BuddyPress to power the new Contribute to Change

Posted by ashley on Jan 10, 2009 in BuddyPress, WordPress-MU0 comments

I have been working with BuddyPress (BP) since its very early stages in April/May. What is BP?

BuddyPress will extend WordPress MU and bring social networking features to a new or existing installation.

As an avid facebook and WordPress user I have taken to the idea of extending WordPress-MU with social networking features very well. Foxinni was the first person to tell me about BP, the I caught my attention immediately. I started testing out the very early stages of the software in May 2008 while preparing to do a talk at WordPress Cape Town Meetup.

Andy Peatling is the lead developer on the BP project. Andy started the project as ChickSpeak.com a WordPress MU Based Social Network, see about blurb below:

ChickSpeak is an organization for young women created to inspire Big Dreams, Strong Values and Success in the world.


Here are some important BP links for more detailed info on the Automattic driven project:

The past few months LightSpeed has been Contibuting to Change (C2C). Traffic Brand introduced us to the DA who needed a small volunteer registration website called Contribute to Change. We started with a standard 5 page website designed as a landing page for a PPC campaign and volunteer registration formto allow people sign up and help promote the DA.

We have been researching the Obama political campaign and how they built My.BarackObama.com a.k.a MYBO to enabled supporters to be more involved with promoting the party. We have been busy developing BP powered volunteer system to drive the C2C website. This will allow people to join in and help the DA grow its support base. More on how to sign-up to the live system at the end of this month when it launches to the existing & new volunteers.

We will be making use of all the existing BP features and adding some interesting new modules. See details below:

Modules:

  1. Authentication modules – Google’s OpenID Endpoint + Facebook Connect
  2. Recruit a friend + Contact Importer – Friend importer tool and more advanced tools for recruiting new community members
  3. Spread the Word – Tools for mailing the press or prominent blogs
  4. User/Volunteer Points System – Volunteers earn points for every action and these are displayed in a sidebar widget
  5. Action center – User dashboard page displaying member points, call-to-action tools and much more
  6. Import Users – Import existing volunteers into the C2C BP system
  7. Events – Create/host an event, find events, featured events
  8. Go-door-to-door – Voters use this module to organise neighbourhood walks going door-to-door to discuss and help promote the DA
  9. Make Phone Calls – Talk to Voters, record/update details and promote the DA
  10. Mobile Theme – mobile theme for buddypress making the site more accessible to users

BuddyPress Modifications:

  1. User Sign-up or User Registration needs to be extended and integrated into
  2. Members Only system accessible only to registered volunteers
  3. Buddy Press Top Menu Bar needs to be extended to cater for the new volunteer tools by adding new quick links

Potential modules:

  • Facebook style bottom bar with Jabber Chat built in to enable volunteers to chat to each other trough the system

Some interesting research links:

I will be blogging further information in the weeks to come. Stay tuned in.

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