BuddyPress

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.

Development for version 1.2 of BuddyPress is beginning to wind down and we’re looking at a feature freeze at the end of this month. I’d expect the new version to be released some time at the end of January after a period of beta testing. We’ve got a host of new features to look forward to in this new version and I’d like to give you a glimpse of a few of them.

One of the biggest changes is the activity stream. There has been a lot of focus on making the activity stream far more interactive in 1.2, and to do this we have merged together some of the features in previous versions of BuddyPress. Instead of having to post messages on a group or profile wire, or posting a separate status update, you can now post messages directly to the site wide stream, your profile stream, or a group activity stream. This stops fragmentation of the interface and brings content posting into one unified input box.

One of the benefits of this interactive activity stream is that we can now provide the ability for other members to post direct replies to your updates. In 1.2 the activity stream includes the ability for threaded commenting. This allows for full conversations to take place around activities and makes the activity stream that much more of a two way process.

Another major update in 1.2 is the introduction of a new default theme. We’ve worked hard to produce a theme that will help both end users and developers. The new theme offers a more usable and unified interface with far more personal customization than the previous default. The theme also greatly simplifies the HTML, CSS and Javascript that powers it, allowing for greater ease of customization. If you’re fully invested in the previous default, don’t worry, this theme is not going anywhere and has already been updated to support the new features in 1.2. The new default simply provides a fresh alternative.

If you’re itching to start trying out some of the features in the new version, you can head on over to the BuddyPress Test Drive. The test drive runs the latest development version of BuddyPress and represents the state of the newest version as it currently stands. If you’d like to start working with the development version you can always check out the latest version from our svn code repository. However, remember that until the final version is released code is subject to change.

I hope everyone has a wonderful festive season and an even better new year celebration. 2010 is going to be an exciting year for BuddyPress, I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

The votes are in, tallied, and the BuddyPress roadmap is now complete, ready for all to see. Thank you to everyone who gave their input.

The roadmap should give everyone a good idea of what they should expect to see in the next four versions of BuddyPress. You will also see both the status updates and albums components show up within these versions.

I really want to encourage developers to get involved with the project. If you’re a developer and would like to see some of these features (in v1.2+) appear sooner, here’s your chance to help make a big difference.

Group creation is now open on this site, why not pick a feature you’d be interested in working on and create a group for it? By doing this you’ll encourage other BuddyPress developers to join in, discuss the feature and give feedback. I’ll be more than happy to take a look at plugins that add roadmap features and consider them for inclusion in the core of BuddyPress. You may even end up as a core committer.

If you’re interested in development, you should also be spending time in the #buddypress-dev IRC room on Freenode (don’t rely on the Java client though). We frequently have BuddyPress development and plugin discussions in there.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to DM me or comment on this post, I’ll do my best to answer.

Since the release of BuddyPress 1.0 we’ve been thinking of interesting ways that the community could directly participate in the roadmap for future BuddyPress releases.

We think we’ve found a fun approach, and so we’ve decided to run a bit of an experiment. Over the last week, those who participate in the BuddyPress IRC room on Freenode have had the chance to look over and comment on a list of new BuddyPress features. These features are what we’d like to see make their way into BuddyPress within the next 1-3 versions.

Here’s where you, as a community member come in. We’d like you to play a part in ranking these features, placing the most important features (to you) at the top, and the less important ones at the bottom. Hopefully we can tally enough votes to get a fairly decent overall perspective on what people want first.

These are just features for existing components, the two new components – status updates and albums are already at the top of the roadmap.

I’ve built an interface over the last couple of days that will allow any BuddyPress.org member to log in and start “Roadmap Ranking”. Each of the features are broken down into their respective component and only one component is displayed on the screen at a time. You should rank each component’s features separately. Just drag and drop features in the list.

Head on over to the roadmap ranking page, and cast your vote!