BuddyPress.org

…also trying to avoid duplicating similar features that could just be one flexible component.

That’s why I would also consider deprecating/downplaying forum integration in favor of group blogs, microblogging, threaded comments. Consolidate social organization in Buddypress around blogs and groups. That would really set Buddypress apart.

Yes, lets please leave friending (and gifts!) to the complete meltdown that is Ning.

Instead of friends, let’s go the twitter route and be able to group people by lists or even with tags. That is useful.

Friending is a complete waste of bandwidth.

I love the idea of as an admin, creating a relationship between profile fields (not necessarily required ones) and groups. In fact, I was scouring around my new 1.2 install hoping this feature was already live I see it as a good way to get folks involved in their specific demographic while always having the ability to leave the group if they want.

I see this as an option when defining a group, keeping the current public/private options intact, just adding another criteria or ‘group profile rule’.

@Bowe: Very cool. Thanks so much for the link, downloading it now!

At least leave the friending as an option please, first wire is taken away and now friends? I believe friends are a core element of a good social network, unless rebuilding twitter you don’t have to follow someone (@matt kern), build a plugin if you want such a feature.

@ Erich73

Lets replicate real life, instead of creating artificial behaviour.

Social networking isn’t real life! Are we working towards making everyone lazy bastards who don’t even step away from their computer? Besides, in real life you call people friends/colleagues/partners when you don’t even know them that well, so is that really that different? In fact you can find out more about a person through a social network then you can by just talking to them.

You meet people through friends and meet even more through those friends, isn’t that what a social network is for?

If friending gets taken out in 1.3, then I’ll stay with Buddypress 1.2.

I agree with Erich73, why not both? Just in general I don’t like the idea of any features being taken away. That makes BP feel more like a software package that you have to constantly adapt to instead of a framework that you can adapt to your needs. I don’t want to have to worry about features I like vanishing, regardless of how useful/less they may seem to others.

looks like we came to a good conclusion ?

I agree with MrMaz’s assessment above. We should be thinking about extending the BuddyPress framework and not deprecating major components at this time.

The ability to assign more than one type of “friend” was something I proposed 10 months ago but was somehow deleted as a future enhancement by an anonymous person. That may have been an automatic “deletion” as it was around the time that the phrase “future enhancement” was replaced with “future release.” But, I would have thought that the ticket would have simply been switched to that new milestone indicator.

https://trac.buddypress.org/ticket/582

My suggestion in the link above is what jjj refers to in this comment on his Trac ticket linked to in this thread’s OP:

It would solve Jeff Sayre’s user relationship issue too…

The best solution to accomplish my suggestion is to extend the Friends Component and model the data in a one to many relationship. Simply relegating friends to another type of group does not accomplish the goal.

Haha, Bowe!

It looks like I was adding more details to my post as you where posting your response.

FWIW, My views on this went into the trac ticket.

I can see how it might be good tokeep friending, but give the option not to use it. I hate it when Ning takes away features …

Just in general I don’t like the idea of any features being taken away …

If friending gets taken out in 1.3, then I’ll stay with Buddypress 1.2 …

We should be thinking about extending the BuddyPress framework and not deprecating major components at this time …

Not sure why JJJ wants to remove the “friending feature” in favour of the “following-feature”? Can we not have both ? …

I am worried Buddypress will fall into the trap of trying to be everything to all people and will become a bloated mess. For my projects I need a coherent, reliable core before I need any more features – forums, events, galleries, enterprise features, ecommerce, …

It’s great the developers are rethinking friending, how it can make more sense in the Buddypress context. If Buddypress can come up with a different approach, logically tied into groups and (micro)blogging, that could really set BP apart from Facebook, Ning, etc. Less is more!

JJJ’s proposal already is the best of both world imho (yes, we can have both!):

1. Deprecate “Friends” component code into a separate downloadable plugin that can still be used exactly like it is now, just not part of the core anymore.

2. Merge friends functionality into private “user” groups so that developers can choose to ditch the “friends” model if they want …

3. “Friends” would replaced with the core ability to “follow” peoples activity, and for your activity to be followed by others …

This is also a next step in the evolution in web friending, from classic Friendster/Facebook -> Twitter following -> following/friending with more context in groups and blogging (not just based on 140 chars brain farts).

Absolutely agree with Windhamdavid btw!

@Maz – I may be going out on a limb here, but reading thru all the text here and on trac, I’d be shocked if this proposal went anywhere. There’s nothing remotely close to any kind of support. Great debate, sure, but everyone in favor is really just looking for a twist on the “friends” interpretation…just as you say. My 2 cents.