I posted my initial response about this on the blog page. I want to add additional ideas and context here. The changes to the plugin sound great and are needed but they just don’t go far enough. The update is not that exciting.
There doesn’t look like there is going to be support for block-based themes, full-site editing, or Gutenberg. There is no mention of new Gutenberg blocks.
It looks like the next release will still rely on a limited amount of widgets. The widgets can’t be added to pages to create unique looks unless the user downloads a plugin.
Widgets are going away and will be replaced with blocks soon. WordPress users will have to disable newer features in order to use the older BuddyPress features. How is this fair?
BuddyPress should incorporate the newer WordPress features and add backwards compatibility for those unable to upgrade right away.
Also, your website doesn’t contain any documentation on creating blocks for Gutenberg or block-based themes that work with the plugin. There is no exciting news about documentation updates.
The release notes say there are updates to the BP Nouveau template pack. I am wondering what these updates are. Will this include updates to the Companion Stylesheets?
Honestly, with full-site editing and block-based themes coming, these updates are a little too late.
I am hoping the BP Nouveau template pack at least removes some of the BuddyPress CSS elements and gives more control back to the theme authors.
Why is the plugin overriding the theme’s original styles for page titles, fonts, color schemes, etc?
This creates extra work for someone modifying a theme or creating a theme. The plugin works against the original theme and not with it. The plugin should focus on modifying the elements that are not taken care of by the theme.
The alerts look like you just copied what the alerts looked like in a previous version of Bootstrap. They have to be redesigned.
The plugin is not mobile-friendly. The plugin overrides the mobile-friendly designs put in place by the theme designer to make the experience as terrible as possible on a mobile device.
– Small fonts in places
– Fonts too large in others
– Selection areas too small to touch
– Buttons too small
I understand not all themes are done well, but the majority using the new features available in WordPress already does a better job with design than the BP Nouveau styles.
Overall, this new update isn’t going to be ready for WordPress 5.8. It seems as though the developers o BuddyPress don’t care about what the WordPress Core community is accomplishing and the progress they are making.
In 2017/2018 this would be an awesome update. It’s 2021 and the update is meh.
