Introducing BuddyPress 1.2
February 16, 2010 in News
BuddyPress 1.2 is here, and it’s now ready for anyone with a WordPress installation!
There are so many new and improved features in this release it’s hard to keep this post short, but let me highlight just a few major ones for you.
Standard WordPress Support
BuddyPress is no longer limited to WordPress MU installations. It will now work with both WordPress and WordPress MU 2.9.1 and higher. You’ll get all the features of BuddyPress regardless of which WordPress version you use, the only difference being the tracking of blogs with WordPress MU.
Simplified Installation
We’ve worked hard to make BuddyPress 1.2 as simple to install as possible. Previous versions required manual installation steps, and a sometimes tough WordPress MU installation. With this version of BuddyPress you can be up and running in three simple steps that even my Mom would have no trouble with!
A Shiny New Default Theme
This version ships with a new default theme, offering out of the box support for all the new features in version 1.2. We’ve worked really hard to provide you with a theme that has great looks, great usability, and is really easy to extend. The feedback has been fantastic during the development stages, and we think you’re going to love what it has to offer.
Awesome Activity Streams
Activity streams in BuddyPress 1.2 have been completely transformed into something considerably more powerful. Activity streams form the focus of the new default theme and provide a really easy and intuitive way for users to interact.
Each activity item now has a permalink so it’s easy to bookmark or send direct links to any type of activity. Any user can also comment on activity across a site, with support for threading so your users can ignite their own individual discussions around a single activity.
There’s also direct update posting to the activity stream, so it’s easy to share your thoughts globally, or even within a particular group. Not only that, you can also mark activity items as a favorite, and send other users @username mentions.
Give 1.2 a Go
The best way to really experience what BuddyPress 1.2 has to offer is to try it for yourself. If you’d like to give it a go without downloading and installing then take a look at the BuddyPress Test Drive. This site is always running the latest version of BuddyPress and boasts a more than 15,000 strong user base, all interested in testing and discussing the newest features of BuddyPress.
Of course, downloading and installing BuddyPress yourself is going to give you the best taste of what BuddyPress can do. You’ll be able to experience just how extensible it really is with the ever growing list of great plugins. You’ll even be able to start creating your very first child theme.
Those who are upgrading from a previous version of BuddyPress should follow the official upgrade instructions.
Special Thanks
There are a large number of people who have helped BuddyPress reach this important milestone. Participation has really been fantastic, with more than double the number of tickets for 1.2 than we had for 1.1. These tickets help so much in ensuring that BuddyPress is a stable, well tested product with each milestone reached.
Special thanks goes to: 21cdb, andrea_r, DJPaul, Ezd, _DorsVenabili, arturo84, chouf1, cnorris23, developdaly, erich73, floris, grosbouff, intimez, jivany, johnjamesjacoby, madloki, miguael, mikepratt, MrMaz, nuprn1, ousep, r-a-y, rvenable, snark, teebes, windhamdavid, wpmuguru.
SlaFFik said on February 16, 2010
Amazing!! Finally we can do the better social network ever.
Diesel Laws said on February 16, 2010
WOOP WOOP! Onwards and upwards from here! Will get my child themes in order quick smart. great work team.
Rics said on February 16, 2010
This is great news! BuddyPress is the most incredible peace of software I’ve seen in a while and this new version seems to be amazing! Wil try it NOW!
rich! @ etiviti said on February 16, 2010
andy, you did an amazing job
m@rk said on February 16, 2010
Congratulations! Thank you so much for your efforts and the awesome work!
I’m in touch & in love with BuddyPress since 2008 now – and don’t know what I’d have done without it in that time
You guys are absolutely brilliant!
Christopher Gillespie said on February 16, 2010
Good work! I understand for blog activity to show up in the global activity stream, blog tracking has to be enabled. Does the same go for a standard WP install? Will the activity stream carry the single blog of a standard WP install?
Andy Peatling said on February 16, 2010
@Christopher – yes it will track the root blog if it is public and blog tracking is enabled.
MrMaz said on February 16, 2010
Its been a pleasure working on this release with you and all of the other contributors, Andy. Good work everyone!
zoltok said on February 16, 2010
Just wanted to say thanks so much for this amazing plugin. I am about to start building a site with it and this came out JUST at the right moment. Thank you, thank you, thank you! To the entire team!!
Ezd said on February 16, 2010
Big thanks Andy! It’s always a pleasure to help out and contribute to BuddyPress. 1.2 is truly an awesome release! Oh and great refresh of the buddypress.org website btw.
nexia said on February 16, 2010
using it, loving it, will be listed in the demo page soon… *(with some great ideas for admins)
Michael Berra said on February 16, 2010
yippiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! wow – I am with the project since the beginning and it’s just awesome to see, where it is now. Thanks to all of you – especially Andy!
xfreme said on February 16, 2010
I’am so happy today! Thank you!
stripedsquirrel said on February 16, 2010
Cool, a small increase in numbers, a big step for mankind
Will test soon, thanks
luccame said on February 16, 2010
Nice work on buddypress.org restyling too!
r-a-y said on February 16, 2010
BP needs point release names
This is a big, big release! I expect plugins and themes to start multiplying like bunnies!
Onwards and upwards to bigger and brighter things!
Jobjörn Folkesson said on February 16, 2010
Awesome!
Dwenaus said on February 16, 2010
Much thanks to all who were involved in developing BuddyPress!
featherodd said on February 16, 2010
So awesome!!
Ousep said on February 16, 2010
Nice! Now, time to finalize the child theme, and I’m all set.
@mercime said on February 16, 2010
Congratulations to all!
boldlygoing said on February 16, 2010
Have been running the release candidates on a WP 3.0 alpha (network) install for almost 2 weeks now. Very nicely done, and thank you to all. I only ever really test things out, poke, prod, look up challenges when something kaputs. But I have to agree with others that BP is some really sweet & slick software. Feel free to check out the install if you’d like? http://3rdTribe.net
abcde666 said on February 16, 2010
this is just WOW, I am excited !
Thanks a lot to all who contributed to this !
Tore said on February 16, 2010
Hurray!
Timschmi said on February 16, 2010
Und alle so, buddypress. Vers cool.
Richard said on February 16, 2010
Congrats on the release! Awesome, awesome work.
Doug Daulton said on February 16, 2010
Well done to Andy & the team!
sakthi Ganesh said on February 17, 2010
Solid Release, Tons of features, Power of simplicity . That was buddypress 1.2
Wishes to every buddy member! and Thanks to Andy and their Team
Jitto P.Jose said on February 17, 2010
Deployed the new version. Its amazing. I love it..
I expected a photo gallery in this release. I hope it would consider for future release.
Thanks BP team…
Ashfame said on February 17, 2010
Finally I can move on with my projects. Was waiting for 2 days.
Cyberlahy said on February 17, 2010
merci pour toute l’équipe
awesome bp
Sofian J. Anom said on February 17, 2010
congrats Andy and buddypress team.
XIII said on February 17, 2010
Congrats on all the hard work, it looks great.
Luis Rull said on February 17, 2010
Congrats. This one looks great. Thanks for the hard work.
ikki_83 said on February 17, 2010
Congratulations, but we want galleries
misterkelly said on February 17, 2010
Can I just add that the new default theme does EVERYTHING I have wanted to do in exactly the way I have wanted to do it. The networking is powerfully implemented and the interface is completely clear.
I am overawed
Tal Galili said on February 17, 2010
Very cool,
I can’t wait to try this out on some niche blogs I have…
Thanks!
Tal
_dorsvenabili said on February 18, 2010
Congratulations Andy!!!, BP 1.2 is great!, thanks for your big effort
and thank you very much for your mention in special thanks 
Chuck Reynolds said on February 18, 2010
Not even caring about the other updates… the simple fact this now works on regular WP hosted sites w/o MU…. SOO going to test this local and play with it…
Thanks guys for the updates and hard work!
Dwenaus said on February 18, 2010
@apeatling Great new design on the buddypress website itself-A huge leap forward and a very well balanced visual design. The new homepage is very well geared towards beginners, which is good.
However maybe one of the three columns could be devoted to recent blog posts, new plugins and maybe recent forum posts. that would be helpful for current buddypress users and it would also help newcomers see that this project is very much alive.
Usually when I build websites, I think of the people that are coming to the site, and divide the homepage up according to percentage of beginner/intermediate/advanced. Usually its about 60%/30%/10%. Then put the appropriate content on the site to match the users needs.
Right now the current BP website is 100% beginner, and there is no info for intermediates or advanced users.
Again, please take this as constructive usability criticism of a wonderful new design. Very well done.
Geoff said on February 18, 2010
Very cool. Is this the unofficial merge of WP and WPMU? I’ve waited on fully deploying BuddyPress due to the difficulty of managing WPMU. This is now a great way to make my news blog more social.
marcus said on February 18, 2010
Hi, i have a question, in the search from (up, right), only is allowed ‘Members’, ‘Groups’, and ‘Forums’,
I want to add ‘General’, that will search into ‘blog post’, and ‘blog pages’, my question is… how I could do this? I think its a very simple problem, so i think its a very simple solution.
Thanks
Anne said on February 18, 2010
Thank you very much for the BuddyPress package. It’s time for me to try it out and perhaps start my own blog Social Networking for people who would be interested to do so.
Nommo said on February 19, 2010
Loving the new BP. Looks great too. Thanks for the hard work folks….
oldenburg said on February 19, 2010
Thanks a lot for the BP 1.2
I am newbie in wp, and off course also in BP running with WPMU.
This project is promising, and I will follow…
I like the default theme.
My struggle is with the subdirectories (blog1.nannys.dk). It seems users needs to know a little Apache. If that could be tested during install, it would be nice.
I also struggle with the avatar. When I want to change it to my own image, i get to crop an image wich is not loaded. I need to follow the geeks in the forum for the solution.
Thanks again for your effort.
mridul said on February 20, 2010
Awesome, More usable and friendly. Missing part is privacy option. maybe 1.3 will get that resolved too.
nexia said on February 23, 2010
ok, 1.2.1 is out, could you please consider adding the i18n in the bp-languages so we do not need to re-upload them each time we update?
Andy Peatling said on February 24, 2010
@nexia Yes this will happen, but it needs better co-ordination, planning on getting this sorted very soon.
zageek said on February 24, 2010
I’m loving the new version suddenly I can feel the useability improving, a big up to Andy and the guys.
Phyo Wai Win said on February 24, 2010
Somebody help me!
I have installed BuddyPress on my standard WordPress and things went fine except there’s no “Site-Admin” to enable registration.
Am I missing something? If BuddyPress supports standard WP without MU, should it have somewhere to enable registration without the support of “Site-Admin” which seems to be available on MU.
Thanks.
Brandon Farmer said on February 24, 2010
Thank you all so much! 1.2 is a lot cleaner and more streamlined than 1.1. I am inspired to take a more active role in the development.