Have you installed BuddyPress in the “plugins” folder or the “mu-plugins” folder?
Put it into Plugins and activate it Site wide
OK – I was following the readme file and it said to add it to mu-plugins.
Won’t that mess up my current install?
Which readme.txt file are you referring to?
The one that comes with BuddyPress states this in the “Installation” section:
--- Plugins: ---
1. Upload everything into the "/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/" directory of
your installation.
2. Activate BuddyPress in the "Plugins" admin panel using the "Activate Site Wide"
or "Activate" link (both work).
From the readme file.
**************************************************************************
Step 2: Add the BuddyPress plugins to your wp-content/mu-plugins directory
**************************************************************************
Drop everything into the ‘wp-content/mu-plugins/’ directory for your installation.
You do not need to activate plugins dropped into this folder.
How do I fix this without breaking the current install?
Which version of BuddyPress are you running? Where did you find those instructions?
I don’t think BP has been installed in /mu-plugins/, and has been referenced that way in the readme.txt file, for over four months. I just looked back at 1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3 and all three of those versions have in their readme.txt file what I excerpted above.
Always read the readme.txt file that comes with the installation package.
Here’s the readme.txt file from v1.0.1: https://trac.buddypress.org/browser/trunk/readme.txt?rev=1621
Here’s the one from v1.0.3: https://trac.buddypress.org/browser/tags/1.0.3/readme.txt?rev=1614
Here’s the installation directions located in the BuddyPress codex.
I downloaded the zip file in March 2009. It’s 1.0 by the look of it.
Version number:
BuddyPress Version Numbers
Core: 1.0-RC1 / Activity: 1.0-RC1 / Blogs: 1.0-RC1 / Friends: 1.0-RC1 / Groups: 1.0-RC1 / Messages: 1.0-RC1 / Wire: 1.0-RC1 / Profile: 1.0-RC1 / Forums: 1.0-RC1 /
Readme was in the zip and can be found here:
http://coastalnet.co.uk/wp-content/mu-plugins/INSTALL-README.txt
What should my plan be to get the install running as currently intended? I’m a novice with database driven sites and PHP.
After making a backup, delete your current BP directory. Download the latest version of BP and use that.
What about my active users and blogs – will they all be OK?
Just to be sure, should I continue using the mu-plugins directory?
Users and blogs should be ok. Remember you are only going to be replacing the files, you are not going to delete the database or anything like that. Anyway, this sort of thing is why I suggested you back up first, just in case 
Yes /plugins
A bit ambiguous there. Do you mean to continue using the mu-plugins directory?
I’ve already done a back up. I guess the best thing for me will be to follow the original readme and overwrite files as necessary. Would you agree?
I downloaded the zip file in March 2009. It’s 1.0 by the look of it.
Actually, you are using a pre-release version of 1.0. In fact, you are using the first release candidate (RC1). Before version 1.0 was officially released, there was even an RC2. So, you are five versions behind. There have been significant changes in the BP codebase since then.
As DJPaul states, do a backup of your Database (DB). Your MySQL DB files are stored in a different place than where you have WPMU and BuddyPress installed.
Also as Paul states, you will need to switch from /mu-plugins/ to /plugins. This is not an option.
Here are some detailed instructions. I would read these just so you know how things have changed since RC1.
https://codex.buddypress.org/getting-started/installing-buddypress/upgrading-from-rc-1/
https://buddypress.org/forums/topic/how-to-upgrade-from-rc2-to-10
https://codex.buddypress.org/getting-started/upgrading-from-10x/
Thanks for your help everybody.
I’ll read through that lot tomorrow and get on with it.
I’m setting this to resolved as the issue has been properly addressed.
