BuddyPress 1.5.3 brings fixes for WordPress 3.3+

By 27 days agoJanuary 11, 2012

3

BuddyPress 1.5.3 is now available as a fix for those running WordPress 3.3+—which should be all of you, you silly goofs. The list of changes in this version is relatively small. To name a few: an unused forum template was removed from the BuddyPress default theme, deprecated function warnings and PHP notices were cleared, and a toolbar-specific avatar issue was fixed as well. For the full list of changes, see the full 1.5.3 changelog. Glance at that if you need to, but really you should just go get yourself updated.

And in case you’re wondering, the confetti behind the logo above is there to celebrate compatibility. You have to enjoy the small victories, right?

Update: Not long after 1.5.3 was released came 1.5.3.1 that fixed a more serious bug with the way settings are saved. So, go update for that too.

Paul Gibbs begins work to unlock Achievements plugin level 3.0

By 32 days agoJanuary 6, 2012

0

Achievements, a BuddyPress plugin authored by Paul Gibbs, takes user loyalty to the next level. Gibbs announced he is rewriting the entire Achievement plugin from the ground up, and as part of that process he’s taking this opportunity to switch from his SVN version management over to GitHub. Achievements is currently in version 2.0 and Gibbs is focusing on version 3.0 in 2012.

The Achievements plugin already has a number of great user loyalty features such as a user logging in, writing a message to the activity stream, and a user creating a forum topic—all of which are rewardable actions.

Why are this plugin and Gibbs’ development efforts important to both the WordPress and BuddyPress communities? Because it’s bringing the core of WordPress and the social layer of BuddyPress to the next competitive level, making able to compete with big sites like Facebook and Friendster.

One feature I could see being added is the ability to reward users for playing a game, just like the big guys do. With a user loyalty plugin added on top of this WordPress social layer, what do you think you might be able to achieve with this kind of power?

Modemlooper stops dialing in for BuddyPress

By 33 days agoJanuary 5, 2012

17

Yesterday web developer Modemlooper announced on Twitter that he will stop working on his BuddyChimp project which was aimed towards bringing a social WordPress / BuddyPress to a mobile audience.

In a statement displayed on buddychimp.com, he said:

My concern is developing a business around another developers software that may not meet my goals down the road. I’m already seeing a road block/offramp in the horizon. Not to mention that BuddyPress wasn’t developed with a mobile first approach.

Even though BuddyPress is open source it’s future roadmap is controlled by someone else and like I stated they may decide to do something that won’t mesh with my goal; bringing a social WordPress to mobile that can be innumerably customized. Sure you can suggest things to be added or changed to core BuddyPress but it’s ultimately somebody else’s decision to allow it or not and if so could take longer than I or you’d like to accomplish a goal.

While I’m not sure what exactly happened, I do think it’s a shame to see another BuddyPress developer decide to calls it quits. Personally I always get a little sad when a plugin developer comes to a point where he no longer want to expand or even continue his current plugins.

What is your take on this? Do you think developers quitting projects is just something that is inevitable when dealing with open source community projects, or do you think Modemlooper‘s decision is too extreme?

For Modemlooper’s full message, see the text just after the jump.

Continue reading →

BuddyPress.org gets bitten by the refresh bug

By 33 days agoJanuary 5, 2012

0


It seems to be the season of change; even BuddyPress.org has the bug. In a recent update, they released a short list of the improvements they’ve made to the site’s design.

First, activity updates have been turned off. The decision to disable this form of contact was made to clear up the confusion of how to best get the support one needs. Now all support requests should be made via the Support Forums. Groups and member directories have also been hidden. The directories still exist but now links to them have been hidden. Since there’s no reason to visit them, they felt it was best to remove the links.

BuddyPress.org has been updated to the latest versions of WordPress and BuddyPress as well, to incorporate the new toolbar that was introduced in WordPress 3.3. Profile, plugins, themes, and showcase page styles have all been updated as well.

While this isn’t everything that has been done, or will be done in the near future, it seems to capture what most people will be excited to see.

If you haven’t checked the redesign out yet, you should really head over there. What other changes have you noticed around BuddyPress.org?

WPCandy Podcast 29: Christmas, because it’s Christmas and Christmas edition

By 46 days agoDecember 23, 2011

4

This episode of the WPCandy Podcast sees Ryan, Brian, and Daniel discuss the most interesting news items of the WordPress community this holiday week. Grab a cup of coffee, maybe cocoa or eggnog, and enjoy the Christmas (Christmas, and Christmas) edition of the podcast.

This week’s podcast was a bit longer than normal (approximately 90 minutes) so the breakdown of topics discussed below also include approximate time codes, just in case you want to jump to a specific discussion that you care about.

Jump straight into the podcast audio here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This is a bit of a long podcast, so to make things easier on you I’ve broken down what we talked about minute by minute. It’s just because we love you all so much:

This week Brian’s pick was the very recently released Gravity Forms add-on for the WooCommerce plugin (demonstrated), which he picked up yesterday. Ryan’s pick was the User Switching plugin, and Daniel opted out of picks this week.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, or directly to the RSS feed. As always you can send any emails you would like to have included on the show to . The Download link is just after the jump.

Continue reading →

BuddyPress 1.6 will bring separate admin area for Activity

By 49 days agoDecember 20, 2011

2

BuddyPress, the popular and free social plugin for WordPress, will be adding an activity administration screen in the upcoming 1.6 update. Right now all activity stream management is handled on the front end of BuddyPress-enabled sites, but with 1.6 it will be manageable the same way posts, comments, and other content are managed. For a closer look at what the new screens will offer, see the gallery Paul Gibbs posted to the BuddyPress development blog.

I’ve tested this out already, and can confirm that it works as promised. You can test it out too—just grab the development build of BuddyPress on Trac—though you definitely shouldn’t use it on any live sites yet.

Are you excited to see see BuddyPress management screens beginning to make the move onto the dashboard?

BuddyPress maintenance update released to fix WordPress 3.3 compatibility

By 49 days agoDecember 20, 2011

0

Just after the release of a new WordPress version, it’s common to see a few compatibility issues, especially when the release contains a new UI. BuddyPress is on the ball and has already released a maintenance update to tackle such a compatibility error. BuddyPress 1.5.2 was released to ease the cosmetic issues that arose with the WordPress 3.3 toolbar.

As usual, you can get the newest version through the update screen in your WordPress installation, WordPress Plugin Directory or directly from BuddyPress.org.

Were you able to update both WordPress and BuddyPress without issue?

BuddyPress 1.5 “Lombardi” the new and improved social plugin is now available

By 139 days agoSeptember 21, 2011

3

If it seems like you heard BuddyPress update news just last week, well, it was just last week. Movement on BuddyPress 1.5 “Lombardi” has been swift, crossing the finish line early this morning with the big update to its final release.

To recap: this big release brings a reworked default theme, a new installation and update wizard, tighter integration with WordPress features and tons of other improvements. The complete list of BuddyPress 1.5 changes can be found on the BuddyPress Codex.

John James Jacoby has been a busy blogger today, posting the BuddyPress announcement just minutes apart from the bbPress 2.0 announcement. Jacoby also blogged about why the BuddyPress team opted to name this version Lombardi:

The BuddyPress core development team is made up of pizza fanatics who thought it fitting to pay homage in this release to the first pizzeria in the United States. (As a bonus, two of our developers hail from the Badger State where the name “Lombardi” has a different but no less important connotation.)

Whether you will be upgrading to 1.5 or trying out BuddyPress for the first time, share your impressions of the new software in the comments below. Is it everything you hoped it would be?

BuddyPress 1.5 Release Candidate 1 is ready for testing

By 144 days agoSeptember 15, 2011

1

BuddyPress core committer Boone Gorges announced the release of BuddyPress 1.5 Release Candidate 1 at the beginning of the week, as well as the desire from the BuddyPress development team that this RC period “be short.” Whether or not that happens depends largely on how many folks join in and test the latest release, of course.

The target release date for 1.5 was originally the end of August, but it was tweaked to September 20, which is now only a couple of days away.

Along with the 1.5 announcement, a security release for the 1.2 branch was released as well. If you are a BuddyPress user don’t miss it, and be sure to join in the testing for the 1.5 release.