Forum Replies Created
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I hear you. I just know I won’t have the time for this level of upgrading. I’m hoping I can disengage the Buddypress functionality from the BP template files (as should be the case for any true framework). Then, I could get full upgradeability of the theme framework (Hybrid) and just have to modify the BP functionality added via functions in the child.functions.php (based on functions available already from BP) and/or create custom BP templates myself.
I’m hoping that’s less work.
Someone ought to figure this WP framework vs. BP framework thing out. I’ll be checking out Ron’s work on Buddymatic and here he has one for Hybrid too.
WOW!!! Awesome!!!
Does it incorporate the changes for 2.9. Pretty significant reworking was done by Justin. Did you let him know?
Wow! I’m glad this topic got people thinking.
@Xevo, I do plan to use Hybrid (not thesis) and add the BP functionality, but not sure the implications as BP adds functionality with new releases. Sounds prone to breakage on upgrades. Someone at Automattic should be thinking about this if Mike is right about the future use of BP, which I think he is.
@Mike Pratt, I agree 100% regarding BPs future and enjoyed your thoughts in the video from Wordcamp NY
@Bowe, I’ll have to think more about the P2 solution, but doesn’t it mean I have ~9 tables multiplying by the number groups. If so, I’m looking for a lighter solution.
That’s awesome news. Trying to see how to best incorporate this.
Don’t want a full blown blog for a group. Did get to thinking and now wondering can you create a category or sticky post type in the forums of the group that only the admin of the group could post to?
If you could do that, you could probably CSS the display of that category or group of stickies so they wind up on the group homepage as well as in the forum. That might work.
@Ron, have you described the process of creating Buddymatic anywhere? I’m looking to do the same with Theme Hybrid and I’m sure the process is similar.
@Simon, I guess my question is how you deal with upgrades to BP or your WP theme (if it wasn’t purely homegrown)? It sounds like you were modifying HTML of the parent which I thought was a no-no for upgradeability??
That site is so beautifully, I’m sure many inquiring minds want to know.
Maybe I lack clarity. Maybe, it’s the post is just too long. I do understand I can turn off blogs. I’ve done that. Maybe I’m describing a beefed up wire.
For example, the admin of the group “teachers” wants to post a video describing the group on the group page. Maybe add ongoing postings that are “from the admin” as opposed to a stream. I imagine some of this is just changing template files/plugins, but just removing blog functionality wouldn’t get there.
@XEVO, re #3. If I use something like Thesis, do I then keep thesis as parent and then hack it up to work with BP in the child? If so, how do I handle upgrades to functionality in the BP theme framework?
Wow!! I wish this post had a different title because it hits on some really core issues that I hope everyone chimes in on. I was searching on how to let users “post” without giving them a full-blown blog/website and all the hassles that comes with. Mr. Maz crystallized it for me:
What it does best is create an instant social network around a community of bloggers. Since there are so few good looking options out there for out-of-the-box social network software, I think some people want BuddyPress to be more than it is.
Hammer meet nail!!! I’m one of those people.
However, with the merge coming, BP will be exposed to greater millions who have NO interest in creating a community of bloggers, but just a community for a new or pre-existing site. The pre-existing site is primary and the community is secondary. As software officially “adopted” by Automattic and arguably best of breed, Automattic will have to deal with this.
I chose WP/BP for a niche site where I want to build significant user interaction functionality because:
- I believe WP is growing and development in core and plugins will surpass others for some time
- Its ease of use for the developer with some php/mysql background (me)
- I found BP later, but it is still has a brighter future than the competitors I’ve seen and the merge will only multiply that (but, there are alternatives https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mingle/ , https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/alkivia/)
- There are so many people trying to solve the same problems, I trust they’ll get it fixed – eventually
All that said, I think I’ll start another post on how to make BP work for sites that just want to use BP as a foundation for social interaction and not as a blogging network.
You’ll get a better answer from others, but look into the posts about using the BP Theme Framework. Specifically, using a parent theme based on a WP theme with templates for Buddypress functionality added to a child theme.
Take a look at h-mag.com. Although this is more customization than most will attempt, this is what I’m looking at doing and really seems like it can be accomplished by making heavy modifications of the template files and lots of CSS work. The developer of that site can be found in the showcase thread.
Good luck.
What I wonder as I look at this is wouldn’t it be easier to take a robust plugin for wordpress and make it work well with MU/Buddypress. That seems like a better place to start, especially if the original author can point you to the right places in the code.
I mean the functionality of a good calendar plugin should be pretty well understood at this point. Priorities and roadmap might be trickier, but the end goal should exist in the PHP if not WordPress world.
This raises my recurring question of how hard is it to turn a quality PHP script into a good plugin.
Although I like things in core, this should probably be a plugin. What I would like in core (if it doesn’t exist already) is the variables/constants/functions to easily work with exist WP plugins to build what’s needed.
@jjj, Glad to hear it. I think BPContents needs to be in core in some fashion. It’s basically content types for BP. It’s important in making WP a more flexible CMS.
I have all kinds of user levels/types and group types I’m thinking of and each has different permissions/capabilities, not to mention look and feel. I don’t see it explicitly in the roadmap, but given the plugin development already done, I’m voting for it – as if my vote counts.
BP contents does work with Members, but users simply select which tags they want to associate with themselves. That’s not what I’m after. I may use that or a plugin like Members and/or Role Scoper to define capabilities and then have a separate register link for each type and assign registrants to that role.
I’m with David and nexia. Try it. I think there is room for a site that groups social communities. For example, Meetup.com is a generic site that allows you to create a social gathering around say hiking. But once you join, you learn about gatherings around mountain biking. Because it’s likely that hikers may mountain-bike, by putting the two together you’ve added value. Putting them together makes it easier for people to find each other and interact. This is true with some sports sites as well. I could see that model working. Check out communityengine.org which uses Ruby. This is just a collection of communities based on the interests of the developer, but the concept could be expanded.
MU and Buddypress could get this stuff done but be prepared for extensive plugin development. If you have funding, that shouldn’t be that bad.
As for the viability of the service, the model lately has been grow fast through viral exposure of a simple, free service. Once critical mass is achieved, anything is possible (or so the model suggests). Monetization is almost secondary, so you need deep pockets (particularly to take on media). Protection from competition is based on size, installed user base and acquisition of content (e.g. videos).
I’d say go for it, but start with maybe 3 networks. I’m using Buddypress because I have background in PHP/MySQL and I don’t want to use Rails, but you might consider communityengine or something similar if you don’t care.
Here’s an example of what I’m trying to accomplish using BPContents plugin to create member categories and Gigya to allow facebook and twitter registration http://www.reverbnation.com/controller/main/signup
Thanks for sharing regarding RPXNOW. After a quick review, I think their model will probably keep them around, but I’m concerned about the limited functionality at the free level. Most of it requires $10/mo. or more https://rpxnow.com/get. Gigya’s model seems to allow them to provide a free service with much more customization and features. The fact they have many major partners also suggests staying power. http://www.gigya.com/public/Content/GS/Implementation.aspx. THey even have an interesting toolbar, but I probably won’t use it.
Unless something changes, I’m leaning toward gigya. However, there are issues. Last I checked, they were just finishing the MU version of their plugin (even though some had gotten the .org version working). Also, the biggest complaint I saw was an inability to restrict people from creating multiple logins with each of their identities (e.g. Yahoo, Google). Also, getting users to fill out detailed profiles was more problematic. I would want to see these addressed (although I don’t see how the former could be addressed technologically).
Regarding OpenID, as with the liquor store, allowing multiple forms of payment is a must. Cash only will restrict customers.
I’m no guru, so I hope someone else comes along to help more. However, what Justin indicated in his post should work for BP just like WP. In fact the “role” is created in WP through Members Plugin anyway.
I would play with echoing the member role name (assuming you’ve assigned one). Once that is echoed, you should be able to use a function based off the thread to assign a ‘$role’.’.png’ file for the icon. It shouldn’t matter that it’s the profile page unless there is a loop problem with that page.
If you have an appropriate development environment, Justin will probably help you get the Members plugin to echo the role on a WP page , but he’s not a BP guru, so you may be back here for the second step.
Check this thread in Plugins forum https://buddypress.org/forums/topic/buddypress-contents-10-plugin-released-tags-categories-in-bp
Burt is MIA and there are other users who have at least done some updating.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear line between creating/extending and plugins so searching forums is key.
I’ll again put in a plug for BPCONTENTS going core.
OK, I know adding this to core might be a big project to take on, but it seems that if BP and WP are really going to be flexible CMS’s, this kind of functionality is needed.
Custom post types, member types, group types and blog types.
It seems crazy that most sites would want to moderate anyone getting a blog or starting a group about anything. What I hate about some of the ning sites I see is duplicative groups and groups about nothing. Poor quality blog posts everywhere. Not a good user experience if you ask me.
I’m nowhere near good enough to take this on, but it’s needed. For example, I need different member levels (e.g. teacher, principal, student) with different “rights.” Different group types (e.g. classroom, school, extracurricular). Different blog types (e.g. homework, school news, dances/parties). Students shouldn’t be able to create school groups and teachers shouldn’t create blogs on parties/dances. Something like Justin Tadlock’s Members Plugin could be used to manage rights of specific content types including the content type user/member.
BPCONTENTS was/is a step on this direction that should be available for all well organized social networking sites. The fact that Facebook doesn’t allow different levels of “friend” access is problematic and BP should do better. I hope this gets on the roadmap list or at least as a supported plugin.
[. . . stepping off of soapbox ]
There’s a plugin in the WP repository to favorite posts (https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-favorite-posts/). The favorites are stored in the database so they can be retrieved with the user id for the profile. I agree this concept should be expanded to other components (groups, blogs) in BP. I plan to create a custom post type and use this plugin (possibly modified) to show favorites of that post-type on the profile (e.g. favorite bars). For example, Tastykitchen.com could use to track favorite recipes as recipes are just posts with custom fields.
This functionality is needed and if it doesn’t exist when I get to that stage of my project, I’ll add it and shsre. The more people think of WP/BP as a CMS, the more the need for these types of functionalities becomes apparent.
I hope you get somewhere on this. I want Buddypress, but not MU. No choice at the moment, but I’ll only have one blog. I am thinking of guest authors, but not separate blogs. I am thinking of a way to use points or achievements as a way to access the ability to blog. That will save me some moderation time I hope. Without this solution, I plan to have to moderate initial posts to see if I want the authors content. Probably need to do that anyway in the beginning, but with growth, I’d like to relax that restriction.
I’ve tried to determine what Kaltura plugin can do for me and I can’t at this point.
I have some videos which are user-submitted and I don’t have the storage/bandwith to support this long term unless I have some expiration on videos. I have some videos that are on Youtube which will drive some traffic back to the site.
I’m trying to answer two questions:
1. Can Kaltura plugin handle self-storage, Kaltura storage and serving Youtube/Vimeo through the same player
2. What is the pricing beyond 10GB free account
Very inspiring. I expect to looking back at these more customized designs as I move forward. Bravo!!
I won’t be using all the components, but I expect my design to be complex like Gigaom and Tastykitchen. I actually found BP looking for a suitable extended profile plugin to no avail. Alkivia is close, but some features have been “under development” for quite awhile in WordPress time.
I will have a single blog setup so no extra blogs and I’m trying to keep the use of “wires” to a minimum as it can get out of hand quickly.
