BuddyPress.org

If you are using WP 3.5.1 and BP 1.7 beta1 then you can use any theme because of the built in compatibility layer.
See my reply in this thread:
https://buddypress.org/support/topic/modifying-buddypress-1-7-beta/

I just had a look at the site and it doesn’t look like it would be massive in size. It also doesn’t look so active that you couldn’t take it down for a short time without too much disruption.

That said, why don’t you just back up all the files and database? That way the worst case scenario is that you just restore the files and database if something goes wrong.

I could be wrong but I have never come across documentation which would come even close to giving an upgrade process for something as detailed as the version numbers you give.

Good luck with it!

As long as you make a child theme of the theme you are using with BP 1.7 beta 1 then the style.css and functions.php should still be fine when 1.7 is out. Since 1.7 has the compatibility layer building a child theme for a regular wordpress theme is all you need to do but if your going to modify any of the buddypress templates you will need to copy over
yoursite/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-templates/bp-legacy/buddypress into the root of your child themes folder.

You won’t lose your work but always backup before major updates just in case…

I have seen a couple of the experienced users/developers suggest that if you are making a new site now you should do so with 1.7 beta.

From what I can tell there have not been any terribly serious bugs found since the beta release.

I am running it on a test site right now and have not come across a single problem.

I don’t see why you would have any problems.

The themes are made to work first with WordPress, then with Buddypress.

If you are worried just set up a test site and check them out on a site with WordPress and no Buddypress installed.

I hope this helps.

If you’ve found a bug in the code, please report it to https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org.

not sure why you say bbpress is not traditional it has plugins and works basically the same as any other forum. i have not had much luck in the past (granted it was 2 years ago) integrating other site wide forum software with buddypress

Looks like it is achievable but not without its headaches and a considerable effort.

Found this article relating to what you ask, ‘I think’ …

http://alextheafrican.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/how-to-add-an-image-field-to-buddypress-extended-profile-fields/

Though I can not say how, secure/suitable it will be to current Buddypress versions, perhaps ask the guy who wrote it, if it is still a valid solution.

From a recent post by Boone this duplicate content may be related then to 1.7’s aggressive loading of styles, and scripts theme authors are going to need to add:

add_theme_support(‘buddypress’)

to their themes functions file, preferably hooked to ‘after_theme_setup’

but this will depend on how this theme has been configured to work with BP if at all?

http://bpdevel.wordpress.com/

Perhaps something like Buddypress Media?

A quick Google – https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress-media/screenshots/

@tehk_maverick,

As far as I understand it a lot of thought has gone into making 1.7 work just the same with the themes that have been developed specifically for BP.

Have you tried installing it on a responsive theme that was not made specifically to work with BP? Do it. I was amazed.

Apparently, there are also quite a few ‘backend’ changes which will allow BP to run a bit more efficiently.

Just installed 1.7 on my site and I cannot see a single difference.

I appreciate there is the “any theme works”, which is major and the depreciation of the group forums. I can’t see anything else?

it was only meant to answer the first of the 3 questions. Sorry I wasn’t more specific.

you didn’t actually include the buddypress version you have bbpress version listed anyway if you create the site in network admin (under 1.6.4 anyway) and do not set a site title in the creation screen it will never be added to the directory maybe thats whats going on?

I can see you have created a mouse over drop down menu with the community page as the parent. As I’m sure you are aware, the community page is one that you created yourself, not one that Buddypress created during the BP wizard installation.

You have no content in your community page because you have not added any. If you need some, you could add some but I would suggest that if you don’t, you should just add a custom link instead.

The way to do this is to navigate to WP/Appearance/Menu’s:

In the custom links widget located in the left sidebar add a # as the URL and in the label box add the text – Community. Then add to menu and replace your current Community (Page Menu) with the new one. (Remove the old one and delete the community page if it is no longer needed.)

Other than that, all seems to look OK, your drop down menu with all the BP pages is showing and links to their pages seem in order.

I hope this is the answer you were looking for, sorry if I have misunderstood your question in any way.

As a suggestion perhaps you should consider altering the CSS in the theme to adjust your menu text. It is very hard to read. (The drop down links visibility are just fine) As for how to go about that, I would suggest asking the theme author over at Elegant Themes.

Also, if my answer was the one you were seeking, I would advise that the WordPress forums would be a better place to start in the future. (Unless, your question is directly BP related of course)

🙂

when you made the custom menu did you click and select that menu and save it under “Theme Locations”? Its on the same screen in the dashboard that you created the custom menu to the top left.