Not by default. Core BuddyPress activity updates are text only, no image or video attachments. If you’re trying to post media into the activity stream and it’s not working, that’s why, it’s a missing feature, not a bug.
How to Actually Add Media Support
rtMedia is the established add-on for this (free on WordPress.org, 7,000+ active installs). It adds photo and video uploads directly to the activity stream, plus albums and a media gallery on member profiles. Reviews are mixed, 3.7 out of 5, with some complaints about the premium upsell being pushed hard, but the free core does what it says: media in the activity feed.
If you’re building a new community rather than adding to an existing BuddyPress site, BuddyBoss Platform is worth considering instead. It’s a full BuddyPress fork with native image and video uploads built into the activity stream from the start, no add-on required.
What You’d Need Custom Code For Instead
A separate but related question is posting into the activity stream from outside the normal community pages, say, from a custom form embedded on any page of your site. BuddyPress doesn’t have a setting for this either, but it is buildable:
- Build a custom form wherever you want users to post from.
- Handle the submission, typically via AJAX so it doesn’t reload the page.
- Call
bp_activity_add()to create the activity item programmatically, passing the content, user ID, activity type, and visibility. - Display the new activity in your stream, which may require adjusting template files depending on your theme.
That gets you custom-location posting, but it still won’t add media support on its own. Combine it with rtMedia if you need both a custom posting location and image/video uploads.
The Short Version
Media in the activity stream: install rtMedia, or use BuddyBoss Platform if starting fresh. Posting from a custom location: that’s a small development task using bp_activity_add(), not a plugin setting.