> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.planetstyles.net/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.planetstyles.net/feature-guides/group-post-highlight/the-member-highlight-toggle.md).

# The Member Highlight Toggle

Members whose default group has a highlight style assigned see an extra checkbox, **"Highlight this post with my group colour"**, on:

* The full posting form (new topic, reply, quote, edit)
* Quick reply

Members whose default group has no style assigned don't see the checkbox anywhere; there's nothing to opt into.

### What gets checked by default

| Situation                                              | Toggle state                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| New topic / reply / quick reply                        | Follows the group's **Highlight by default** setting.                             |
| Editing an existing post                               | Reflects whatever that post's highlight state already was, not the group default. |
| Form re-submitted (preview, refresh, validation error) | Reflects whatever the member last checked.                                        |

{% hint style="info" %}
Editing a post never silently turns highlighting on just because the group default happens to be on; only a post that was already highlighted keeps that state when edited, and the member can still change it either way from the edit form.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**The "Preview" panel on the posting form never shows the highlight itself**, even when the toggle is checked; it renders as a plain, unstyled post mockup regardless. This is the toggle's checked/unchecked state persisting correctly (see the table above), just with nothing visual reflecting it yet. The gap is the same root cause as the search results badge (see Creating & managing highlight styles): phpBB's `posting_preview.html` has no template event positioned before the preview post's wrapper element, so the extension has nowhere to inject the highlight markup for that one panel. The actual post renders highlighted correctly once submitted; only its live preview mockup doesn't.
{% endhint %}

### What's actually stored

Only the opt-in choice itself (one bit, per post) is saved. The style that choice resolves to is never stored on the post; it's looked up fresh from the poster's current default group every time the post is displayed. A post only renders highlighted when both of these are true at that moment:

1. The post's own opt-in flag is set.
2. The poster's current default group has a highlight style assigned.

If a member's default group changes (or loses its style) after they posted, their older opted-in posts stop rendering highlighted, even though the post's own opt-in flag is untouched, because the second condition above is no longer met. See Assigning a style to a group.