You’ve got the ‘concept’ correct.
thanks..ok, so this is a weird concept of a forum since it excludes members who want to belong to the community and not want to be in a group. I hope someone changes this is the next build.
If the group forum is an “open forum” meaning it is not hidden or private, then you will automatically join the group when you post a reply or create a topic in it.
thanks..yes, I noticed that, but if someone goes to the forum (and not to a specific group) they don’t see any way to post a topic….should there be a way?
In the current theme setup, no… So you’re not missing anything. There is no general “New Topic” page mostly because the number of forums that people can create by being able to create their own groups can grow to be pretty enormous.
It’s the difference between http://testbp.org/forums and http://testbp.org/bbpress/
The first link is obviously the familiar look of forums in BP1.1, the second link is what the TestBP sites’ bbPress looks like without any taming or control. There are 11,100 groups on that site alone, most of which have test forums. If there was a general “New Topic” page (like http://testbp.org/bbpress/?new=1) you’ll see you just have a select drop down list of 10,000 forums to place your topic in, which isn’t really an effective way to categorize the discussions when displayed in that way.
I think when people adapt to this method of user/group/topic centric forums versus a top-down categorical list of forums, we’ll see some unique and interesting setups.
I haven’t done a thorough check, but what about BBPress Direct Access (as pointed out by Andy) and BBPress plugins?
I guess the really important thing I have to keep on reminding myself is that tagging really is that much more important now (with regard to groups).
After considering the options, funneling the forums through groups makes a bit more sense – particularly since the current method *works* instead of the voodoo magic required to get a stand-alone bbpress and buddypress to communicate.
I’ve solved the problem by posting a ‘sticky’ forum note alerting members they need to join groups to take advantage of the forums. But it would be nice to have the ‘create new topic’ as an option.
Maybe if the user doesn’t belong to any groups, the new topic page could contain an error message. If the user belongs to one or more groups, the “forum” dropdown should list only those forums.
I think that’s still a backwards approach, since the goal is to get the user in touch with other users with similar interests/goals/support/topics/etc… If it only lets them post the topic to the people they already know, it doesn’t really open up any new discussion.
Thanks all for discussing this..I think it makes sense, if it’s going to remain the fact that you need to join a group (or at least go to the group page to post something) to let people know this when they come to the forum page. I agree it’s nice to have people join groups, etc, but if they don’t know what they are supposed to do, they will simply leave and go to another site where it’s more usable and clear.
I thought forums held all topics created by all groups. In other words, you had to join a group to post a topic, but you could read and reply to topics, no matter which groups you belonged.
However, I found if I created a sticky topic in group A I wanted everyone to read, it appeared only when I visited that group. I’ve created other topics that were available to everyone. If forums can’t be globally read, the main “Forums” tab should be removed to prevent a misunderstanding.
The other question, I guess, is has the BuddyPress team shelved plans to better integrate with the full-blown BBPress?
I agree that the setup is not ideal – users should be able to post new topics anytime and then chose where to post in. Like this it is far too complicated – I plan to run a help forum – so registration and posting of topics should be as easy as it gets.
But since BuddyPress uses the full bbpress files, it should be possible to do exactly that, using some of the basic kakumei files?
I think the setup is different and, with all new things, will take some time getting used to. For those that prefer it the old way, I’m sure you can still have the traditional looking bbpress forums just as it is here on buddypress.org. The new change is adding a feature, not taking any away.
It is no different than the way things work on this forum. You cannot just post a new topic. You must first browse to the correct group/sub forum/category before you post. You do not have to explicitly join a group to post.
Thanks Andy….however, I’m not sure how to make my forum look like your forum which is more intuitive. For example, your forum has a Main theme (which is similar to the groups concept) as is easy to browse through the main themes, but with 1.1 to do that, you first need to understand you have to go to the groups tab (very non-intuitive). Also, many of the groups could be formed for reasons quite different from posting topics and discussions.
Anyway, I don’t mean to complicate things, but just raise some issues of usability and how to make this most intuitive for new visitors.
@Andy,
this is fine as it currently is, but probably a simple feature like the following would be nice:
1)
currently, when the user is logged-in, then he can see the following buttons: “Newest Topics”, “Most Popular Topics”, “Unreplied Topics”, “My Topics”.
2)
can you make an additional button which says “Post NEW Topic” ?
3)
When clicking this button, then the user will be forwarded to a screen at which he is able to create a “NEW Topic” and he needs to select from a list of “Groups” (only listing Groups at which he is a member of) where he would like to have his post into ? But the user should be limited to be able to post his new message into ONE Group only.
4)
If the user is a new user and is not yet a member of any Group, then he gets a list of all Groups and when selecting the Group ( at which he wants his message posted into), he will automatically become a member of that specific Group (considering it´s a Public Group).
Many thanks,
Erich
There are some exceptions.
For instance, the buddypress.org forums front page includes groups, followed by new messages throughout all of those groups. The default forums home page simply displays new messages. The presence of groups introduces the concept to users that they must first enter a group, then enter a topic.
The buddypress.org forums front page also includes stickies. For some reason, stickies are only available to group members. This requires a subscriber to somehow know a sticky was created – and in what group – then go to that group and read the sticky. This defeats the ability to globally inform all users via forums.
These two features – including groups in the forum home page and permitting stickies to be available globally – would greatly enhance the usability of the forum concept.
@wordpressfan: You must first visit a sub forum on this site to post a topic. You cannot post a topic from the front. It is identical except for the fact there are no groups listed on the forums directory in BuddyPress.
Also –
You don’t need to first browse to a group, click a group name on a topic and you will go straight to that group forum where you can post a reply or new topic.
You don’t need to be a member of the group, you can post a reply or a new topic on a group forum and will auto join that group. It’s not a two step process.
Stickies cannot be show on the front. You may have hundreds of groups, each with stickies. This will clog up the directory and make it useless.
@allenweiss: If you don’t want a group to be a place for starting topics and discussions then simply disable the forum on that group.
You don’t need to first browse to a group, click a group name on a topic and you will go straight to that group forum where you can post a reply or new topic.
Correct. However, placing group areas within the forum front page helps indicate that groups are message containers. Placing all groups’ forum posts on one page is similar to placing every BuddyPress file in one directory.
Stickies cannot be show on the front. You may have hundreds of groups, each with stickies. This will clog up the directory and make it useless.
That should be at the discretion of the site administrator. Hopefully, a developer will create a component which provides site owners with more flexibility.
These points should not be taken as a slam against BuddyPress.
The solution I’m thinking about when I get 1.1 installed is to use the Welcome Pack plugin which you can use to have new users automatically added to a Group, and have a Group called “Everyone” or something of the kind.
But I’m still wrapping my brain around the way this will work, and the best way to make sure it’s all intuitive for less technically-minded users who are used to the standard bulletin-board way of doing things.
Great thinking stwc. There will be great solutions, will just have to come p with it first…
@stwc — I use the Welcome Pack to automatically add new members to an “Announcements” group. This group includes topics such as system rules, FAQs and other information new members need to know. My first “sticky” subject: how the forums work.
Will bbpress plug-ins work with the integrated version or external only?
With the integrated version you won’t have access to the bbPress admin panel to turn them on or off, so external only.
bbPress being included with BuddyPress is like TinyMCE being included with WordPress. Yes they are applications all their own, but they also live together in a very symbiotic way (without being alive of course.)
