BuddyPress.org

Not sure if it’s a problem on my install only, but I modified default_role at /wp-admin/options.php and /wp-admin/wpmu-blogs.php?action=editblog&id=1 but new signups were still subscribers, not authors. I remember working on this previously and the only way I was able to change it was to do as I outlined above, though others may be able to simply change default_role in the dashboard.