top five bookmarked post

Version 2.3 (13 Oct 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Now single post can be bookmarked into multiple collections , added setting in admin panel to enable/disable this feature

Version 2.2 (22 Sep 2015)
============================
    - New feature : Admin can now decide whether heart icon should be displayed on bookmark widget or not

Version 2.1 (9 Sep 2015)
============================
    - New Feature : Added automatic updates

Version 2.0 (26 Aug 2015)
============================
    - Updated: Replaced Timthumb with alternative script

Version 1.9 (14 July 2015)
============================
    - Fixed Bug : publiccollection shortcode not working.
    - Fixed Bug : Collection count displaying 0 while it has 1.

Version 1.8 (3 Apr 2015)
============================
    - Enhanced security
    - Admin can now decide whether category bookmarking should be enabled or disabled

Version 1.7 (13 Mar 2015)
============================
    - Added feature to display the avatar of users who has bookmarked the post

Version 1.6 (5 Mar 2015)
============================
    - Fixed : Bookmarks incorrectly added twice in newly created collection, even when nothing is added in it

Version 1.5 (27 Feb 2015)
============================
    - Added feature to display the number of times the post has been bookmarked.

Version 1.4 (31 Jan 2015)
============================
    - Added feature to mark new collection public or private. Use  to display public bookmarks.

Version 1.3 (6 Dec 2014)
============================
    - Added feature to bookmark category too

Version 1.0 (6 Jan 2014)
============================
    - Initial Version of the Bookmarks Plugin