WordPress.org

What happens when I try to send someone a private message who isn't my friend?

You'll get a nice error message saying that your message wasn't sent because you are not the recipient's friend! Site administrators can always send private messages.

Can I allow certain user IDs to be private messaged without being friends?

As of version 1.1, you can! Simply add the following line to /wp-config.php or /wp-content/plugins/bp-custom.php:

define( 'BP_PM_RECIPIENT_WHITELIST', '1,2' );

In the example above, anyone can send a message to user ID 1 and 2 without needing to be their friend.

I noticed that the error message is in English!

Yes it is. But fear not! You can send me a translation file for inclusion in the next release of the plugin.