BuddyPress Force Profile Photo is a BuddyPress Plugin that forces site members to upload an avatar image before they are able to use any aspect of your site, whichever page they visit they will be redirected to the upload profile image page with a message informing them of this.
Possibly the most important task in setting up your BuddyPress Social Network is with regards to how you configure members and their profiles. This article attempts to describe the basic steps required in configuring BuddyPress ready for your new membership. Of course the exact details will vary from site to site however there are common factors that affect all sites.
BuddyPress Style Modules are an attampt to harmonise the way styling code snippets (CSS) are used in a BuddyPress environment.
The BuddyPress @Mentions is it’s system for sending site members a public message, similar to writing on a users wall in Facebook since the mention will turn up in that users activity stream. @Mentions is normally a one to one thing, if you want to have more than one person in your mention then you must include @member1, @member2 etc. In your activity update.
BuddyDev Username Availability Checker is a simple plugin that checks a new registrants chosen username against those already registered and checks to see if the name has already been used, if it has been used then a warning is displayed telling the registrant to choose a different username before they complete the registration process and therefore improving the workflow for new member registrations.
Now that you have installed BuddyPress and have configured a number of eats features and those of add-ons it’s important that you get to know BuddyPress from a users perspective. This article will take you through some of the basic features of your BuddyPress Installation from a users perspective. The exact range of features available on any site will depend upon which features have been enabled by the site Admin.
Buddy Member Stats is a plugin that displays a range of statistics about BuddyPress site members in a tab on their profile.
Buddy Registration Widget is an unusual plugin in that it is very mission specific, it will add a widget that displays the BuddyPress registration page, it disables the BuddyPress member profile cover image site wide and it won’t allow new members to access the site until they have set uploaded a profile avatar image. There are no settings to change, once uploaded these options are set and that’s it. So if your site has these specific requirements then this plugin is for you, but if you want registration in a sidebar widget but also want profile cover images then this plugin is not an option!
One feature missing from the default BuddyPress installation is media galleries and the ability to allow BuddyPress users to upload their own images to be shared with others. Typical hosted social platforms allow the addition of media in three ways – media can be uploaded to a members personal profile page, for sharing with others and display on their profile page, Media can be uploaded to groups and held in a group gallery and media can be uploaded “to the site” – typically placed in a single collective gallery for all to see and often these images are displayed in a front page slider showcasing the uploads of those members. Sometimes media uploads can be marked as “Featured” and will be displayed in a featured content area in the main gallery.
So far we have installed our basic BuddyPress install for our Ning style social network, we have done a lot. But still the site we have created lacks features, for example there is no Chat or sharing of photo’s and video’s, it would be nice to have events, the groups are pretty basic as are the member profiles. This article attempts to show you how you can move further towards your dream social site by introducing quite a large number of plugins and giving you basic information about how to install and use them.
