[abhis2.0]

Hi,

I want to start a new forum along with my already established WP blog – Gtricks.com

Now, I have 2 options, either use BP which is definitely looking promising or go for other traditional forums like PHPBB or vBulletien.

I know comparision is difficult but will really appreciate if someone can tell pros of BP.

Regards,
Abhishek

[Andrea Rennick]

BuddyPress is first and foremost a social network – the forums are attached to Groups and are a small component of the overall plugin. And the forum aspects can be disabled.

So… if you’re looking for just a forum, look for a forum plugin.

[abhis2.0]

Of course BP is one of the best social network plugin and its quickly evolving into separate entity, but I am bit skeptic about the user engagement a forum offers vis-a-vis BP . So between, forum vs BuddyPress, who wins?

[Xevo]

It’s not a matter of who wins, but a matter of what you need.

[@mercime]

@abhis20 different strokes for different folks, both win in different market areas. I wonder at your skepticism, who is forcing you to use BP for a project? A web developer chooses appropriate tools/applications to implement what’s needed to engage users for own site or for client’s site. There’s no conflict.

[techguy]

I’d say that BuddyPress is better for people that want to have their own identity on the network and they want to interact with other people on the network outside of the forum. A forum is better for discussion of topics.

[Andrea Rennick]

Apples & oranges, which is better?

[abhis2.0]

Thanks Mercime and Techguy for the insights

I suppose, I am getting you all now. If I want to build a community, then BP is obviously the first choice. For diverse content a forum will do.

If I am not wrong, BP is suitable where there is already a huge group following, or blog readers with a common passion. A forum is for engaging myriad sectors.

By the way, I want to test the complete functionality of BP on localhost before deploying. Any pointers for that?