BuddyPress.org

f you think you can help me I sure would appreciate it. Cause I cannot figure this thing out – I have tried and tried.

YES, I moved the bp-default theme into wp-content – themes… okay I deleted it just now AND for a second I thought I was going to lose my blog posts – it looked like it in IE – I have deactivated the plug in buddy press and the buddy press template pack – and actually deleted them from the system. I do NOT understand php, but do understand css and html – I would really like to get this thing to work with my template currently. Can you help?

It does seem a go idea to open a new folder on my site and install my theme and wp and buddy press and buddy press theme pack – to get it to work first… however, I have a LOT of posts in my blog currently and they are permalinked all over the place . I cannot mess with the permalinks and the posts. Can I transfer them into a new theme folder on my site and not lose the permalinks – I think not.

You know I am beginning to wonder if this thing works at all. So muc for the three step easy install. Does it work at all?

OK, I’d rather keep this in the forums instead of in private messages because then other can benefit from the discussion if they have the same issues.

First, it’s never a good idea to muck around with a live site. Go and install XAMPP or MAMP and setup a test/development environment on your local PC. It’s super simple. I’m doing this right now as are many of the other BP users.

Second, Installing BP will not cause you lose any of your posts. The only reason you are going to lose post is if you delete them or you do something silly and end up corrupting your database. Go back to the first point I made – don’t develop on a live site. This applies to everything online, not just WP or BP.

Once you have the offline test site setup with WP (make sure you mirror the setup you have online or you’re not going to have the same issues) and your current theme installed, add the BP plugin. Then add the BP Template Pack plugin and start following the directions. @Modemlooper has commented in a number of threads here about what typically needs to be done to make your theme work with BP.

Do the work required to get your test site looking how you want it to look. On the testsite, install the plugins you currently use (one at a time to ensure none of them break BP) and make sure they work and look how you want them to look.

Once you have that done, add any new BP specific plugins you want to run (again, one at a time) and get them looking “right”.

Finally, go to your live site and find the Tools –> Export page. Export your live site data into a file and then import that data into your offline test site. This will allow you to ensure your existing posts/content will look OK.

Once you’re satisfied with everything offline on your testsite, start uploading to the live site. Upload the new theme (but don’t activate it), install (but don’t activate) any new plugins required (including BuddyPress).

Yes, BuddyPress works. No, it’s not going to work for every single user in every single possible combination of WP installations. You will need to do some work to resolve issues.