BuddyPress.org

Actually, it is possible to do this kind of verification. There’s just no UI for it.

Look in buddypress/bp-xprofile/bp-xprofile-classes.php, method BP_XProfile_ProfileData::save(). There is an action hook ‘xprofile_data_before_save’ that happens (you guessed it) before the save. You could hook a custom filtering function to this action and validate your data that way.

No, they’re not possible. Xprofile is an underdeveloped mess with low priority in the roadmap. There is also zero privacy/security in Buddypress, so storing social security numbers is asking for trouble.

Would mm forms work?

Buddypress profile fields are not standard WordPress though. They’re in complicated database tables called xprofile, so if you want to integrate it with anything else fuggedaboutit. You’ll need custom coding.

Hey @Travel-Junkie (or anyone who knows the answer to this) where should I paste your code, inside my functions.php (..plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/functions.php)file?

If my template file is named bp-gamers.php (in my theme in the profiles folder), what should I rename from your code?
I really just want a blank profile page so that I may hardcode a few fields.

Thanks

ps: That functionality you described on your site sounds really cool.. do you have a link?

@emiline220

Why dont use this plugin, it allows “permissions” to be set for xprofile fields:
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bp-profile-privacy/

Works great!

Create a new xProfile group in the wordpress dashboard; any fields not in the “Base” group will, by default, not appear on the registration form.

The only requirements for registration are:

-Username
-Email Address
-Password
-Display Name

Apart from that, set all your other xprofile fields as “not required” on the “BuddyPress > Profile Field Setup” page.

You might have to edit the /registration/register.php template file depending on how much you want to modify the look and feel of the page.

“There is almost no benefit whatsoever of Friends within BuddyPress …”

Buddypress was supposed to be social networking added to blogging. Friends could form groups and work together in blogs. Friending itself is probably most relevant for internal email. The one thing you need to make that work is beefed up member management beyond default WordPress:

– full real names instead of anonymous meaningless usernames
– extendable, flexible member data fields
– ways to manage member lists
– ways to manage member roles
– ways to manage relations between members
– privacy and security controls on member data
– front-end functionality for members to manage their own profile data
– front-end functionality for members to manage their relationships
– etc.

None of these points get the attention they deserve. Again, if you have the three solid elements (1) members (“users”), (2) posts, (3) comments, all the rest is just a matter of displaying the data in different views, including forum view.

The shift in focus from blogging to the old-fashioned bbpress forum structure further derailed the project. Adding social networking to blogging should have been the main focus.

“the best setup is having either Forums or Activity.”

I use neither. I’m trying to structure my custom 1.1.3-based theme around member profiles, blogs and groups with group blogs. My activity stream just reflects what’s happening on the profiles, blogs and groups; it’s not a discussion thread in itself – I think I originally broke the ajax and had to remove reply buttons etc…

Yes but it modifies the xprofile database table so you will want to take care when using it. I believe it’s simply titled “XProfile Privacy”

That error only exists on the xprofile management screen.

Perhaps you’re doing something wrong when setting up your profile fields under “Buddypress > Profile Field Setup”?

@Psyber yes you can, it can be done with CSS.

I think i’ve even done it before using just CSS and the table classes for those profile fields > tr.field_twitter, tr.field_facebook class and i didn’t even need the snippet above, I think i did that to put icons directly in the profile/public page and the snippet i used in the sidebar.

@wordpresschina – Thanks so much for your work on this, and especially for sharing your work on the forum. Very glad you were able to make it (mostly) work.

When I built the plugin, I didn’t make any effort to differentiate between different kinds of profile fields (checkboxes vs radio buttons vs text boxes etc). It’s impossible to get this info merely from the Ning export (at least, the old style CSV export), so it would require prompting the importing admin for each new field. Not impossible, but it required a lot of coding that I didn’t want to do because I wanted to get the dang thing out there so people could use it

I’m hopeful that the upcoming Ning network exporter will produce more robust data that will allow easier, and more fine grained, imports into BP.

Whether that can be expanded to more general CSV imports will always be a tricky issue. Ideally, an importer would be designed to handle a generic import format, so that importers for new formats would only have to convert to this standard format – all the BP-specific stuff would be done with the all-purpose importer. I’m afraid I don’t have the funding to build such a plugin right now, but it will definitely be crucial to the growth of BP as a platform in the months and years to come.

“Anyway, BuddyPress just seems a little confused when it comes to it’s ideas around Friends, Followers and Members. It feels like an odd mix of Twitter (wide open) and Facebook (walled off).”

I’ve had an active BP Site of about 400 real-world members for 6+ months or so now and I can report back that very few people are actually using the BP functions. It’s not clear exactly what they are supposed to do and how it would benefit them. Twitter is intuitive, Facebook is semi-intuitive. BP, not so much.

Considering that wordpress is first and foremost a blogging platform, core BP should do three things well:1) Enhance members’ blogs (vs. an mu-only environment) and 2) Encourage interaction between members, and 3) Make members and their activities easy to find. BP is struggling with these basic objectives.

Regarding blogs, it is intuitive that members should be able to post from the front-end (One Quick Post is nearly ready). It is critical that sub-blog posts would show up in search results, but they don’t. And, it’s intuitive that you should be able to easily find relevant blogs (link tumblr), but you can’t. BP should make members’ blogs more visible, but it really doesn’t…at least not in an intuitive way. As a result, my members that joined primarily to blog (which is most of them), have little or no use for BP.

SOLUTIONS: Make sub-blog posts show up in search results. Apply xprofile fields to blogs and make them sortable. Create a front-end dashboard – I don’t think users should have to go to a dashboard with BP. Create a core-function to showcase sub-blog posts (then let the plugin devs apply slideshows, etc.)

Regarding interaction between members, BP tries a lot of things, misses the mark on some critical elements. Group-only forums are simply not intuitive. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the fact that it’s been such a hot topic since 1.2 came out proves this point. The activity stream has merit, but is confusing for a lot of users. I have people posting “updates” who think they are posting blog posts or starting forum threads (perhaps is should be read-only?). Friending is fine, but doesn’t provide many obvious benefits beyond sorting your stream. Same with following. Groups are great, but without a solid core of features, groups don’t do much. (even here, they aren’t used much beyond forced-joining for forums). There should be an “events” element in the core.

Most importantly, it’s very difficult to keep track of things…try and find an old discussion thread on this site!…I’ve added a trac ticket to make anything (blogs, comments, members, discussions, etc.) “Followable”, allowing you to keep track of stuff. There should be a simple “Stuff I’m Following” button where you can keep organized.

SOLUTIONS: Enable a read-only option for the activity stream. Add hooks to “Follow” anything and make a “Stuff I’m Following” button. Allow forums without groups. Build Events into the core. Build more basic group functions (like group blogs, group email subscriptions, and invitations) into the core.

Lastly, I’m getting complaints and feedback about the ability for members to be found. Searchable, sortable, xprofile fields are a critial core component that is just plain absent. I run a real estate community. People intuitively-expect to be able to find a real estate expert in their geography…good luck. It’s virtually-impossible. Moreover, this is how, in more other communities, you can find people to network with. How can this basic element be missing?

SOLUTIONS: get xprofile fields working for members, groups, blogs, etc. Consider creating sub-fields as well.

If you can’t find or be found, your blog doesn’t get any extra exposure (actually it gets penalized for posts not being found in search results), friends and following provide no great benefit, and forums are too confusing to use, then it’s hard to justify joining the community.

I can’t say for sure that an MU blogging community is better with BP. I can’t say that a bbpress community is better with BP. And without these basic intuitive basic functions working right, it’s hard to make a case that BP is a great “community” platform.

I’m using it and hoping for the best, but my 400 members so far aren’t too impressed.