Forum Replies Created
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The problem with separating the theme completely from the core (right now) is without a fully functioning theme, there’s no way to actually use BuddyPress. Even the bbPress plugin comes with a small set of fallback template files (as a child theme of twentyten) to display forums. The core of this problem is there is no way to create new WordPress functionality without it logically needing new template files to display it. The approach I took with bbPress (which I’d like to port to BuddyPress) is to monitor query_vars and template_include, and replace the_content() with a template part inside an output buffer. With this in mind, bp-default would get turned into a bunch of template parts that don’t all require header, footer, and sidebar calls, and those parts would just drop into any existing WordPress theme whenever they need to, correctly, all the time.
Nice to see everyone stepping up and getting involved. You rock. Exciting stuff.
Try again?
CSS
Decoupling the CSS into smaller pieces seems like it would go against the cardinal rule of minimizing HTTP requests to speed up page load times. Having everything turned on would load up 10 separate CSS files, just for the theme itself. They’d naturally be enqueued hierarchically so they cascade correct, so if one of them hangs for some reason, you end up with theme spaghetti.I’d suggest giving this a shot and comparing the speed differences with BP trunk on your average web host account to see what the real-world impact would be. If it’s negligible or we can minimize the impact, I’m for it. Would be nice to separate it into structure, colors, etc… too.
Shortcodes
check out how the bbPress plugin is incorporating shortcodes, and how it’s theme compatibility works to get a head start on what will get ported into BuddyPress core in the near future (after 1.3) – I’m filtering the_content() and loading template parts in an output buffer, to inject bbPress forums into *any* existing WordPress theme with a page.php template file (with appropriate measures taken to minimize conflicts, etc…)Supporter
The Supporter idea is neat, but doesn’t sound so much directly related to BuddyPress core. In the past, these kinds of donation based tasks don’t usually raise enough money for the hours of development that are involved in making something happen. Plus, who holds the money in escrow, who handles taxes and payouts, etc… It all gets really complicated, so you have your work cut out for you there.This will be a non-issue when the bbPress plugin eventually replaces the stand-alone version currently included in BuddyPress. Until then, the next version of BuddyPress will continue to work the same as before in this regard. Props @djpaul for being on the case.
First pass at this is now in BuddyPress trunk. It relies on this WordPress core patch to prevent the following from occurring:
The lack of BP theme authors, and the newness and complexities of supporting child themes in the repo makes this an easy target for confusion for everyone. I remember glancing over Otto’s update but I never got a heads up it was official for BP. Unless it’s just alwas been that way and it predates me.
Ideally we would want a dedicated BuddyPress theme reviewer that’s familiar with BP and has the time to maintain those specific themes, test them with future versions of BuddyPress, etc. Even more ideally if it was someone active in the forums and trac. Being a theme reviewer is a volunteer position that comes with it lots of responsibilities and expectations. It also doesn’t help that bp-default triggers a ton of debug notices in the 1.2 branch.
As my focus shifts around and as I settle in to my new role at Automattic, I’m slowly picking up access and getting familiar with things like this that I’ve never rounds before.
