bbpress only handles the forum aspects of your site, so if you only want forums but none of the other social network components there’s no need to install buddypress at all. Likewise if you do not want a forum but you still want the other stuff then bbpress is not required. Obviously if you want everything then you want both.
Thanks @ubernaut! That is the information that I wanted to hear. I appreciate the quick response too. Now…I actually have another question. I have heard that the new BuddyPress version is compatible with most WP themes whereas previously, it was not. Is it possible to use BuddyPress and BBpress together on an existing WP installation? Or will we have to “re-design” the site using a theme designed specifically for BuddyPress?
The WP theme that we are currently using “says” that it is compatible with BuddyPress, but I have not yet tried to install it. Just wondering what I might be up against when we intall the two new plugins… Again, thanks in advance for any help! š
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One more question! Sorry! It was an “afterthought”! LOL
Is there ANY order in which to install BuddyPress and bbpress? In other words, should we install one before the other? Right now, we have neither one installed and need both social networking AND forum capabilities.
Again, thanks in advance for any help. This site and the support forums are great. Don’t know what we’d do without it. š
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well if your theme says its buddypress compatible that means it was probably compatible before the universal compatibility was part of buddypress so to answer your question no you should not have to change anything, however i would check with your dev to ensure its been updated to work with 1.7 because there are some changes from 1.6 to 1.7 that could effect the legacy compatibility (at least there was for our theme).
it shouldn’t matter the order you install (i don’t think) but personally i would install buddypress first. i used the button to install bbpress from inside buddypress actually. But that was a while ago and i think i read somewhere thats not actually the best way to do it though. maybe someone else can chime in here who knows more then me.
Thanks again @ubernaut. I think I read something similar awhile back stating that is was better to install bbpress using FTP. I can do it either way, but I’d prefer to do it through BuddyPress so I’ll try that first and see what happens. We’ve backed everything on the site up, so if something goes “awry”…we’ll be ready for it! LOL
I appreciate all your help and I’ll be sure to post here to let you know how it goes! Looking forward to getting up and running and seeing if we can get some of our regular blog commentors to register in the forum and networking areas. This is kind of an experiment for us at this point.
It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction we get here. It appears that most of our registered users are pretty computer friendly…something that’s not always true in the auto industry! LOL Lots of really good technicians out there that can’t answer an email due to lack of computer skills…so I’m hoping that we don’t come up a “bust” merely due to that. But, only time will tell…so, in an effort to waste a little less of “that”…I’ll get started and see what we can accomplish!
Thanks again for the help and we’ll be in touch!
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i think the key to creating a successful community site is engagement so as long as you take the time to encourage that, if there is interest you will find it.
@ubernaut Thanks for the encouragement! Part of the reason I am thinking that this will work for this particular site is that most of the users there are very engaged just through the comments. I think it is a great site for us to start with and get our feet wet with BuddyPress because of the amount of existing engagement. These guys are serious about their vehicles and I have a feeling that if I can get some groups started and get a few of the more experienced body guys to offer some advice to the newcomers we could have a really nice place for people to share and learn about something they are truly passionate about. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it takes off. Hopefully the installation will go relatively smoothly and we’ll have the opportunity to watch it grow. I’m waiting for some information from our theme developer now to see if there is anything there that we need to do and the next step will be to load the plugin!
Thanks again for all your help. It is always appreciated. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. Hopefully, I’ll have some good news to share and a good BuddyPress install to show off!
Have a great day and we’ll be in touch! š
sounds good, don’t forget to have fun!
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I absolutely refuse to have it any other way! š
better to install bbpress using FTP. I can do it either way, but Iād prefer to do it through BuddyPress
@ldjautobody Recommend that you install BuddyPress first. That way, after you install bbPress plugin via Plugins > Add New, you can activate BP group forums (if you want) in Settings > Forums . https://codex.buddypress.org/user/setting-up-a-new-installation/installing-group-and-sitewide-forums/
@mercime Hi! Thanks for the link and the advice! It is certainly appreciated. I have been using WordPress now for about 2 years…but I’m no expert by any means, but in the last 2 years I’ve really learned a lot and I really enjoy working with WordPress. I’m sure that BuddyPress and bbpress will be just as challenging and just as much fun to learn.
As I was telling @ubernaut, the site we are going to be adding the forum and networking to has a lot of users that are very passionate about their interests. They are already very active in conversations so I believe the forum will be a welcome addition to the site. I will definitely want to activate the group forums as the site is already broken up into some groups just through association.
I am thankful that you guys are out here! LOL After looking at the link you sent me and looking over the bbpress documentation, I have a feeling that this might be a little bit of a challenge. But, I am up for it and I’m sure with all the expert help here, I’ll be just fine.
Thank you all for your help and encouragement! I’ll be sure to let you know how everything turns out and send a link to the site.
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