BuddyPress.org

BuddyPress 1.2 is here, and it’s now ready for anyone with a WordPress installation!

There are so many new and improved features in this release it’s hard to keep this post short, but let me highlight just a few major ones for you.

Standard WordPress Support

BuddyPress is no longer limited to WordPress MU installations. It will now work with both WordPress and WordPress MU 2.9.1 and higher. You’ll get all the features of BuddyPress regardless of which WordPress version you use, the only difference being the tracking of blogs with WordPress MU.

Simplified Installation

We’ve worked hard to make BuddyPress 1.2 as simple to install as possible. Previous versions required manual installation steps, and a sometimes tough WordPress MU installation. With this version of BuddyPress you can be up and running in three simple steps that even my Mom would have no trouble with!

A Shiny New Default Theme

This version ships with a new default theme, offering out of the box support for all the new features in version 1.2. We’ve worked really hard to provide you with a theme that has great looks, great usability, and is really easy to extend. The feedback has been fantastic during the development stages, and we think you’re going to love what it has to offer.

Awesome Activity Streams

Activity streams in BuddyPress 1.2 have been completely transformed into something considerably more powerful. Activity streams form the focus of the new default theme and provide a really easy and intuitive way for users to interact.

Each activity item now has a permalink so it’s easy to bookmark or send direct links to any type of activity. Any user can also comment on activity across a site, with support for threading so your users can ignite their own individual discussions around a single activity.

There’s also direct update posting to the activity stream, so it’s easy to share your thoughts globally, or even within a particular group. Not only that, you can also mark activity items as a favorite, and send other users @username mentions.

Give 1.2 a Go

The best way to really experience what BuddyPress 1.2 has to offer is to try it for yourself. If you’d like to give it a go without downloading and installing then take a look at the BuddyPress Test Drive. This site is always running the latest version of BuddyPress and boasts a more than 15,000 strong user base, all interested in testing and discussing the newest features of BuddyPress.

Of course, downloading and installing BuddyPress yourself is going to give you the best taste of what BuddyPress can do. You’ll be able to experience just how extensible it really is with the ever growing list of great plugins. You’ll even be able to start creating your very first child theme.

Those who are upgrading from a previous version of BuddyPress should follow the official upgrade instructions.

Special Thanks

There are a large number of people who have helped BuddyPress reach this important milestone. Participation has really been fantastic, with more than double the number of tickets for 1.2 than we had for 1.1. These tickets help so much in ensuring that BuddyPress is a stable, well tested product with each milestone reached.

Special thanks goes to: 21cdb, andrea_r, DJPaul, Ezd, _DorsVenabili, arturo84, chouf1, cnorris23, developdaly, erich73, floris, grosbouff, intimez, jivany, johnjamesjacoby, madloki, miguael, mikepratt, MrMaz, nuprn1, ousep, r-a-y, rvenable, snark, teebes, windhamdavid, wpmuguru.

We’ve got one more 1.2 release candidate ready for testing (zip | svn).

This should be the last pre-release version of 1.2, we hope to have the final version released very early next week.

Don’t forget that you can also play your part in testing by signing up at our BuddyPress Test Drive community. This is currently running 1.2-rc3.

If you are upgrading from an earlier pre-release version then you can just overwrite must delete it and then re-upload the BuddyPress plugin directory. Instructions for upgrading test installations from previous versions of BuddyPress are also available.

As before you can find a list of known issues and a place to post bugs via the BuddyPress Trac installation.

Please do not post bugs in the comments as they may be missed.

Update: Please make sure you delete any old pre-release versions of BuddyPress before uploading this version. You also DO NOT need to move any themes to wp-content/themes. WordPress knows that the BuddyPress default is in the plugin folder.

A second release candidate is now available for testing on WordPress 2.9.1 and WordPress MU 2.9.1 and above (zip / svn).

If you are upgrading from an earlier pre-release version then you can just overwrite the BuddyPress plugin directory. Instructions for upgrading test installations from previous versions of BuddyPress are also available.

As before you can find a list of known issues and a place to post bugs via the BuddyPress Trac installation.

Please do not post bugs in the comments as they may be missed.

The release candidate version of BuddyPress 1.2 is now ready for download and testing (svn link). Thank you to those who have contributed so far, we’ve closed over 125 tickets since we released the beta last week.

We’re almost there, but we still need your help with this final testing phase. We’re looking for testers on both standard WordPress and WordPress MU version 2.9.1 and above. You can also test the release candidate without installing on our testing community site.

As before you can find a list of known issues and a place to post bugs via the BuddyPress Trac installation.

There are also instructions for upgrading test installations from previous versions of BuddyPress on the codex.

Please do not post bugs in the comments as they may be missed.

Update: If you’re upgrading from 1.2 beta then you can simply overwrite your existing BuddyPress files, you do not need to follow the official upgrade instructions.

Now alive and ready for testing is the beta version of BuddyPress 1.2.

This version will work with both WordPress 2.9.1 and WordPress MU 2.9.1 or higher. We especially need standard WordPress installation testers to put BuddyPress through its paces. Installation instructions can be found in the readme.txt file.

If you’d prefer to not download and install the beta version, you can always help with testing by registering on our testing community site. This always runs the bleeding edge version of BuddyPress.

You can find a list of known issues and a place to post bugs via the BuddyPress Trac installation.

Testing Upgrades

If you’re going test upgrading a previous BuddyPress installation please read the following instructions (please only test backup copies when upgrading with a beta):

1. If you’re using a custom theme that is not a child theme of bp-sn-parent, please download and install the backwards compatibility plugin before doing anything.
2. Deactivate BuddyPress.
3. Upload and overwrite your existing BuddyPress plugin directory.
4. Delete “bp-default” and “bp-sn-parent” from your themes directory.
5. Activate BuddyPress. You do not need to move any themes.

We also now have a development blog. Weekly meetings are held in IRC every Wednesday at 19:00 UTC. Happy testing!

As we start to prepare BuddyPress 1.2 there will be a fury of activity both in the support forums and in the development trac. To help keep up with these changes and make it easier for you to get involved, we’ve followed the success of the WordPress devs and started our own development blog. We’ll be using it to talk about roadmaps, features, APIs, future enhancements, and the general technical details that maybe aren’t fitting for support forums or official announcements.

Because blogging and commenting back and forth sometimes aren’t enough to get the point across, we’ve also setup dedicated time each week to have a developers discussion in #buddypress-dev on Freenode on IRC. We’ll be using the development blog to set each weeks’ agenda and will be following a similar format to the WordPress dev chat, so if you’re familiar with that setup you should feel right at home.

Join in to #buddypress-dev on Wednesdays at 19:00 UTC (currently 7pm GMT, 2pm EST, 11am PST) and check out http://bpdevel.wordpress.com to come chat with us and help shape the future of BuddyPress!

Development for version 1.2 of BuddyPress is beginning to wind down and we’re looking at a feature freeze at the end of this month. I’d expect the new version to be released some time at the end of January after a period of beta testing. We’ve got a host of new features to look forward to in this new version and I’d like to give you a glimpse of a few of them.

One of the biggest changes is the activity stream. There has been a lot of focus on making the activity stream far more interactive in 1.2, and to do this we have merged together some of the features in previous versions of BuddyPress. Instead of having to post messages on a group or profile wire, or posting a separate status update, you can now post messages directly to the site wide stream, your profile stream, or a group activity stream. This stops fragmentation of the interface and brings content posting into one unified input box.

One of the benefits of this interactive activity stream is that we can now provide the ability for other members to post direct replies to your updates. In 1.2 the activity stream includes the ability for threaded commenting. This allows for full conversations to take place around activities and makes the activity stream that much more of a two way process.

Another major update in 1.2 is the introduction of a new default theme. We’ve worked hard to produce a theme that will help both end users and developers. The new theme offers a more usable and unified interface with far more personal customization than the previous default. The theme also greatly simplifies the HTML, CSS and Javascript that powers it, allowing for greater ease of customization. If you’re fully invested in the previous default, don’t worry, this theme is not going anywhere and has already been updated to support the new features in 1.2. The new default simply provides a fresh alternative.

If you’re itching to start trying out some of the features in the new version, you can head on over to the BuddyPress Test Drive. The test drive runs the latest development version of BuddyPress and represents the state of the newest version as it currently stands. If you’d like to start working with the development version you can always check out the latest version from our svn code repository. However, remember that until the final version is released code is subject to change.

I hope everyone has a wonderful festive season and an even better new year celebration. 2010 is going to be an exciting year for BuddyPress, I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

The latest BuddyPress 1.1 point release is now available for download.

This release fixes a number of remaining issues with the 1.1 release of BuddyPress. Although this is not a critical upgrade, it is still highly recommended to ensure the stability of your installation.

Please consult the release history for a complete list of changes in this version.

I’d like to congratulate John James Jacoby (aka jjj) for doubling the size of the core development team and gaining commit access to the project!

BuddyPress is growing, and at a pace that just one core developer cannot possibly keep up with. I’ve been looking to expand the size of the core development team for a while now and I’m excited to be able to announce the first stop along that road.

If you’re a regular in the forums or trac you’ll already know who John is. He has been an unrelenting force for some time with quick responses to questions and quality core patches.

John will be helping with bug fixing to begin with, then looking to take on some of the new features listed on the roadmap. Congratulations again John, I’m very excited to have you on the core team.

This year at WordCamp New York there will be a whole track dedicated to WordPress MU and BuddyPress. Some of the topics being presented are:

Getting off the Farm:
WPMU Beyond Blog Hosting. We all know that WPMU can be used to host multiple blogs for public or internal signups. But what else can you do? How far can you stretch it? I’ll be showcasing a number of sites that use WPMU in interesting ways. Speaker: Andrea Rennick.

Writing Plugins for WordPress/MU:
This session will be directed toward plugin developers. We will discuss platform differences & guidelines to keep in mind when writing a plugin for both WordPress & WordPress MU. Speaker: Ron Rennick.

User Authentication with MU in Existing Ecosystems.
Speaker: Casey Bisson.

How-to with MU: Using Multiple Domains, and Building a Member Directory.
A two-part session where we will dig in to two different concepts. First up, we’ll cover how to domain map member blogs, and the difference between multiple sites and multiple domains. The second half will cover how we built a business/member directory and what plugins we used to accomplish this so you can build one too. Speaker: Andrea Rennick.

Growing Community with BuddyPress:
Speaker: Lisa Sabin-Wilson.

Creating Killer Group Extensions in BuddyPress:
In this session learn how to build highly custom feature extensions to BuddyPress groups. Andy will be talking through how you can use the new group extension API to build Twitter stream integration right into your groups. Speaker: Andy Peatling.

Developing BuddyPress as a Collaboration Hub:
In this presentation, I’ll discuss some of the BuddyPress development I’ve done to bridge the WordPress/bbPress/MediaWiki platforms, taking BP beyond its roots as a social networking platform and turning it into a collaboration hub: a space where users can find, friend, and team up with each other (the social networking part BP that does well), work together to produce content (that’s the “collaboration” part), and feed the content back into BP (that’s the “hub” part). Speaker: Boone Gorges.

Other soon-to-be confirmed sessions: Setting up BuddyPress (workshop); BuddyPress theme framework.

For a full list of sessions please see the program page.

It should be a fantastic event with space for up to 1000 people. Tickets are selling out fast so if you’re thinking of attending, now is the time to hop in and buy a ticket. It looks like this is going to be the east coast WordCamp to attend. I’ll see you all there!