BuddyPress.org

please post this as an enhancement-ticket in trac:

https://trac.buddypress.org/timeline

“- What is the best way to populate a ‘live’ (on a public server) site, view/test it online, but keep it hidden/private for non-admins (to prevent copycats, leaking, Google indexing etc)? The ‘privacy settings do no offer this choice? do I need a plugin for that?”

The simply brilliant way: edit your computer’s hosts file.

Slap MU up wherever, even on an IP address, but change your own host file to show the old domain at the new location. Proceed as usual. You & your computer is the only person to see the site “live”.

(oo bad construct there – computers aren’t people. yet.)

You won’t need any google-fu or the more privacy plugin. When the time comes, all you need to do is remove your own hosts file edit, update the DNS to the new server, and wait.

“- Which way to Chenge the Site url is working best (see https://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_The_Site_URL ), are the 2 ‘defines’ enough currently?”

in MU? Oh heck no. Nowhere near enough. The url is saved in a multitude of places. That’s why I suggested the hosts file way.

Yes, you have to keep editing it to go back to the live site, but it’s way less painful.

You will have to license your work under some version of the GPL that at minimum offers the freedoms that the WP GPL offers.

What others have said above is basically correct. The GPL does not say anything about free as in cost. It is about freedoms of the end user. In fact, the GPL does not discourage developers or theme designers from making money off of their work or someone else’s work.

However, the GPL is very specific in how this is to be done: either by charging a distribution fee, a support fee, or both. So, in effect, you are not charging for the code itself. The vast majority of Premium plugin shops simply charge a distribution and support fee. If their plugins are not GPLed, then something is wrong.

Here are two great links from the GNU website that explain this very clearly:

Selling Free Software

The Free Software Definition

By the way, IMO there should not be a double standard in the WordPress community. Premium theme designers abound. Premium plugin developers should also be afforded the same respect and opportunity. The crucial point is that their work, like premium themes, must remain licensed under the GPL.

Of course, as Matt Mullenweg has stated on numerous occasions when discussing the issue of premium themes, although the PHP must be GPLed, the CSS and JS of the theme can be copyrighted. The same holds true with plugins. But, in my opinion, doing so is just too picky. I prefer to GPL everything–the PHP, CSS, JS, etc.

Now, you could choose to license your work under the AGPL, which is considered to offer more freedoms to the community. The basic difference from the GPL is that any changes made to your plugin, even if for private use, must be returned back to the community. Under GPLv1 through GPLv3, it is acceptable for any code changes to a plugin to remain private if the plugin is never distributed.

One final thought. I’ve stated this before in other places. Many people in the WordPress community seem to be moving beyond the spirit of the GPL, to a more utopian, share and share alike vision. There’s nothing wrong with that if it happens. But the GPL has never been about free as in cost.

There are two ways of thinking about that, Erich. On one hand, insofar as the problem is mainly caused by a third-party plugin, there’s no real reason for it to be in the core. On the other hand, the core code is a little funny in that it doesn’t record private blog activity at all – IMO it’s better to record the activity and filter it out according to user roles. So something like what this plugin does might be appropriate for the core, but only the cases where privacy equals 0 or 1.

This may help (thanks to Boone). It’s written for BP 1.1.3 which has the same problem with private posts/comments in the site wide activity stream. If you try this solution let us know if works on your BP 1.2 install.

https://buddypress.org/forums/topic/hidden-blog-posts-from-private-blogs-in-sidewide-activity-stream#post-32757

I guess your Blog will be “private” when you select “Privacy No” during Blog-setup ?

Not sure about this though….

@symm2112. Tried to access the ‘private’ forum but I guess you have to be a paid member. Most sites that require paid membership have pre-sale questions thread to address these type of things. Might be a good idea.

NEway, I’d be interested in seeing these efforts merged. They seem too similar to keep separate. If Brajesh has a longer timeline, maybe the development help can change that. It also sounds like Brajesh will have incentive to keep it going due to being compensated.

Just a thought. We have so many other things that BP needs, I’d hate to see too much duplication. That said, if the functionality/use cases are different, maybe it’s justified.

the logic is to not use the blog but the interface… that’s why the blog is supposed to be set to private instead of public.

========== Continued ==========

Using 1.2 bp-default theme. Based on roles set in classified settings page, I allowed contributors upward to post classified ads.

Posting Classified Ads from BP frontend

1. Clicked on Classifieds on Main Nav.

2. In Classified Ads Directory Page – click on Create A Classified

2.1 – Classified Details – page has fields for Title and Description, then click on “Create Classified and Continue

2.2 – Classified Setttings – page has list of categories created per classified component instruction via special new blog and field box where you could add tags, and click on “Next Step”

2.3 – Classified Invites – page where you can send invites to other members re classifieds, click on “Finish”

Classified Ad Entry posted appears in Classified Ad Directory Page. The ad was also posted on the special new blog as post entry per my check. In addition, under member Profile Page, there’s now a link “My Classifieds” listing all entries posted in Classified Ads.

Posted Classified Entry from Special Blog Created for the plugin component

– Tested posting from the special blog to see if it appears in the BP-installed site. It Does.

Also, when you post the listing from the special blog, the tags show up in the Classified Directory Page and in single Classified Ad Entry page

Other Notes:

1. Classified Ad Entries do not appear in Activity Streams of Member nor Home Page

2. Site Admin should delete Hello World first post in new private blog set up for classifieds – if not configured to delete before

3, Created Blog for Classifieds plugin Settings > Privacy was set to Block Google but allow online visitors – but the special blog is showing up in Blogs Directory even when Site Admin is logged out.

4. Single page for a Classified Ad Entry – does not have navigation back to list of classifieds or have a “Reply” field box for possible interested clients.

5. Categories chosen and Tags added during set up of Classified Ad Entry, are not showing up anywhere in Classified Directory Page or single page of the Classified Entry.

6. Feature Request: ability to upload even a small single 150×150 image to go along with the classified ad entry.

Great job, Grosbouff. Thank you for continuing development on this component. Really Cool.

This may have been a bug in 1.1, but it’s definitely fixed in trunk/1.2.

Without knowing these answers https://buddypress.org/forums/topic/when-asking-for-support, we can but only make wild guesses.

Raise a ticket. This is a usability/privacy issue. It should be blatantly obvious to the user who is replying to a private message that they are sending to more than the sender.

Wonder if you could use this to create extra forums like a Miscellaneous or a General forum? I want to use the default install because I like the way it all integrated with the group forums, but I wanted to have some general forums for random stuff that I really don’t want to have to force people to sign up to that group just to post there. Right now, having to skin and deal with external bbpress installation seems more of a hassle than dealing with the random forum for me.

Using trunk + single wp; I’m set up on an external installs of bbPress + BuddyPress/internal install for groups

I use the bpGroups plugins (“forums” subdomain of the BP site) but the plug-in required some updating to get everything working smooth (activity notifications, public/private/hidden/ready only stuff)

Obviously this method won’t enable plugins on the buddypress/internal groups but this allows me to provide an advanced forum interface while creating outside forums (support, help, testing, etc) not associated with groups (group forums can be added to a specific forum category – i think default is “1”).

… i have re-theme’d bbPress to somewhat match the new default BP theme (well somewhat)

(screenshots:

http://files.etiviti.com/misc/bbpress-vwg-main.gif

http://files.etiviti.com/misc/bbpress-vwg-forum.gif

)

Works for me. You obviously have to be a member of the private group to see updates, and you only see them listed on the activity section of the Group page (not the list on the homepage of the site).

My guess is you are not quite understanding the way private messaging was intended to work. As the name implies, it is a private message. When you send a “private” message to 40 friends, it’s not quite “private” anymore, by some definitions. The same occurs in email when one of your 40 recipients hits “reply all” assuming they were not bcc’d.

As such, when you send a bp message to 40 people, you are, in a sense, establishing a 40 person thread. That’s the way it’s supposed to work (which is great for smaller numbers) In other words, expect 40 replies to the thread and all 40 will get 40 messages. Seems ripe for trouble when you send it to 40! (btw, I am impressed you were able to have the patience to pull off 40 as you had to remember and type 40 names or usernames since this is the only way to do it in BP at the moment.

Second, if you send a message that, upon reply, many members will deem the response as “spam” consider not starting the thread. Just remember, BP messaging was not meant to be like email.

They do.