BuddyPress.org

I frequent the BuddyPress site often: to learn, to help, to discover something new being developed, and to see how others are using BP. I enjoy using BP. Unfortunately, there seems to be a slowdown again. This happened in the spring and it’s happening again.

Now, this is minor challenge to the success of BP but was never fully addressed the last time it happened. There was a flurry of activity and eventually important people disappeared again. We really need to show active development of the product. Here are three examples that come to mind.

Example 1: Product Announcements
BP 1.2.7 is in a holding pattern for packaging and distribution. There should be an announcement group, and those announcement posts should be stuck to the top of the support topic thread page. After all, I believe an important portion of this website is the support forums but also giving out important information about BP development.

Example 2: New Features
I also believe development of some cool features are being held up. For example, real time activity stream should be a high priority. This would set the product apart from the competition. Two plugins exist as half-solutions. However, there seems to be a lack of will to move forward. Maybe that is me projecting something onto other people’s lack of action. Maybe that is cruel and I’m just pissed that someone on bbpress.org marked me as a spammer. But I truly mean my statements in a way to prompt action in developing code and not anger. Sorry if this post offends but I’ve watched BP languish in minor details rather than reaching out toward improved features. BBPress as a plugin will be a great compliment to BuddyPress and hopefully allow this site to have improved forums.

Example 3: Forum replies
In terms of the support forums, some people are answering questions as best they can but I’m noticing time lags are getting longer and that might turn people away from using the product. I don’t have an immediate solution – except to suggest that discussions begin (or re-addressed) about how to make the forums more efficient and get more people involved.

Well, thank you for letting me vent my concerns. I can’t get to the developer chat sessions due to the times (I work during those hours). I look forward to BP 1.2.7, newer features, and better support and announcement forums.