The document provides a comprehensive guide on BuddyPress, a plugin for creating social networks on WordPress sites, covering its history, installation, components, theme customization, database structure, and available plugins. It outlines features in version 1.7 and beyond, including improved compatibility and new functionalities. Additionally, it includes resources and tutorials for further learning about BuddyPress.

1. BuddyPress:
How to Create Social Networks from
Your Wordpress Websites
By: Brian Messenlehner & Tom Carney
October 20, 2012

2. About Us
Brian Messenlehner
Twitter: @bmess
Email: brian@webdevstudios.com
Tom Carney
Twitter: @tecdoc
Email: tecdoc4877@gmail.com

3. What We Will Be Covering:
 What is BuddyPress?
 An intro and history of the plugin
 BuddyPress Installation
 Running the BuddyPress Installation Wizard
 BuddyPress Components
 BuddyPress Structure
 BuddyPress Plugins
 The BuddyPress Roadmap –
 What you may see in future versions
 Question and Answers

4. About BuddyPress
 Social Networking Plugin for WordPress
 Social Media like features that are
comparable to Facebook
 First Stable release version was in May 2009
 Current Version 1.6.1

5. BuddyPress Installation
Download the plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

6. Installation Wizard

7. BuddyPress Components
Activity Members
Blogs Messages
Core Settings
Forums Theme
Friends XProfile
Groups

8. BuddyPress File Structure
/bp-activity /bp-members
/bp-blogs /bp-messages
/bp-core /bp-settings
/bp-themes
/bp-forums
/bp-xprofile
/bp-friends bp-loader.php
/bp-languages

9. Customizing the BP theme
There are several ways to create or customize a BP Theme
1. Create a Child Theme from the BP-Theme folder
2. Adding the necessary BP files and folders to your
theme. Also, the need to add BP code to your theme’s
functions.php
3. Using a BP Template Pack or BP Skeleton to add the
necessary BP functionality needed to your theme.
(Outdated because of the Theme Compatiblity
functions of BuddyPress version 1.7)

10. BuddyPress Child Theme
More Info:
http://codex.buddypress.org/theme-development/building-a-buddypress-child-theme/

11. The BuddyPress Loop
BuddyPress Loop
<?php if ( bp_has_members() ) : while ( bp_has_members() ) :
bp_the_member(); ?>
BP Template Tags
<?php bp_member_name(); ?>
<?php bp_member_permalink(); ?>

12. The BuddyPress Database Stucture
wp_bb_forums wp_bp_messages_messages
wp_bb_meta wp_bp_messages_notices
wp_bb_posts wp_bp_messages_recipients
wp_bp_notifications
wp_bb_terms
wp_bp_user_blogs
wp_bb_term_relationships wp_bp_user_blogs_blogmeta
wp_bb_term_taxonomy wp_bp_xprofile_data
wp_bb_topics wp_bp_xprofile_fields
wp_bp_activity wp_bp_xprofile_groups
wp_bp_xprofile_meta
wp_bp_activity_meta
wp_bp_friends
wp_bp_groups
wp_bp_groups_groupmeta
wp_bp_groups_members

13. BuddyPress Plugins
Some of the Plugins that we use for BuddyPress sites.
There are over 450 BuddyPress plugins in the repository
 BP Album
 Invite Anyone
 BP Group Management
 BP Achievements
 BP Toolbar
 BP Mobile
 Buddy Stream
 BP Gravity Forms Extension

14. The BuddyPress Roadmap
BuddyPress version 1.7 improvements
 BuddyPress compatibility for all WP themes
 Improved Admin UI/UX features for Groups
 Improve DB performance when querying users
 Finish the Group Forum integration with bbPress 2

15. Roadmap (Con’t)
Future BuddyPress Features (1.7+)
 Global content tagging
 Bulk accept/reject friendship requests
 Grouping of similar activity stream items
 Ability to block all communication from a user
 Option to receive forum post notifications via email
 Structured profile fields (templates for address / phone number)
 AJAX live updating of site wide activity stream
 Import/Export of all BuddyPress user data
 Archiving of messages to an archive folder
 jQuery autocomplete for @ mentions

16. Sites That Use Buddy Press
http://www.trainerspace.com
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/
http://www.isixsigma.com/
http://helloecoliving.com/
http://www.ooizit.com

17. BuddyPress Resources & Tutorials
Resources:
Buddy Press Codex - http://codex.buddypress.org/
Buddy Dev - http://buddydev.com/
BP Tricks - http://bp-tricks.com
WPMU - http://wpmu.org/category/buddypress/
Tutorials:
WpTuts - http://wp.tutsplus.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-
buddypress/
1st Web Designer - http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/create-
buddypress-theme/

18. Questions & Answers