BuddyPress.org

Let me concretize what I’m getting at a bit — I just had a sudden thought.

Taking what is probably the largest active Buddypress install — this one right here — as a test case, I just realized that I don’t really use any of the Buddypress social-networky stuff here (realizing it’s an oldish version of Buddypress and a unique case in some ways), other than the occasional personal message functionality. I don’t look at Groups or anything else, much: every time I visit, I head straight here, to the forum, which isn’t really all that featureful when it comes to forum implementations, but still does the job admirably.

I’m not sure if the way I use this site reflects the way that most people do, but that’s my experience. Sure, I’m an old fart, and am more interested in finding and sharing useful information than I am in just hanging out and socializing, to some extent, and that’s the major part of why this install of Buddypress exists, but hopefully you see my point.

I have a feeling that traditional, threaded forum structure might be an important centerpiece, as it is here, for many sites that will use Buddypress, if, of course, not all of them.

Nothing we’re talking about — and I admit this is getting a little off-topic, but it’s germane, I think — is going to destroy that. I’m just raising it as a consideration in moving forward.

Maximum flexibility, as Bowe and JJJ and others talk about above, is probably always the best thing to aim for.