BuddyPress is a plugin created by the makers of WordPress, Automattic. It's an incredible tool that is rarely understood and under appreciated. In this presentation I illustrate how we harnessed the power of BuddyPress to build a project management system called chekmrk. Our topics include, Why project management apps are important. How we chose BuddyPress to build chekmrk. Why chekmrk is different. How we used BuddyPress to build chekmrk.

1. BuddyPress Tips:
How we built chekmrk

2. Innovation happens by knowing what
the rules are and then bending them
or breaking them to do what we want.
How we built chekmrk

3. BuddyPress is a powerful tool. We
discovered a unique way to use the
software. We challenged ourselves to
think about the software differently.
How we built chekmrk

4. DATA: how do you get data
about your business?
How we built chekmrk

5. At the heart of the issue is the failure
to distinguish between narrative, data
and method.
- Greg Glassman, Founder, CrossFit
(In response to the fitness industries unsubstantiated
claims. Example: Why doesn’t the “AB Roller” work?)
How we built chekmrk

6. Narrative is a story.
“Our projects are on time and on budget!”
How we built chekmrk

7. Data is something that is measurable,
observable and repeatable.
“It takes us 3 months to build a website.”
How we built chekmrk

8. Method is the exact
approach you took.
“We use the Waterfall process.”
How we built chekmrk

9. Narrative, Data and Method cannot
exist independently.
- Narrative is just guesses without data
- Data needs narrative for direction
- Method needs data to figure out which
process to employ
How we built chekmrk

10. Businesses can use Narrative, Data
and Method, to track projects better.
- Narrative is the project scope
- Data are the tasks for the project
- Method is the software used to
complete the tasks
How we built chekmrk

11. How are you keeping track?
- A project management app is one of
the few tools we have to measure the
success of our business.
How we built chekmrk

12. Why use a project management app?
• Keep project on track
• Central place for communication
• Accountability, if it's not in the project it
doesn't exist.
• Team member leaves, the next person
can pick up quickly.
• Anyone can go on vacation at any time.
How we built chekmrk

13. HISTORY: how we chose
BuddyPress to build a project
management application.
How we built chekmrk

14. ProjectGroupie (2003 - 2009)
Pre-BuddyPress - The first project
management app we built
How we built chekmrk

15. When we built ProjectGroupie, we
learned a lot about how people
actually manage projects.
• People don't use most features
• People relied on email updates a lot
• People liked having a dashboard
• Communication happened outside
• Scaling the app was difficult.
How we built chekmrk

16. BuddyPress 1.0 (April 30, 2009)
BuddyPress is a social networking plugin.
Incredible sharing and data collection features.
How we built chekmrk

17. Why BuddyPress?
It’s about the sharing and data.
• Display data from all main areas, Activity,
Forums, Members, Groups, Blogs, Group
Members, Private Messages and Profile.
• Share data across features, between users
• Extensive plugin utilities
• Custom profile build out
• Keep data public or private
How we built chekmrk

18. ProjectGroupie was “project centric”
We realized people contribute to projects.
Projects don’t contribute to people.
How we built chekmrk

19. chekmrk is people centric.
chekmrk is a “virtual hallway” where people can
share and contribute to others projects.
How we built chekmrk

20. HOW BUDDYPRESS WORKS:
How we built chekmrk

21. BuddyPress is just a plugin
( With Privileges )
How we built chekmrk

22. This doesn’t look like WordPress!
What we see when we first install BuddyPress
How we built chekmrk

23. Essentially, we created a child
theme of BuddyPress. Stripping
everything away and only bringing
back in what we wanted, where we
wanted it.
How we built chekmrk

24. How to customize BuddyPress
• Create a child theme
• Build custom templates for pages
• Add BuddyPress or WordPress Plugins
• Use conditionals for public or network
• Create multiple menus for better UI
• All WP & BP tags and functions play
well together
How we built chekmrk

25. chekmrk public facing site
How we built chekmrk

26. chekmrk network dashboard
How we built chekmrk

27. THE BREAKDOWN: How we get the data
How we built chekmrk

28. Using WP functions and BP tags
How we built chekmrk

29. WP, BP Loops & Filters
How we built chekmrk

30. BP Group Loops
How we built chekmrk

31. BuddyPress Creative Power Tips
• Create template pages for flexibility
• Use template tags to customize display
• Mix and Match WP & BP tags and functions
• Really tweak CSS to make it yours
• Experiment with BP Plugins
How we built chekmrk

32. BuddyPress Resources
• WP.Tutsplus.com
• BP-Tricks.com
• Stackexchange.com
• WPMU.org
• StackOverflow.com
• BuddyPress.org
How we built chekmrk

33. Thank you!
• Slides at www.CrowdedSites.com
• chekmrk invite signup www.chekmrk.com
• For any questions feel free to contact me!
• Wes@CrowdedSites.com
How we built chekmrk