BuddyPress.org

I’m trying to build a “simple” media-rating WP site where the home page displays a random image or video. Visitors can then rate the media, and are automatically taken to the next randomly-chosen media item. For reference: I think “Hotornot.com” is the closest example to a site like this I can find.

A breakdown of the basic visitor experience:

– land on home page, presented with a single image or video with an option to rate.
– after rating, visitor is shown another random post.
– repeat ad infinitum.

So I need to make my site do the following:

– Display a single, randomly-chosen item from the media library.
– Allow visitors to vote on what’s displayed (I’ve seen a number of rating plugins, but I’m curious what people recommend).
– Once the vote has been submitted, a new randomly-chosen image is loaded (this is an ideal–but not entirely necessary–function, as long as there is a way to click a “next” button to generate a new random post).
– The random posts should still have a copy-pasteable/bookmarkable/”Like”-able permalink structure. I’ve found some “random gallery” plugins after a quick Google search, but they all seem to display their content in the same URL, making individual posts impossible to bookmark.

Just to be clear: I will be placing the media in the library myself, and likely choosing which media will be going into the randomized posts by applying a tag or category to the ones I want displayed in that area, unless someone has a better suggestion.

I’d eventually like for visitors to have a more social experience, by submitting their own media to be voted on, starting threads, messaging one another, etc., which is why I’d like to integrate it into BuddyPress if possible.

I’ve built numerous WordPress sites, but nothing like this, and I’ve only played around with BuddyPress casually.

It’s potentially a commercial site, but to be honest right now I’m just looking to make something to be used by myself and a couple dozen friends just for laughs. For this reason I’d like to build the site with free or cheap plugins and minimal time investment.

I’d appreciate any advice or input on this, even if it’s just a link to a tutorial somewhere or a plugin recommendation. Like I said, free to cheap is ideal, but I’d like to know what my options are, even if they’re potentially expensive.

Thanks so much!