Allow users to contact owner email without login

Feature Requests
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1

Hello,

Is there a way to allow direct messages to listing owners without users having to log in? Or is this a feature that can be added soon?

I see this as a major barrier for people using the site. Not many people will bother logging in. HivePress is great in so many ways but its usefulness fails, for me, on this issue.

There was a question about this a few years ago: Reply to Listing without an account

It would be great to hear if there is a sensible way to do this.

3

Hi,

Unfortunately, there is no such option at this time; you must be logged in to send a message. However, we plan to add this feature according to the Roadmap: Messages Roadmap – Asana

4

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

5

Continuing the discussion from Allow users to contact owner email without login:

Have you made any headway on this discussion about allowing people to Reply To A Listing without having to login? This is a big deal in today’s marketplace.

Because the internet in 2026 behaves like this:

User interest threshold vs friction:

  • Click link → Easy :white_check_mark:

  • Scroll content → Easy :white_check_mark:

  • Watch video → Easy :white_check_mark:

  • Create account + login just to ask a question about a product or service on a classified listings website → :cross_mark: Massive drop-off

This is called “authentication wall friction.”

Even serious buyers hesitate when:

“I must create an account just to send one message.”

Honestly, from a marketing standpoint this is what the HivePress listing sites look like and how people are behaving emotionally who are seeing listings, even if they are interested in the product or service…

What Your Funnel Actually Looks Like (Right Now)

  1. Visitor comes to a listing

  2. User reads content or product

  3. Gets interested

  4. Sees Reply requires login

  5. Thinks:

    • “I don’t want another account”

    • “I’ll come back later”

    • “Too much effort for a question”

  6. Leaves silently

Result:
Views ≠ Little to Zero Replies

I saw that this feature was requested back in 2024 and it’s still not been implemented yet.

6

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

We definitely plan to add this feature, it’s on our roadmap. However, we don’t have an exact timeline for implementation at the moment.

I wanted to mention that many marketplaces require registration before messaging for important security reasons, it helps prevent fraud, spam, and other issues that could affect both vendors and buyers. We understand the value of reducing friction for potential customers.

Your feedback is valuable and helps us prioritize what matters most. I’m moving this topic to our feature requests section so other community members can vote for it as well.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend. :herb:

8

Hi there, thanks for the update — glad to hear the “reply without login” option is still on the roadmap. It’s definitely one of those features that can make a measurable difference in conversions, so I’m looking forward to seeing it become available.

There’s one more improvement I’d really encourage you to consider: adding a Save Draft option for users creating listings. WordPress already supports drafts natively, and having a simple “Save Draft” button next to “Submit Listing” would be a big quality‑of‑life upgrade for anyone posting longer or more detailed listings.

Real users get interrupted, need to gather details, or want to refine their listing before publishing. Without a draft option, they either rush the listing or abandon it entirely. A draft feature would reduce frustration, increase completed listings, and make HivePress feel more polished and professional.

Thanks again.

1 Like
9

Hi,

Yeah, that’s a good suggestion, and we have this on our roadmap. At the moment, this feature only works partially for new listings, but we’ll add a draft option in the future. All features with confirmed status will eventually be implemented.

I’ll link the feature request regarding this, please vote for it so we can see what matters most to our users and prioritize accordingly: Add a save as draft and publish button.

Thanks for the feedback.

10

Thanks again for the update and linking the draft feature request.

I took a look at the “Add a save as draft and publish button” thread (from early 2023), and while it’s good to know it’s confirmed on the roadmap, I can see why some of these UX improvements take time with the plugin’s custom flow.

Since I’m running six HivePress sites (ideally 17 or 18 in the future if I can get sales and traction going) — with 10 active Code Snippets already handling various gaps on each site — I asked Grok (an AI tool on X) if a custom Code Snippet could add “Save Draft” functionality in the meantime.

The feedback is that it’s more involved than a simple tweak because HivePress uses a custom submission process (AJAX forms, REST API endpoints, model validation for hp_listing posts) with extra metadata (attributes, images, location, etc.).

From what Grok pulled from docs and forum patterns, a full implementation might need:

  • Filters on hivepress/v1/forms/listing_submit or hivepress/v1/models/listing to handle draft logic.
  • A custom button in the form (via template override or JS).
  • An AJAX handler to save partial data as ‘draft’ status without triggering full publish/validation.

It sounds doable (50–150 lines of PHP), but the risk is stability—snippets like this could break on HivePress updates if they change the form/AJAX/model flow. (Current partial auto-draft exists for new listings on some steps, but expires quickly.)

I was going to experiment with a snippet myself to see if it could work reliably and share a rough version here for anyone else waiting, but after a recent update to a new HivePress theme, I’m pretty sure future updates would likely break custom code if it’s not handled at the plugin or theme level. So I’ll probably hold off rather than invest time in something fragile.

In the meantime, I’ll vote on both this and the reply-without-login feature to help prioritize them.

If anyone has tried a similar workaround or has partial code (e.g., for basic AJAX save), I’d love to see it.

I’m not a developer, but I’ve turned into a “pseudo one” since taking on this large-scale project—especially since I have a multi-tier affiliate program tied into all of my sites as well — lol.

Thanks for the ongoing transparency!

1 Like
13

If you do decide to create a custom snippet or solution, please don’t worry, we pay special attention to development aspects in the sense that we won’t break or change how hooks work with updates. That’s why hook names now include the “v1” part, if we introduce different hooks in the future, they’ll be “v2” while the old ones will continue to work for backward compatibility.

If you properly hook into the system and modify form parameters or add custom REST API endpoints, the probability that an update will break something is very low. We want HivePress to be customizable without such concerns and to be truly extensible.