BuddyPress.org

@Andy, First, I have nothing negative to say about BP. It is allowing me to do things I would NEVER even attempt on my own. Looking back on the programming I’ve done in the past, there was NO separation (mostly pre-CSS, php/mysql where my separation was myriad includes). However, as I look at Justin’s code, I’m learning the elegance (and additional complication) of separating form from function.

Doing everything through functions.php, styles.css and hooks is a challenge for me, but I do see the benefits. If there are sufficient hooks, most things can be accomplished this way. If there is a hook, I can use the new template tag just by modifying functions.php instead of changing the myriad template files that might contain the new tag.

What sucks (for me) in that model is I have to switch back and forth from template to function and then ensure I test everything well. What works is I get to change it once.

Regardless, for template tags and other changes, what’s most important is documentation (which can be a challenge with development cycles). If the changelog tells me what to look for and what functionality has changed (see Peter’s post above), the process is MUCH less painful. I know you know this, but most of us would rather have the features now and struggle without the docs – Catch 22.

Whatever the result, I’m ecstatic that Buddypress exists, that Automattic adopted it and you finally have some additional help.