BuddyPress.org

Might there be a way to reming bp plugin authors to make sure they have a bp version listed on the wp site and that it is up to date?

Also, I think “might” need to be updated for the codex page is a bit of an understatement. I realize that everyone is juggling a lot, but it creates a lot of confusion for new users when plugin information is missing or inaccurate.

i can offer a bit more information here, and i’m impressed that buddypress has kept this thread alive. it’s clear that this thread has a lot of value for the survival of bp in it, and it’s also clear, at least to me, that there are a good number of caring people trying, essentially, to help bp “survive.”

if you download free software, does that make you a beggar?

if you get a 2nd muffin free at a coffee shop, how would you feel if the shopkeeper said “beggars can’t be choosers” and just gave you a second muffin with a bite already taken out of it? then said: hey man, if you don’t like it, bake your own, no one forcing you to eat your free muffin you know.

what we’ve bought into, and what bp has “sold” to us, is: “social networking in a box.” we, as a culture, have experienced how awesome it is when people get together and work for the common good. we see your slogans “all the features you love in 6 minutes flat,” and we go “rock on!” power to the people, way to go buddypress! it’s the information revolution waaahooo!

it’s a big promise bp is making, and i’d like to know if you really look at downloaders of bp as “beggars.” do you really?

many “buy into” the bp promise and are more than willing to help in any way they know how, as long as they get help with the parts that they don’t know how to do.

that one is pretty critical: many are more than willing to help in any way they know how, as long as they get help with what they don’t know how to do.

for example: i paid for my artistic education as a documentation and training professional and an “end user advocate” (which you can tell eh?).

as a result, i have documented extremely complex software, have dug deep into code, have consulted on code commenting procedures — and i’ve also put together guides for non-english speaking factory workers to put together electronics (so basically a picture-based guide).

so, here i am, and basically, with 20 years off and on hard-core tech documentation experience, i can say: i can dern near explain anything to anyone in a clear and understandable way. but, in order to do so, i need something called a “subject matter expert.”

and that, in this situation, would be “you guys.”

i have repeated multiple times: i am happy to document, but i need to be shown.

the benefit to me: functioning websites. the benefit to you: great documentation. what you give me: code, procedures, and a consistently functional and kind environment in which to receive answers to my questions (which will likely all be about functionality).

the benefit to the community: more and more people install bp and can actually use it.

the “BuddyPress Story” web-wide has been “i had high hopes and spent sleepless nights because i wanted to create a site for [passionX, missionY, businessZ, businessIdeaN] and basically, eventually, i gave up.”

the failing that i see here on the part of buddypress is:
not giving its community access to the “parts of the puzzle” that individuals don’t know how to do in exchange for the parts of the puzzle they do know how to do.

do you honestly find it appropriate to call someone who downloads free software a “beggar?”

what criteria must a person fill in order not to be a “beggar” in the bp community?

that’s all i can contribute for today.

Thanks for not answering any of the questions about groups and forums. You guys just turned up the suck and turned down the good of this thread haha.

interesting and fortunate that you’d be replying here Paul. in a text file, saved for another forum, i have the following about you closing a similar thread:

this is emotional, persona, and critical for me — so i also wrote and considered posting:

“it almost makes me cry to see a BuddyPress admin behave in such a fashion.”

the OP was asking about functionality. the OP was pointing out functionality that does not work. and you closed the thread on the person.

i’ve worked with ace programmers before, who sometimes need emotional and interpersonal assistance to understand what “normal people” want and need. i get that. i’ve been able to be the kind of person who can help a programmer relate to “the rest of the people on a project” or at a company. mostly because as a documentation and training professional, i am often the interface between the programming team and the user base.

it’s hard to see such a cool concept (BuddyPress) harming itself and its community through such interpersonally and professionally unfortunate behavior.

what i mean is: the users are here for functionality. why would you consider their seeking and asking about functionality rude?

for me, if i provide any product or service, paid or otherwise, discussion about the product’s performance itself is never ever rude. it cannot be. they actually need to use the product or service. it’s rude to say something “sucks” when you have not used it, for example.

from a user’s perspective, it can be seen as rude to “sell” someone on free software that is supposed to do particular stuff, and then upon install, it doesn’t. then, they are told they are rude if they ask questions that would lead them to be able to configure the software. and quite possibly, they are demeaned based on their programming ability. then they are told to go pay, but they simply can’t find anyone with the skill set to help them. and their posts asking for help or explanations are just closed on them. add to that that the support forum for the product itself does not function in a manner effective enough that one could use it for a live community. so, if i installed BuddyPress and it worked the way this forum does, i’d have to “fix” BuddyPress for my install. Fortunately, my current install works better than what we see here, but the current functionality of the live forum does not inspire confidence.

in the end, possibly thousands of peoples’ “neat ideas” of creating websites for tinnitus help, autism help, juggling, parenting, a hobby, something really important, something really fun, a business — well they DIE.

there is a very good chance that i may continue to use BuddyPress for a life saving website, but my response to

“Why wouldn’t you use BuddyPress for an important, life-saving website?”

is — because an admin over there not only closed this thread https://buddypress.org/community/groups/requests-feedback/forum/topic/what-is-up-with-buddypress-org/ but found it rude and “not constructive.”

my deal with documentation is as follows: show me how to do something, and i will show others via articles, videos, etc. but if i am not shown, then i might not be able to create the docs. sometimes i need a “code snippet,” and for some reason, the coders just won’t give up the code. paid, unpaid, does not matter. won’t share their code. it’s my ball and you can’t play with it and you are rude if you want the reply button to work properly. who are you to say what is proper? rudey-pants, go learn how to code.

but the person is just like “hey, man, i love you, i love this software, i just want the reply button to work and post the comments on the original post as well as in the activity stream”

i already improved buddypress documentation once. however, i am an end user advocate, and if i were buddypress, i would literally ask my users what sucks about buddypress. i would ferret out each and every pain and address the issues. i would create procedures that allow dedicated people to implement functional websites and i would understand that people get frustrated after 80 hours of working on making something work as promised.

also, i would make a clear free-line and rate-sheet distinction so that people can pay for stuff if needed.

so there would be more money flowing, excellent community functionality, and saying “this doesn’t work” would not be considered rude. ever.

i do not advocate the use of language like “this and this sucks…” and it was not the OP who began such discourse. i am the founder of http://www.verbalyoga.com (the site is not up yet), i have clear understanding of what is verbally abusive and what is not.

and well — with all of that being said — BuddyPress seems like a very emotionally volatile product and community. pressing “update” can take an entire site down, and if you seek help — you run the risk of being called “rude” and having your posts closed on you before being responded to courteously, before being offered a paid or unpaid solution, before being given an explanation.

that is not fair and it is dangerous for a life-saving website.

non-programmers are people too
people who don’t know their way around buddypress are people too
non-coders are people too

of course, structured correctly, i could help you guys make heaploads of money. but maybe you don’t need money and are way over $250/hour and it does not matter what anyone throws at you.

improving your free-line (the software, the forum, the documentation) is all essential. in my opinion, i highly recommend you look at how BuddyPress treats sincere business owners, web-concept developers, low to high level tech folks, etc., especially when you feel criticized.

that’s the best i can do for you right now, and it’s a lot.

sincerely,
dainis w michel

Oh wait, I should say that that page is created, it’s just not on the list of pages that are created, so until I landed on it, I didn’t know that was a page I had to work on.

@modemlooper Because it involved my first multisite install at the same time and reconfiguring an existing eleven year old web site. I’ve totally got the BuddyPress pages up and running and they have been since I installed it – it’s the CONFIGURING the look and feel that is a pita. There are a lot of menus and CSS problems to work out. It’s learning where all of the files live and what does what. It’s not like editing WorPress at all, which is easy, or at least not time consuming.

Oh, and I’m finding that there are a few needed pages the BP Template pack doesn’t create. Like when someone clicks on “View” after an excerpt (not the read more link), the resulting page is not configured with template pack, which is fine, the pages themselves are easy enough to create.

I know you guys think that Template Pack is the coolest thing, but it’s still not plug and play and it’s still a lot of work.

All true. Unfortunately I’m not Shiva, nor can I clone myself, and am having a hard time working on QA contracts AND developing a business with a broken install of buddypress. Plus my test environment would be on a live server anyway since I just don’t have room on my laptop. One thing I’d love to see is for BuddyPress to become more compatible with WP themes in general – so that what should be at most a 30 minute install isn’t a 3-month-12-hours-every-single-day hackfest. BuddyPress has a lot of potential which is why I decided to use it. But my business idea is dead in the water until I can get questions answered.

Good thinking but also time intensive – I gave myself two weeks to get BuddyPress 1.2.10 and then 1.5 up and running and marketed on my site and three months later I’m still trying to get it working. I wish I had the time to set up a test environment.