Forum Replies Created
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Just checkin in…any progress on this?
In reply to: Profile Field Search BoxesI don’t think this was ever resolved. It’s a big shame. Profile Field Filtering would make finding people within a community SO much easier…and being found is a big reason why many people would even want to join our communities.
In reply to: Facebook like for BuddyPressHere’s the group one to use: bp_group_permalink()
Here’s the code I used to add a facebook like button to the group header:
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=&layout=standard&show-faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=light” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” style=”border:none; margin:1px 0px -12px 0px; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:30px”>
In reply to: Facebook like for BuddyPressI’d like to put this on forums, groups, events, etc…is there a list of template tags somewhere?
In reply to: Are these BP Plugins compatible with WP3?Cool. That leaves me with:
Buddypress My Friends (Sarah is checking…)
Buddypress Links
SEO for Buddypress (I think they are working on an update)
BP Member Filter (I think I’ll just delete it as it doesn’t do anything)
Buddypress Badge (I think @warut is working on it)
BuddyPress Private Messages for Friends Only
External Group Blogs
Facestream/Tweetstream
WP-FB AutoconnectIn reply to: Are these BP Plugins compatible with WP3?Thanks Paul!
Great @warut !
Looking forward to it.
Brajesh has a solution: http://buddydev.com/buddypress/introducing-the-first-stable-version-of-global-forums-plugin/
Thanks @techguy.
I’m trying to add a “my topics” for forums. You’ve given me a place to start!
It’s just like a facebook badge that you can put on other sites. I use this plugin and it actually works pretty well. It would be great to see it’s development continue.
In reply to: users complainingFirst, let me say that I am a big fan of BP. My post above simply shared criticism from my members and some frustrations from me, trying to get real-world people to use BP’s features.
@techguy, I agree that BP is “about groups”. My point was simply that BP doesn’t do a very good job of incorporating member’s blogs. They don’t show up in search results and they are impossible to sort-and-find. If your members don’t have blogs/sites, this is no big deal. But for those of us that run MU/MS and our members have blogs, this is frustrating.
Everyone’s using BP in different ways…I’m just trying to provide some actionable feedback from my experience.
In reply to: WordPress 3.0 upgrade nightmare!In reply to: users complaining“Anyway, BuddyPress just seems a little confused when it comes to it’s ideas around Friends, Followers and Members. It feels like an odd mix of Twitter (wide open) and Facebook (walled off).”
I’ve had an active BP Site of about 400 real-world members for 6+ months or so now and I can report back that very few people are actually using the BP functions. It’s not clear exactly what they are supposed to do and how it would benefit them. Twitter is intuitive, Facebook is semi-intuitive. BP, not so much.
Considering that wordpress is first and foremost a blogging platform, core BP should do three things well:1) Enhance members’ blogs (vs. an mu-only environment) and 2) Encourage interaction between members, and 3) Make members and their activities easy to find. BP is struggling with these basic objectives.
Regarding blogs, it is intuitive that members should be able to post from the front-end (One Quick Post is nearly ready). It is critical that sub-blog posts would show up in search results, but they don’t. And, it’s intuitive that you should be able to easily find relevant blogs (link tumblr), but you can’t. BP should make members’ blogs more visible, but it really doesn’t…at least not in an intuitive way. As a result, my members that joined primarily to blog (which is most of them), have little or no use for BP.
SOLUTIONS: Make sub-blog posts show up in search results. Apply xprofile fields to blogs and make them sortable. Create a front-end dashboard – I don’t think users should have to go to a dashboard with BP. Create a core-function to showcase sub-blog posts (then let the plugin devs apply slideshows, etc.)
Regarding interaction between members, BP tries a lot of things, misses the mark on some critical elements. Group-only forums are simply not intuitive. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the fact that it’s been such a hot topic since 1.2 came out proves this point. The activity stream has merit, but is confusing for a lot of users. I have people posting “updates” who think they are posting blog posts or starting forum threads (perhaps is should be read-only?). Friending is fine, but doesn’t provide many obvious benefits beyond sorting your stream. Same with following. Groups are great, but without a solid core of features, groups don’t do much. (even here, they aren’t used much beyond forced-joining for forums). There should be an “events” element in the core.
Most importantly, it’s very difficult to keep track of things…try and find an old discussion thread on this site!…I’ve added a trac ticket to make anything (blogs, comments, members, discussions, etc.) “Followable”, allowing you to keep track of stuff. There should be a simple “Stuff I’m Following” button where you can keep organized.
SOLUTIONS: Enable a read-only option for the activity stream. Add hooks to “Follow” anything and make a “Stuff I’m Following” button. Allow forums without groups. Build Events into the core. Build more basic group functions (like group blogs, group email subscriptions, and invitations) into the core.
Lastly, I’m getting complaints and feedback about the ability for members to be found. Searchable, sortable, xprofile fields are a critial core component that is just plain absent. I run a real estate community. People intuitively-expect to be able to find a real estate expert in their geography…good luck. It’s virtually-impossible. Moreover, this is how, in more other communities, you can find people to network with. How can this basic element be missing?
SOLUTIONS: get xprofile fields working for members, groups, blogs, etc. Consider creating sub-fields as well.
If you can’t find or be found, your blog doesn’t get any extra exposure (actually it gets penalized for posts not being found in search results), friends and following provide no great benefit, and forums are too confusing to use, then it’s hard to justify joining the community.
I can’t say for sure that an MU blogging community is better with BP. I can’t say that a bbpress community is better with BP. And without these basic intuitive basic functions working right, it’s hard to make a case that BP is a great “community” platform.
I’m using it and hoping for the best, but my 400 members so far aren’t too impressed.
In reply to: Configuring W3 Total Cache with BuddyPressI gave up on it…even with just database caching, the extra files it installs prevented sign-ups on my site. Time to figure out xcache…
In reply to: A question for theme designersAnother chime in to allow people to upload images as wallpaper. It won’t do much on a full-width page, but would be fantastic on a fixed-width site.
In reply to: Help Troubleshooting My Broken RegistrationFinally got a clue from my error log:
“[Tue Jun 15 16:00:07 2010] [error] [client 66.249.68.21] File does not exist: /home/housings/public_html/register.php”
But I shouldn’t have a register.php file in my root???
Is this a bad call from my theme?
In reply to: is a global forum possible?It’s premium for now…but really inexpensive. Especially so considering how much extra help and attention that @sbrajesh gives us.
In reply to: BP Group Control ErrorRay,
That fixed it…thanks!Side note….do I put the bp-group-control folder in my child theme folder? I’m not using the default theme.
In reply to: Advanced Search plugin neededBrajesh has built an awesome search that I use on my site. highly recommended.
Creating The sitewide global/unified search Page for your Buddypress Theme
In reply to: Tweetstream (twitter plugin) Beta testers needed!Peter,
I just updated and it doesn’t work. Updates from my site don’t post to twitter and twitter updates don’t post to my site.
http://housingstorm.com
I’m on MU 2.9.2 and BP 1.2.3In reply to: WordPress 3.0 new content typesFront end creation will prove critical and make the next generation of buddypress way more usable and flexible. If users have to go to a blog dashboard to do something as simple as share a photo or a movie review (examples of custom post types), it’s going to turn people off.
We need front end ability…and, come to think of it…we need it for regular old-fashioned blog posts too.
@hnla
Correct. I see the old (original) blog names under “my blogs” in both the admin bar dropdown menu and on my profile page.In reply to: Following / Followers at testbp.orgCool! Now if we can only hack it to follow blogs and forums…
I’m still on 1.2.3 (too chicken to upgrade yet). Is this still happening in 1.2.4?
Can anyone confirm? and I’ll file a trac ticket.
