This document discusses how to use WordPress MU and BuddyPress to create a scalable community website for Impact BC. It proposes using WordPress MU and BuddyPress as they are affordable, proven, extendible, secure, and have experienced developers. Key functionality that would be available includes extended profiles, private messaging, friends, groups, activity streams, blog tracking, and forums.

1. “How to use Word Press MU and Buddy Press
to create a scalable community website for Impact BC”
By Julian Barabas
January 2010

2. What is the purpose of this
presentation?
 What is the goal of this project?
 What is a “social network”, and what elements does it include?
 What are the high level requirements for this project?
 What functionality needs have been expressed by Impact BC?
 What is our development approach for this project?
 What should a good technical solution look like?
 What technical solution are we proposing?
 What is Word Press MU?  What functionality is available in this solution?
 What is Buddy Press?  What functionality could be available in the future?
 What are the user groups of your new community?
 What are the “user groups” of your organization?
 What are the “user stories” of your organization?
 What needs to happen next?
 What are our timelines?
 What else should we consider?
 Questions?

3. What is the goal of this project?
 To quickly create a scalable, and easy to use “community website” (i.e.
social network website), that supports the strategic objectives of Impact
BC.
 “Support Service Improvement”
 “Collaboration with Partners”
 “Share Knowledge”
 “Activated individuals and communities “
 To allow both the public, and Impact BC stakeholders to register with the
community, thereby allowing them to request access to private and public
groups.
 To allow community members to collaborate, learn, share, and discuss
various topics using groups, blogs and forums.

4. What is a “social network”?
 Members can:
 Create a user profile for themselves
 Upload a picture of themselves
 Make “Friends” (who have similar interests)
 Create Groups (public and private)
 Upload documents (AVI, PDF, DOC, PPT, SWF)
 Comment on artefacts (articles, blogs, links, photos)
 Send Messages to Friends
 Post Forum Topics
 Manage Privacy settings
 Advanced Features Could Include
 Geo-Social Networking: i.e. Google Maps Plug-In
 Interoperability between Social Networks: i.e. “Facebook Connect”
 Mobile Access: i.e. Mobify

5. What are the high level
requirements for this project?
 Public
 Joins website community
 Joins public groups
 Opts-in for email notification
 Members
 Add friends
 Apply to private groups
 Communicate with friends and groups
 Manages their profile and registration data
 Manages privacy settings
 Staff
 Approves applications to private groups
 Moderates forum posts
 Manages registration data, and user account creation process
 Uploads documents and manage blogs

6. What functionality needs have
been expressed by Impact BC?
Registration/Login Workspaces for Teams
Document Upload/Download Permission Levels
Discussion Forums Ability To Create/Manage Teams
Archiving Topics Provide Training Documents
Event Calendar Quizzes, Surveys and Polls
Site Analytics Report Web Conferencing
• What user groups will be using the community?
• What user stories will each group?

7. What is our development approach
for this project?
 Step 1: Get stakeholder “buy in” on our proposed platform – today!
 Step 2: Get clear requirements around “user groups” and the particular functionality
required by each “user group” (i.e. User stories provided by stakeholders) – this week!
 Step 3: Update prototype with business-driven configurations – next week!
 Step 4: Launch site and advertise to market (What is the value-proposition for the public?
Why will they register? How will you create awareness about your new community? How
does your community fit into your broader social media strategy?)
 Step 5: Moderate site, and extend as necessary.

8. What solution are we proposing?
Word Press MU + BuddyPress

9. Why are we proposing this?
 Affordable
 Proven
 Extendible
 Secure
 Experienced
 Familiar UI

10. What is Word Press?
“WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a
focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. ”

11. What is Word Press MU?
WordPress Multi-User (WordPress MU, or just WPMU) is
a fork of WordPress created to allow simultaneous blogs to
exist within one installation. WordPress MU makes it
possible for anyone with a website to host their own
blogging community, control, and moderate all the blogs
from a single dashboard.

12. What is Buddy Press?

13. How popular is WordPress Mu and
Buddy Press?

14. What functionality is available in
this solution?
Extended Profiles
Private Messaging
Friends
Groups
Activity Streams
Blog Tracking
Forums

15. Community Landing Page (Example)

16. Extended Profile (Example)

17. Private Messaging (Example)
What is Private
Messaging?
“BuddyPress private
messaging works like
internal site email.
Members can message
people on their friends
list as well as forward
and reply to received
messages.”
How does it work?
• Each member will have their own individual Inbox, Sentbox, and Drafts folder.
• They will be notified of new messages by a new message count as well as email
notifications if enabled.
• Sending of messages to multiple friends, as well as site wide messages by an
administrator are also possible.

18. Browse and Add New Friends
How does it work?
Members of a BuddyPress
enabled installation can be
connected together by one
member adding another as a
“friend” and then the other
member accepting the friendship
request.
Each member has a visible list of
their friends on the site. Friends
lists are browsable and
members can click on each
friend to see more information –
or add them as their own friend.
Profiles are not restricted as a
whole.
The ability to search for
members by and piece of profile
information is also included in
with the built in members
directory.

19. Create and Manage Groups
How does it work?
Groups in BuddyPress are a gathering of members, wires posts and forum topics. In future versions members will be able to
post any sort of content to groups including blog posts, images and links.
Any member can create a group in BuddyPress. They then become the group administrator giving them heightened privileges
within that group.
Every group includes a place for group information, and the latest group news which can be kept up to date my group
administrators. Groups also include a group forum (bbPress), and wire where group members can engage in discussions. These
features can be selectively enabled by group creator.

20. Activity Streams
Activity streams
aggregate all activity
across a BuddyPress
installation, as well as
allowing members to
post short updates. It’s
possible to follow
activity site wide, just for
your friends, or just for
your groups. Others can
comment on your
activity and you can even
mark activities as
favourites so you can
keep track of
conversations.

21. Blog Tracking
Allowing multiple blogs and
multiple users per blog is a
key feature to WordPress MU.
BuddyPress preserves this
functionality.
The blogs component will
aggregate all blogs, blog posts
and comments for a member
across the entire installation.
This means other members
can easily find all blogs that a
member belongs to or owns,
as well as their recent posts
and comments.
The blogs component also
adds an easy to use screen for
creating new blogs built right
into the theme.

22. Discussion Forums
The forums component
allows groups to create and
manage their own bbPress
forum. Group members can
post and reply to topics all
from within the group’s page.
Forums are not specifically
tied to groups, they are
generic, just like the wire.
Forums can be attached to
any content within an
installation. This means
third party plug-ins
and new components can
make use of the forums
component in the future.

23. What are the “user groups” of your new community?
 Public (anonymous visitors)
 Public (authenticated visitors)
 Collaborative Faculty (authenticated)
 Group Creators
 Group Administrators
 Group Members
 Collaborative Members
 Group Members
Who else? How many different groups? What roles? What permissions? What user stories?

24. What are the “user stories” of
these “user groups”?
Public Collaborative Faculty Collaborative Members

• Register for an account • Creates Group • Joins Public Groups
• Opts-In for Email • Assigns Group Administrator • Requests to join Private
Notifications Group
• Uploads Documents
• Joins Public Group(s) • Private Message Friends
• Moderates Forums
• Receives email verification • Post Forum Topics
email • Approve Group Membership
Requests. • Post Document Comments
• Create/Edit Events • Join Public Events
What else? What else? What else?

25. Important Consideration
“Just because you build it, does
NOT mean people will come!”
Solution:
Make sure that your new social network is only
PART of a broader social media strategy.
Create Facebook Group that educates people about, and
directs people toward, your new community website.
Create LinkedIn Group that educates people about, and
directs people toward, your new community website.
Create Twitter account that educates people about, and
directs people toward, your new community website.

26. Next steps...
Developers will create Stakeholders will be sent
BETA environment, and a questionnaire that will
start configuring ask them questions
BuddyPress to address about their community
your business’ needs website vision.
Who will use your community? (“user groups”)
What can they do? (“user stories”)
How will they do it? (“use cases”)

27. How could Facebook Connect help
your network grow?
Want to learn more about Facebook Connect?
http://www.facebook.com/connectnews?v=app_4949752878

28. What are our timelines?
 When can I get a full list of user groups? – This week!
 When can I get a full list of user stories? – This week!
 When can I create a full list of use cases? – Next week!
 When can we see the next demonstration? – 1st Week Feb
 When are we aiming to go live? – 3rd Week of Feb
“Release early. Release often. And listen
to your customers.”
– Linus Torvalds (investor of Linux)

29. How will you let people know about your
new community?
“Assuming that the website
goes live in February.
How will you let people
know about it?”

30. Why should I join your community?
 What is the value proposition for prospective members?
 Incentives to sign up? (Examples)
 Free eBook when you create account!
 Free iPod Shuffle every month to most active member!
 Free Access to White Papers!
 Free Webinars!
 Free Health Videos

31. Questions and Feedback
Julian_barabas@tpsystems.com