[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 7 months ago]

huh, i just tried the “private buddypress” plugin — using the latest WP BP for nov 2 2012 (plz lookup the versions if you need to), and the plugin works just fine.

i am quite grateful to the creator of the private buddypress plugin. it does everything i need it to do.

life’s hard enough as it is — when you catch a “break” like this with code that works as promised without hassles and even without payment — you just really have to say thanks.

thanks to dennis at: https://profiles.wordpress.org/GIGALinux/ seriously — thanks!

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 7 months ago]

yeah, i haven’t quite known what to “do” with akismet since they started charging. there is something “odd” about paying to “not get” spam — especially when anyone can “create” spam — so theoretically — akismet could make spam that gets through spam filters other than their own.

or something like that.

i have some other spam filters activated and they seem to work so it’s not biggie for now.

thnx for your feedback paul!

cheers,
dainis

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

i deactivated akismet and was able to post — not sure if the issue is resolved though.

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

if you consider accomplishing the task by hitting my laptop with a fuzzy mallet, pouring coffee into the keyboard to “wake up” the computer, downloading databases, failing at recovering my backup, then needing flop and then flip versions of BP back and forth, and then just waving my hands over the computer chanting “oh buddypress and wordpress update work oh work hhoooommiiiiii aaaah”

and then it working.

then yes.

PS: i did very few of the above mentioned steps and do not recommend you try them at home.

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

slam blam bloom blaaam. upgraded WP first. then went through BP 1.5 and then 1.5.6 then auto to latest.

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

ok, tried to go from buddypress 1.2.6 to 1.5 on a WP 3.0.1 site

and got the following error:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function show_admin_bar() in wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/bp-core-buddybar.php on line 585

restoring the site from a backup now.

i had all of the plugins inactivated.

how do you suggest i proceed — the site is using the default BP theme.

best,
dainis

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

i guessed at the naming convention and just added “.zip” to the filename.

so if the current version is at https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.1.6.1.zip

then 1.5 is https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.1.5.zip

i was guessing though and could not find that info posted anywhere though it likely is…

best,
dainis

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

thnx crew!

back to guessing a bit, trying to download the versions. i’m here poking around: https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser#tags/1.5.1

would i need to download those folders, rename them buddypress and then upload that way?

where do i download the older versions of buddypress?

best,
dainis

[@dainismichel Participant 13 years, 8 months ago]

thank you very much for your response, can i pick any 1.5 version?

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 7 months ago]

i can offer a bit more information here, and i’m impressed that buddypress has kept this thread alive. it’s clear that this thread has a lot of value for the survival of bp in it, and it’s also clear, at least to me, that there are a good number of caring people trying, essentially, to help bp “survive.”

if you download free software, does that make you a beggar?

if you get a 2nd muffin free at a coffee shop, how would you feel if the shopkeeper said “beggars can’t be choosers” and just gave you a second muffin with a bite already taken out of it? then said: hey man, if you don’t like it, bake your own, no one forcing you to eat your free muffin you know.

what we’ve bought into, and what bp has “sold” to us, is: “social networking in a box.” we, as a culture, have experienced how awesome it is when people get together and work for the common good. we see your slogans “all the features you love in 6 minutes flat,” and we go “rock on!” power to the people, way to go buddypress! it’s the information revolution waaahooo!

it’s a big promise bp is making, and i’d like to know if you really look at downloaders of bp as “beggars.” do you really?

many “buy into” the bp promise and are more than willing to help in any way they know how, as long as they get help with the parts that they don’t know how to do.

that one is pretty critical: many are more than willing to help in any way they know how, as long as they get help with what they don’t know how to do.

for example: i paid for my artistic education as a documentation and training professional and an “end user advocate” (which you can tell eh?).

as a result, i have documented extremely complex software, have dug deep into code, have consulted on code commenting procedures — and i’ve also put together guides for non-english speaking factory workers to put together electronics (so basically a picture-based guide).

so, here i am, and basically, with 20 years off and on hard-core tech documentation experience, i can say: i can dern near explain anything to anyone in a clear and understandable way. but, in order to do so, i need something called a “subject matter expert.”

and that, in this situation, would be “you guys.”

i have repeated multiple times: i am happy to document, but i need to be shown.

the benefit to me: functioning websites. the benefit to you: great documentation. what you give me: code, procedures, and a consistently functional and kind environment in which to receive answers to my questions (which will likely all be about functionality).

the benefit to the community: more and more people install bp and can actually use it.

the “BuddyPress Story” web-wide has been “i had high hopes and spent sleepless nights because i wanted to create a site for [passionX, missionY, businessZ, businessIdeaN] and basically, eventually, i gave up.”

the failing that i see here on the part of buddypress is:
not giving its community access to the “parts of the puzzle” that individuals don’t know how to do in exchange for the parts of the puzzle they do know how to do.

do you honestly find it appropriate to call someone who downloads free software a “beggar?”

what criteria must a person fill in order not to be a “beggar” in the bp community?

that’s all i can contribute for today.

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 8 months ago]

well, one thing is actually fielding the comments. i mean, hey, ya wanna call them “topics for conversation,” i’m more than happy to do so. just give me some lead in time and a few missed shots and i’ll come around. i’ll even run your community for you and educate your entire user population on the way the programming team likes to be communicated with. “bugs” “topics for conversation” “f-ups” “doinks” “things that aren’t my fault” “stuff that’s broken for whatever reason” — it does not matter.

the point is fielding the comments and having a healthy cycle of discourse and development. we have to understand: buddypress is not doing that now. it’s not a healthy environment for business owners, so we have to deal with it.

i’d love to see BuddyPress turn the corner on this issue. i’d love to use BuddyPress on my commercial sites. i don’t know how to replace the BuddyPress activity stream, and i’d appreciate it if there were a list of comparable plugins right here on this thread. but again, that may be perceived as threatening. but it’s not — not for healthy business people.

healthy business people go: here you go, here are our competitors, here is how we are different and better in these categories.

but this is “free” software and well, the community does seem very very sensitive. not just sensitive in an emotional way, but sensitive in a: how dare you want your site to work, you are rude, now your site is broken so what nah nah nah kind of way.

i really commend Paul Gibbs for asking the question “Why wouldn’t you use BuddyPress for an important, life-saving website?”

— it means he inquired. and now we are responding. not because we are rude, but because he asked. these are our best answers, and hey, it ain’t so bad is it?

i kind of feel like i’m trying to “rescue” buddypress or something, and in a sense i am, cuz i want buddypress to work properly, and i can’t find an alternative.

hey, thanks for this thread and for your participation

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 8 months ago]

interesting and fortunate that you’d be replying here Paul. in a text file, saved for another forum, i have the following about you closing a similar thread:

Quote:

i just saw that this thread https://buddypress.org/community/groups/requests-feedback/forum/topic/what-is-up-with-buddypress-org/ was closed by Paul Gibbs over at BuddyPress.

the OP was, in my opinion, asking legit questions and expressing exactly the kind of request a community needs to respond to appropriately in order thrive.

this is emotional, persona, and critical for me — so i also wrote and considered posting:

“it almost makes me cry to see a BuddyPress admin behave in such a fashion.”

the OP was asking about functionality. the OP was pointing out functionality that does not work. and you closed the thread on the person.

i’ve worked with ace programmers before, who sometimes need emotional and interpersonal assistance to understand what “normal people” want and need. i get that. i’ve been able to be the kind of person who can help a programmer relate to “the rest of the people on a project” or at a company. mostly because as a documentation and training professional, i am often the interface between the programming team and the user base.

it’s hard to see such a cool concept (BuddyPress) harming itself and its community through such interpersonally and professionally unfortunate behavior.

what i mean is: the users are here for functionality. why would you consider their seeking and asking about functionality rude?

for me, if i provide any product or service, paid or otherwise, discussion about the product’s performance itself is never ever rude. it cannot be. they actually need to use the product or service. it’s rude to say something “sucks” when you have not used it, for example.

from a user’s perspective, it can be seen as rude to “sell” someone on free software that is supposed to do particular stuff, and then upon install, it doesn’t. then, they are told they are rude if they ask questions that would lead them to be able to configure the software. and quite possibly, they are demeaned based on their programming ability. then they are told to go pay, but they simply can’t find anyone with the skill set to help them. and their posts asking for help or explanations are just closed on them. add to that that the support forum for the product itself does not function in a manner effective enough that one could use it for a live community. so, if i installed BuddyPress and it worked the way this forum does, i’d have to “fix” BuddyPress for my install. Fortunately, my current install works better than what we see here, but the current functionality of the live forum does not inspire confidence.

in the end, possibly thousands of peoples’ “neat ideas” of creating websites for tinnitus help, autism help, juggling, parenting, a hobby, something really important, something really fun, a business — well they DIE.

there is a very good chance that i may continue to use BuddyPress for a life saving website, but my response to

“Why wouldn’t you use BuddyPress for an important, life-saving website?”

is — because an admin over there not only closed this thread https://buddypress.org/community/groups/requests-feedback/forum/topic/what-is-up-with-buddypress-org/ but found it rude and “not constructive.”

my deal with documentation is as follows: show me how to do something, and i will show others via articles, videos, etc. but if i am not shown, then i might not be able to create the docs. sometimes i need a “code snippet,” and for some reason, the coders just won’t give up the code. paid, unpaid, does not matter. won’t share their code. it’s my ball and you can’t play with it and you are rude if you want the reply button to work properly. who are you to say what is proper? rudey-pants, go learn how to code.

but the person is just like “hey, man, i love you, i love this software, i just want the reply button to work and post the comments on the original post as well as in the activity stream”

i already improved buddypress documentation once. however, i am an end user advocate, and if i were buddypress, i would literally ask my users what sucks about buddypress. i would ferret out each and every pain and address the issues. i would create procedures that allow dedicated people to implement functional websites and i would understand that people get frustrated after 80 hours of working on making something work as promised.

also, i would make a clear free-line and rate-sheet distinction so that people can pay for stuff if needed.

so there would be more money flowing, excellent community functionality, and saying “this doesn’t work” would not be considered rude. ever.

i do not advocate the use of language like “this and this sucks…” and it was not the OP who began such discourse. i am the founder of http://www.verbalyoga.com (the site is not up yet), i have clear understanding of what is verbally abusive and what is not.

and well — with all of that being said — BuddyPress seems like a very emotionally volatile product and community. pressing “update” can take an entire site down, and if you seek help — you run the risk of being called “rude” and having your posts closed on you before being responded to courteously, before being offered a paid or unpaid solution, before being given an explanation.

that is not fair and it is dangerous for a life-saving website.

non-programmers are people too
people who don’t know their way around buddypress are people too
non-coders are people too

of course, structured correctly, i could help you guys make heaploads of money. but maybe you don’t need money and are way over $250/hour and it does not matter what anyone throws at you.

improving your free-line (the software, the forum, the documentation) is all essential. in my opinion, i highly recommend you look at how BuddyPress treats sincere business owners, web-concept developers, low to high level tech folks, etc., especially when you feel criticized.

that’s the best i can do for you right now, and it’s a lot.

sincerely,
dainis w michel

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 8 months ago]

so i wound up going into the db and changing it. am kinda considering dropping buddypress. i really appreciate your considerate response, for me, that has been an exception in the buddypress community.

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 8 months ago]

tried the plugin which lets me change my own display name,

how can i as admin change the member slug (or how can i let users change that slug themselves)?
how can i as admin change other user details?

it’s odd because i don’t know how buddypress is “remembering” these names. also, i use wishlist member, and the names there are different. the wishlist member names are the same as the wordpress names, but buddypress seems to have gotten and be using names gathered somewhere else (maybe upon initial sign up)?

best,
dainis w michel

[@dainismichel Participant 14 years, 11 months ago]

does the theme update along with the plugin?

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years ago]

I mean a “real wordpress post” from the WP dashboard. The idea is that I could create a real WP post and select the group as if it were a category, and then if you are a member of the group i posted to, the post would appear in your activity stream. Otherwise not. The “group’s activity stream” or by that i mean the “category” that is the page on which all of the group’s posts are summarized…that would work just like a normal post excerpt.

So, basically, it’s not about adding media like on FB, it’s about posting real articles, that is “real wordpress posts.”

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years ago]

i’d like admins to be able to post real posts into groups. that would mean real posts with images and such. then everyone else could comment. it would be a lot like a category.

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years ago]

I am going for a workaround that uses the activity stream as a chronological ticker of events. Users then go to the original post to reply, comment etc.

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years ago]

.activity-meta

{
display: none;
}

if using Genesis Connect

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

if someone replies in the activity stream, it does not show up in the post. if you reply in the post, an excerpt appears in the activity stream. it seems broken. i just posted in a group, but can’t seem to find a way to copy the link here…

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

i think studiopress genesis theme framework + genesiconnect has this as a theme setting

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

ahh…and gambling…so three so far…

maybe “internet traffic” but eh…

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 2 months ago]

what queries are you guys using to delete spammers?
what is the fastest procedure within BP?

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 2 months ago]

i was just wondering about this issue, because i have a community that i want to keep at “buddypress default.” in other words, it’s an “out the box community” however, i’d like it if the comments would nest. i’m at v. 1.2.6 and have not upgraded to 1.2.8, basically cuz it doesn’t say a new version is available under plugins.

[@dainismichel Participant 15 years, 7 months ago]

funny, i just upgraded, and i don’t see nested comments working on pages…