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:

• Testdrive -This is a great place to test out the software with out having to install
• My profile on TestBP.org
• LightSpeed TestBP.org Blog about our BuddyPress Development efforts
• Main Website – Find out all about the project, download and much more
• SVN – Grab the latest code from Subversion
• BuddyPressDev on Twitter – Follow the latest tweets

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:

• BuddyPress: Adding Twitter And Friendfeed
• BuddyPress: Expanding Settings Menu
• BuddyPress: Building Your Own Components With These Building Blocks
• BuddyPress Notes by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
• WP-FBConnect

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

• Logged in user would like to create an event
• User will click a menu item in top bar “My Events”, this menu item should drop down with the following items displayed:
  • Create an Event
  • Find Events
  • Manage Events
  • Attend Events
• The next step is to bring up a landing page for the events component
  • A good example of an events list page is facebook events
• When Events dashboard loads you will see a the following:
  • Directory listing of upcoming events in your area
  • Featured events
  • Create an Event big button
  • Browse Events – general browsing tool
  • Search events box
  • Export Events (Google, iCal or Outlook)
• The events component should have a Sidebar Widget always visible

So now I have described the overview of the events module lets drill down into a bit more detail per page, see below.

Events Listings / Browse Events

• Filter mechanism to see events in your neighbourhood
  • By area
  • By Date
  • By Type
• General listing of all upcoming events is the default display when browsing events, details displayed:
  • Date
  • Title
  • Tagline
  • Hosted by
  • Type
  • Where
  • When
  • Your RSVP
• Friend’s / Neighbour’s Events
  • Date
  • Title
  • Tagline
  • Hosted by
  • Friends Attending
  • Type
  • Where
  • When
  • Your RSVP

Event Invites

• Users can send an invite message via system and system sends notification email with the following details:
  • Title
  • Day of week, Month, Date, Time at Venue, Geographic Location
  • Invite by Member Name (who invited me)
  • RSVP message (optional)
  • Will you attend – Yes, No, Maybe?
  • Remove from my events
• Once selection has been made then a confirmation message should display to confirm the user’s attendance

Single Events Page

• Event Info
• Title/Event Name:
• Tagline:
• Host:
• Type: Go-door-todoor, hand out leaflets, house meetings,
• Description:
• Network becomes “Geographic Location”
• Time and Place
• Start Time:
• End Time:
• Location:
• Street:
• City/Town:
• Contact Info
• Contact Person:
• Phone:
• Email Address:
• Confirmed Guests should display in a section
• Discussion “Wall”, RSVP message are posted to the “wall”
• Sidebar widgets
• Invite more people, earn points
• Remove from My Events
• Admins for event
• Your RSVP status

General Events Notes

• Admins to be able to create events and send to an entire network, BUT standard users will only be able to invite volunteers that belong to the same groups as them
• Events hosts need to be able to upload a list of actual attendees of the events, all members who attend will be able to score points for attending

In closing

I feel that the events module is a big must for just about any social network and could add huge value to everyone using buddypress! Please send me your feedback….

I have been working with the WordPress.com themes on and I can definitely say that if you are not sure what themes to use on your WordPress-MU/BuddyPress system, try using the same themes they use on WordPress.com. It is easy to get hold of them, they are available via Subversion. You will need a subversion client to check the files out of the repository. Here is what I suggest you do:

1. If you are running Windows then download and install the subversion client called TortoiseSVNotherwise pick one of the following:
   1. Subclipse (Eclipse)
   2. Subversive (Eclipse)
   3. SCPlugin (Mac OS X)
   4. RapidSVN (cross-platform)
   5. AnkhSVN (Visual Studio)
   6. VisualSVN (Visual Studio)
   7. …more clients…
2. To read some about using subversion try these documents:
   1. Mailing Lists (non-subscribers can post)
   2. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
   3. Subversion Book (complete online)
3. On you Windows PC you will add a new folder, then you right-click the folder and look for the TortoiseSVN option that says “SVN Checkout”
4. The TortoiseSVN Checkout windows pops open and you need add the URL of the repository = http://svn.automattic.com/wpcom-themes – Click OK, then click YES
5. It should take a while to download the themes, but its worth it!
6. Upload all the themes to /wp-content/themes like you normally would.

My suggestion is that the WP.COM themes be added to TestBP.org, it might encourage some of the testers to using the blogs more. I read a post on the forum the following about making a theme BuddyPress aware:

Yes, any theme you use with BuddyPress will need a plugin-sidebar.php and plugin-template.php file. It’s used to add dynamic functionality and new pages to the theme without having to drop in new template files. The settings menu and pages are examples of this.

Is that all that is needed or is there more? Any out in the community got any experience with that type of thing?

Note: Image Credit