Return: The BuddyPress Manual
On a BuddyPress network you have the BuddyPress plugin activated on one blog — normally your main blog.
This is the only blog on your site that uses a BuddyPress theme because it’s required to support all the different BuddyPress social features.
Your members socially interact with each other via the social features (using the BuddyPresss theme) on your main blog. All other blogs on your site use standard WordPress MU themes.
The BuddyPress Theme
Your BuddyPress theme is where you build the community on your network.
It provides the pages that support the different BuddyPress social features including members profiles, blog lists, friends lists, private messaging, activity streams, groups, group forums, and more.
This is where you transform your network for your niche area into a thriving community by adding widgets, enabling/disabling social features and customizing your BuddyPress theme!
The BuddyPress Admin bar
When you install BuddyPress it adds the BuddyPress Admin bar which displays at the top of every blog and blog dashboard on your site.
The BuddyPress Admin bar is used by members to access:
1. Their BuddyPress social features
2. Their WordPress blogging tools
Blogging On A BuddyPress Network
One of Ning’s worst features is blog post functionality:
- Only members of a Ning community can comment on Ning blog posts
- Blog posts are posted on the Ning network and not their own blog
BuddyPress doesn’t have Ning’s blogging limitations as it’s a multi-blogging platform environment integrated with a fully functional social network platform.
Blog posts are posted on a member’s blog(s) — just like blog posts are published on any WordPress blog.
BuddyPress aggregates all the members’ blog content pulling them onto the main blog and providing the other social features so members can easily connect, communicate, collaborate and create with each other.
See Next: Using a FTP Client to install BuddyPress