BuddyPress 4.0.0 “Pequod” is now available!
A focus on data privacy and control
BuddyPress boasts a proud history of letting community members and managers control their data, independent of third-party, commercial entities. In this spirit, as well as the spirit of recent regulations like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Expanding on some of the tools introduced by WordPress in version 4.9.8, BuddyPress 4.0 introduces a suite of tools allowing users and site admins to manage member data and privacy.
Giving your users greater control over their data
The new “Export Data” Settings panel lets users request an export of all BuddyPress data they’ve created. BuddyPress integrates seamlessly with the data export functionality introduced in WordPress 4.9.8, and BP data is included in exports that are initiated either from the Export Data panel or via WP’s Tools > Export Personal Data interface.
BuddyPress 4.0 also integrates with WordPress 4.9.8’s Privacy Policy tools. When you create or update your Privacy Policy, BP will suggest text that’s specifically tailored to the kinds of social data generated on a BuddyPress site. And will prompt registering users to agree to the Privacy Policy, if your theme supports it.
We’ve also done a complete review of BuddyPress’s cookie behavior, and dramatically reduced the number of cookies needed to browse a BP-powered site – especially for logged-out users. We’re confident that this change will help site owners comply with local privacy regulations.
Nouveau and other improvements
The BuddyPress team has been hard at work improving the Nouveau template pack introduced in BuddyPress 4.0. We’ve improved accessibility, extensibility, and responsiveness on mobile devices.
BuddyPress 4.0 also contains a number of internal improvements that improve compatibility with various version of PHP, fix formatting and content issues when sending emails, and address some backward-compatibility concerns.
Mille grazie
As usual, this BuddyPress release is only possible thanks to the contributions of the community. Special thanks to the following folks who contributed code and testing to the release: Alex Concha (xknown), Ankit K Gupta (ankit-k-gupta), Boone B Gorges (boonebgorges), Brajesh Singh (sbrajesh), Brian Cruikshank (brianbws), Christian Wach (needle), Dinesh Kesarwani (cyberwani), dipeshkakadiya, drywallbmb, dullowl, Eric (eric01), Garrett Hyder (garrett-eclipse), Harshal Limaye (harshall), Hugo (hnla), John James Jacoby (johnjamesjacoby), Marcella (marcella1981), Mathieu Viet (imath), mercime, MorgunovVit, n0barcode, paresh.radadiya (pareshradadiya), Paul Gibbs (DJPaul), Pooja N Muchandikar (pooja1210), r-a-y, Renato Alves (espellcaste), RT77, Ryan Williams (cyclic), Samuel Elh (elhardoum), shubh14, spdustin, suvikki, Stephen Edgar (netweb), thejimmy, vapvarun, Wbcom Designs (wbcomdesigns), Yahil Madakiya (yahil)
This version of BuddyPress is code-named “Pequod” after the famous Pequod’s Pizza in Chicago, where the crust really is caramelized, and the dish really is deep. Buon gusto!
Keep on truckin’
Questions or comments about the release? Visit the buddypress.org support forums, or open a ticket on our bugtracker.
Many thanks to all contributors for getting this new release out.
Just one small note from the above post – it proves I read it at least! – you say the release improves on the templates introduced in 4.0 – I think you mean introduced in 3.0
Dale.
Any blocks?
Not yet! Working on the REST API endpoints to power them first.
Some blocks make more sense than others. It’s hard to imagine how a BuddyPress private-message block would work, for example; but an activity directory block, or a “my profile” block, kinda might make sense.
If there’s a need for profiles on WordPress.org, it’d be a great starting point, I think!
This is an awesome update. Thanks everyone involve in maintaining and improving BuddyPress.
Thank you for this update and for the job 🙂
The privacy tools are awesome. Thanks to all the contributors.