I know many of you have looked at WordPress or are using it to develop your domains. I like to use the lesser known WordPress MU and found an interesting adaptation of that for social networking applications called BuddyPress. I have been experimenting with it and have found it to be one of the more intuitive to set up and get running.
WordPress MU
WordPress MU is the multi-blog version of the popular blogging software WordPress. Basically you can host many blogs on one installation of WP MU (WordPress MU). MU stands for multi-user in case you are wondering. WP MU is a little more challenging to set up than WordPress but not much more so.
As I have said before, WordPress and WP MU can both be used as content management systems (CMS) to create web sites and I know there are some of you who are already doing this. WP MU allows you to create multiple websites from just one installation which is a lifesaver for me when it comes time to upgrade. Also the version tends to run behind WordPress which means the kinks are usually worked out when a new version of WP MU comes out.
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BuddyPress, the social networking software for WordPress
BuddyPress is a set of WordPress MU specific plugins, each plugin adding a distinct new feature to transform WP MU into a social networking platform. It has familiar features such as friends, blogs, private messaging, groups, activity streams and status updates. It is not available for WordPress itself right now and so it only works with WordPress MU. Having said that, most of you will be familiar with the administrator interface which is similar to WordPress but with extra tabs.
A test BuddyPress web site
I created a test web site with some dummy accounts and I have been impressed so far especially since it is still in beta. I skinned the front page to change the colors but haven’t skinned the user pages yet. It requires some knowledge of CSS to style the pages but it can be learned pretty quickly. If it proves to be good software, I will probably create some tutorials on how to set it up, skin it and manage it.
Two wrinkles I have found so far have been user control and bringing new users to the WP back-end which frightens them if they are not familiar with WordPress. A fix for the second has been proposed and will probably be added soon. I am still waiting to hear about the first issue. Any community has troublemakers so user control is very important.
There is an option to install forums too. I haven’t tried this yet but it requires an installation of bbPress and some further modification. Forums are something I rarely add because of the amount of time needed to moderate them. If I get more trusted users, then I can use them as moderators but not at the early development stages.
You can also download the BuddyPress plugins and find out more about BuddyPress. It includes a demo that you can try out.
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Have you created a WPMU tutorial yet? How much is covered in your WordPress and WordPress MU for Websites book?