If you find out please let me know
Create a child theme, copy in header.php from the default theme and change the heade element (“h1” from memory) and replace it with an image.
Is there an easier way than creating a child theme??
I’m a code amateur and am not sure how to create a child theme…
In previous versions of BP, you could just copy over the ‘social network logo’ file and hey-presto, the ‘custom’ logo would be on the live site.
Why has this changed in BP 1.1.2?
it changed because we do not have just “amateurs” who play with the engine… a majority of BP users NEED a better system, for a wide range of reasons.
if you can not duplicate a folder and modify one css file to make it different depending on your needs, instead of complaining that the system is flawed, ask someone to help you. you will learn a lot if you try.
It is bad practice to edit the Buddypress Default theme that ships with the plugin itself, because the next time you update, all of your customizations will be lost. That is, obviously, a bad thing.
To make a child theme, just create a new folder with your FTP client at the same level as your bp-default and bp-sn-parent. Call it bp-whateveryoursiteiscalled. Copy the contents of bp-default to it. PRESTO, you have a child theme! Select that theme in your dashboard, and any changes you make will be live right away.
Now you can copy whatever files you want from bp-sn-parent to your new child theme (preserving directory structure, if I’m not wrong) and edit them (ie, in this case, header.php). Any files you do not copy and change will stay ‘stock’. And next time a new version is released, you can upgrade with confidence and any changes you make will persist.
Child themes are a godsend.
@ stwc: Thanks for the advice about child themes. Sound pretty easy…
I definately don’t think the system is flawed, far from it. Can just be a challenge when think you’ve got something, then it changes 
(but no complaints!!)
More so asked the question to help understand why the change was made.
Big thanks to everyone that takes the time to help out those that need it!!
@ franklg2010
In case you haven’t discovered the documentation section (I hadn’t), there’s a great how to guide on building child themes:
https://codex.buddypress.org/how-to-guides/building-a-buddypress-child-theme/
you can also use css to accomplish this like so for your h1#logo a element…
text-indent: -9999px;
background-image: url(http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jr197/japan/Newsweek_logo.gif);
width: 335px;
height: 78px;
In this case, the text-indent will move your h1 title link -9999px out of view. The
second line calls your image logo as a background property; in this case, I just used
a Newsweek logo. The last two lines define the dimensions of your logo.
Michael beat me to it. I think that’s a far better solution than duplicating the entire header.php file just to make one tiny change. Also, Google would give more weight to an h1 tag for your company name than an alt tag for your company name.
But keep in mind that unless you make that css change in a child theme which might be otherwise identical to the default, you’ll lose it when BP 1.1.3 is released.
Yup. Child theme changes only. Goes without saying (or should).
maybe in BP 1.1.3 the core software will include an option to place a logo/image in the header?
(is not knocking the BP design at all here)…but I’m thinking that the more exposure BP gets the more novice the users will become and with that thought in mind, the design of BP will need to tilt towards a novice user. In other words…coders, it would be a good idea to create a “novice proof” layout.
including the option to place an image in the header is so unbelievably basic (with respect to site design) I can’t imagine why it’s even an issue being discussed in the forum?
The question is how to do it now. That’s what we’re discussing. I can’t imagine that anyone would think it’s a bad idea to have a logo as a config option. Sounds logical to me. You should open a ticket for this enhancement suggestion in Trac
https://trac.buddypress.org/newticket
IMO this is a theme design decision; if you want a graphic logo on your site, then that’s a custom theme. The bundled theme is just a starting point, even if you only re-do the colours. I’m even going to go so far to say if you want a graphic rather than a text header, you are very likely to want to change some other aspect of the site design at some point; so you’d be creating a child theme for that anyway. I can’t see people *only* wanting to change the site title to a graphic being a very common situation.
In previous versions, we used to get a lot of questions about which file to replace for the graphic, and ‘what font was used/can I have the PSD file for it’, and all the issues that both of these entail.
Whether it’s a theme design problem or not (calling it another name does not lessen the need), creating a simple solution to a basic function of the software would be a great move.
It’s true that personal design is open to interpretation and the point could be made that you shouldn’t try and read everyone’s mind. But…to keep things simple, allowing a user to upload an image (whatever the design…) would be a tremendous benefit to the BP plug-in.
One of the keys to the plug-in’s proliferation will be its simplicity (mixed with good design) and topped off with an innovative function supported by reliable results.
I think you guys are well on your way…good job to everyone here that supports this project!
Well, letting an admin upload a logo is just the oppoite of keeping it simple. It’ll require some extra coding that the majority of users just won’t need or use. You can add a logo with just a few lines of CSS. Now that’s keeping it simple. I’d hazard a guess that stuff like that will never make it into core. Thankfully! Nobody really needs bloated software…
CSS is easy to learn and very intuitive as well. You can learn how to add your own logo within 3 minutes.
I think it’s a perspective issue…what you see as easy, the typical client downloading and using the wordress blog software most likely won’t see. WP has evovled into a very simple blog software. No code editing required…
The average user does not know CSS. If you want to create a super successful bit of code think about how it will affect the novice. I know CSS is easy. But you’ll loose the majority of users if you force them into a steep learning curve. That’s all I’m saying…
If it’s an easy fix to add an image through CSS maybe create an admin function that allows the user to add an image link to CSS with an admin widget…
??
Well, look at it this way. WordPress doesn’t have a feature like that, so why should BP? There are themes out there that let you do that and that’s fine. That’s the way it should be with BP as well. In time there’ll be a lot more themes and maybe some of them will implement uploading a logo image, but it should not be in core.
Does the Kubrick / K2 theme allow users to add a logo to it’s big blue header?
Also, how does letting an admin upload a logo (as a custom config option) mean more coding? The idea is that it would mean zero coding. You would go into the theme settings, click a button, upload a graphic, done.
And trust me… CSS is easy for me and you… but as a developer… I’m happy when a client can just figure out how to log in and write a post! Most people can’t handle anything more complicated than email and facebook.
The original poster has since deleted ther account, and as there are several solutions in this thread, I’m marking it as resolved.
It means more code in buddypress-core. It might not be a lot, but even small things add up after a while. All I’m saying is that it should be a theme option and not bp-core.
good discussion…nothing resolved, but sometimes it’s best to just throw it around…
gs
