This article is going to take you through setting up BuddyPress for the first time. It is geared towards people trying to set up Social Networking sites with features similar to those available with Ning or other hosted Social Network providers, as such it assumes that you will want all of the features of BuddyPress, plus a few more (well, a whole bunch more!).
BP Registration Options is a simple plugin designed to do two things: It enables moderation of new BuddyPress users, and it turns a BuddyPress site into a private network.
The combination of WordPress and BuddyPress is a powerful and complex mix, it will take you some time playing with all of the features in order for you to come up with your ideal site. In this article I would like to take you through the basics of getting to know your site and customising it for your purposes, in future articles I will cover adding additional features to your site in order to further customise your installation.
One of the first major issues that hits anyone who has set up a public social networking site with BuddyPress is the about of spam that you have to deal with. Unless you have taken steps to prevent spammers getting access to your site then your life could be hell! This article explains how to configure your WordPress/BuddyPress site in order to avoid the maximum amount of spam.
