BuddyPress.org

Hi,

I am really new to all of this. I am starting up a new site – just registered the domain, secured VPS hosting via a small orange and had my domain name servers set at my domain registrar (dynadot).

This is a private paid membership site. There is no free content, no teaser pages, nothing.

I plan on installing buddyboss.

Members of our local, in person, social group will get an email inviting them to subscribe to our optional online community.

They will be able to subscribe at 3 different levels. Basic will get them a profile, wall, status updates, ability to post images, send/accept friend requests, email other members, see member directory. They will also be able to see blogs written by higher level subscribers, and if I can get it set up, they will be able to see a marketplace and buy things that higher level subscribers have for sale or see businesses they are announcing in the marketplace.

If this private community site goes well, and works well without being a big pain in the neck : ), then I will be making it available to other groups in other cities. So, my thinking is this…

Using the example site of “www.psn.com” for my question purposes

– the social network I create will be designated by the local community geographic location – so for example the very first site I make live would be chicago.psn.com.

If that goes well and runs nicely, then I would make another site toledo.psn.com for members of that social group.

Members in chicago.psn.com would have NO access to toledo.psn.com, and vice versa, they remain separate private communities.

I want them all to look the same way, same layouts, same levels of membership access, etc, just be restricted to access by locally residing group members.

What, in baby language, do I need to do to set this up so that it will work when I start to add on the new city sites? Given I am a total beginner with this stuff.

Do I install wp
in http://www.psn.com/wp
or do I install it in http://www.psn.com
or do I install it in chicago.psn.com
or do I install it in chicago.psn.com

I have read about the child theme stuff and plan to use a child theme. Once I get the site set up with the correct membership levels, S2member and any other plug ins, then I will want to have that shell (minus the subscribed users) to very simply be able to pop onto toledo.psn.com, pittsburg.psn.com, etc.

I have read lots of stuff and am now thoroughly confused… : )

Here are more questions:

Can I install wp using the softaculous one click and still have buddypress work properly? I don’t know a thing about css php etc… but have read things that said it won’t work but I am not sure if that is from before buddypress made changes or not.

should I just stick with the default themes for wp and buddypress since I am buying buddyboss?

Many many many thanks for your kind patient advice!

I want to make this as streamlined and automated as possible from the start. I had a recommendation to use softaculous as it will apparently let me update one instance of wp/buddypress/buddyboss and have it automatically update all the city.domainname.com accounts… I do not really know how I will accomplish that, but am learning as I go, but he said it would help me so I got softaculous.

thanks again!