Make sure when you copy files from /bbpress/bbp-themes/bbp-twentyten that you maintain the subfolder structure as well (e.g. css, js, bbpress). I was copying all files into the root of my custom wordpress theme (wp-content/themes/mytheme) without maintaining the directory structure and I was getting some strange behavior.

Hope this helps someone who might be having trouble!

I've read about a tremendous interest in using bbpress as a viable forum option. I want to start by saying I've been involved in open source for over 15 years myself and the work and dedication here is very admirable (remembering ROI.) People such as myself would be willing to put in some time and effort to make this project work but there are some fundamental things lacking here that give me cause for concern in using bbpress. Virtually all forums I see using are either (a) the most basic customer support, nothing long term discussion/community based, or (b) amateurish sites set up that are chop shop and will be down in a few months. It doesn't have to be that way. Couple of things:

1. If it's not relatively easy, simple or clear to theme bbpress, few will ever use it. Fewer will design themes for it too. And if there isn't at least a decent, comprehensible system, nobody will use a plugin if it just typically looks like another ratcheted in plugin. Hopefully, this is not the case.

2. Organization here is a mess. I go to plugins and I see listings from 5 years ago and the top. It's not easy to figure out what is what here. Documentation is incomplete and I remember having a terrible time installing it too - and I'm not a novice. This is the easy part that scares away many potential users.

3. Sometimes simple is too simple. Some things should be standard. For example, nobody wants to have to scroll down to the bottom of the page just to post a reply. That's just one issue that leaped out at me. Sometimes less is just less.

4. No clear vision here, e.g. the latest blog entry is November 28 2011 and this place feels half deserted. It doesn't have to be that way.

5. There needs to be an easier way to navigate the forums on this site. I could care less about a long list of tags I'll rarely use. I do want that short list of forums in the sidebar or somewhere so I don't have to click my way back to the home page.

Just a few pointers. I like this project, would love to consider using it for a large site but the ghost town effect is putting me off a little.

What didn't you like? What was your experience? It's very possible the problems you experienced weren't even with bbPress.

My question is that I'm trying to modify the output and html layout of my bbpress template files, and I can't seem to figure out a solution.

1. My forum is on the page: Forum, and my forum base slug is: forums. Different, you see? That's because I want to show the Latest Topics, not default to showing all my forums, when you click the menu for Forum (very much like the bbpress.org/forums).

2. I'm using a page template for the Forum page that outputs the Latest Topics, except as soon as you click away from this page, it reverts back to the default layout.

Problem: I need all the forum pages to use the same layout, preferably a custom one, and the 'front' Forum page to output the Latest Topics.

Any ideas?

Also make sure that your actual permalinks settings page uses something other than the default top option. Chose any other option and click save.

That should get you going.

Thanks.

Resident newbie

https://gist.github.com/1372637

I have created a child theme from the bp-default theme, which doesnt seem to support bbPress-templates, but still displays everything nicely somehow. Within this child-theme I change css and templates belonging to the bp-default theme and that works fine.

Now I would like to be able to modify the bbPress part of the site from this child theme aswell, but I cant because the theme has no template files for the bbPress installation (even though it presents the forum very nicely). I can change the css-part by just copying the css from the bbpress.css into my styles.css (it get´s priority). But there is no template-files to copy except those from the bbp-twentyten theme, and if I do, the appearance just breaks :/

What I want: The forum to look exactly like it does from the default bp-default theme, but with access to template files so I can remove and add stuff on my own.

Can anyone help me with this one? :)

as for duplicates, they override eachother. there's duplication, overriding and modifying all over the place in WordPress and bbPress. this is nothing new. all that matters is precedence at the end of the day.

nitpicking is pointless and unhelpful. take it or leave it. don't really care. all i'm interested in is helping people sort this out. my way works. end of story. if you can indeed write a new plugin, then by all means give 'er! :) yours might be the halcyon we've all been hoping for! that's the beauty of all this stuff! :D

WR!

you are way off with your comment about "just follow what the sticky comment says"

you meaning yourself are merging... nowhere does it state that we should merge.. that is a big difference

and you are having duplicate files and functions... wtf?

I have given up on this plugin!... I can write a new one faster than getting this one to work.

Peter

you are going to have problems. i forgot a CRITICAL MODIFICATION. and it may ONLY apply to CHILD THEMES. i haven't finished testing it on standalone themes, but put it in your watch folder...

if you look at the bbPress' functions, near the middle, there is a section that enqueues stylesheets. i'm not sure why this is there because, in essence, it COMPLETELY OVERRIDES any style changes you make to your child theme's CSS. what it does is load ANOTHER copy of the parent-style's stylesheet with a version number tacked on. this forces a precedence over your own style.css, essentially making the newly loaded CSS sheet last-defined. and we know what that means.

so. the fix:

1) find this line in your functions.php file (the one you have the merged bbPress functions.php code in):

wp_enqueue_style( 'twentyten', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css', '', $this->version, 'screen' );

it's on line 149 of the original functions(2).php file from my post above, so to make it easy to find, you can do some quick math to find the relevant line number in your (merged) functions.php file. (hope that made sense...)

2) comment it out by simply adding '//' in front of it.
3) reload. your style.css sheet will now be dominant and the css/bbPress.css file will act in a better support role, as it should.

i understand the long-view logic of why this function does what it does, but at a non-galaxy-class-developer level, it makes for massive headaches... and you still have the fun headaches with the bbPress tags...

hope this was also useful. it will save you going bald.

WR!

a couple of things to note, that people are stumbling over:

1) READ THE STICKY. don't peruse it. READ IT.
2) the sticky actually says the same thing twice. COPY the CONTENTS of wp-content\plugins\bbpress\bbp-themes\bbp-twentyten\ to YOUR theme's folder, whether it be a child theme or not. in my case the path was wp-content\themes\SuperTurboTheme\.
3) it'll ask it you want to overwrite 'style.css'. don't. just let the OS rename it to 'style(2).css'.
4) ditto for the 'functions.php' file. it should, temporarily, be 'functions(2).php.
5) MERGE the two functions.php files. i just copy/pasted everything from 'functions(2).php' to the bottom of the 'functions.php' file. just like in the sticky. i didn't merge the 'style.css' and 'style(2).css' files. but i DID make sure the 'Tags:' line in my 'style.css' file included 'bbPress' as the first item, just to be sure. it was an old requirement that doesn't seem to have been deprecated anywhere and i'm a belt-n-suspenders boy...
6) at the very top of your newly expanded 'functions.php' file, add the line 'add_theme_support( 'bbpress' );' to the very top. just like in the sticky. EVEN THOUGH THERE IS A SIMILAR LINE IN the bbPress' functions.php file, YOUR functions.php file MUST HAVE THIS LINE as well. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE MERGED.
7) reload.

don't get clever. don't reinvent. don't assume anything. just follow the steps and you should be fine.

your only challenge now is figuring out how to do your CSS. the 'style.css' will control the WordPress portion of the site. it CAN handle the bbPress styling as well, but i prefer to leave it to bbPress.css (located in the 'css' folder you copied over) to handle the forum styles. its a bit of a headache sorting out the bevy of tags that get generates, but hey, it works. and i DO mean headache.

not to beat a dead horse, but the real challenge IS sorting out the secondary CSS. i recommend Firebug to help you drill down the the styles. the byzantine class structure can make your head spin. try using the elements that are relatively easy to spot. and REMEMBER THIS: NOT ALL CLASSES ARE IN THE STYLESHEET. this can really toss a wrench into things. they are added for future slice-n-dice, but seems overkill to me. low-order CSS has proved easier for me. i can't foresee a reason to slice the site up so finely...but it's futureproofed to the wheel-wells! :)

good luck. hope this was useful. i apologize if i missed anything. i tried to be thorough AND simple.

feel free to correct me if i stepped wrong somewhere. this is what worked to me.

WR!

1) Copy the content from bbp-twentyten/css/bbpress.css to your child theme styles.css - this should give you all the ids and classes to work with;

2) Rename the original bbpress.css file to something else, in order to turn it unusable - this should be done because the original bbpress.css file always override your theme's CSS;

3) Style at your taste.

This should avoid your work from being deleted on every update.

When an update occurs, just do step 2 again.

A quick and easy solution like this is unlikely to be the right one in this case, but works for simple styling.

If the dev doesn't completely supply documentation, how is anyone else going to know what the heck to do with this plugin?

If this is such a great plugin, then make it easier to integrate into the themes.

It is difficult enough getting our websites up and functioning without having to pull our hair out trying to figure out how to use a plugin that is supposed to be so great.

I have noticed that there are a lot of dev's who don't contribute much documentation for wordpress. How unfortunate they assume everyone can read their minds.

This topic has been up for months and still having no clear directions. Hope everyone else figures it out. I'm not going to bother with this.. If the dev doesn't care, I sure don't.

I'm no expert, believe me.

But, if you have a child theme already, did you try merging your child theme with a bbpress child theme?

I would try dropping all the relevant bbpress php templates into your child theme, putting the necessary info into functions.php, and seeing what you get.

1) Install plugin on live site.

2) Download
/wp-content/plugins/bbpress/bbp-themes/bbp-twentyten
to your computer, and copy folder and contents to
/wp-content/themes/
rename the folder if you want, so you have
/wp-content/themes/newchildtheme/

3) turn this into a child theme:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
(basically, add a "Template: " parameter)

4) Upload this new child theme to your server

5) In the parent theme, add
add_theme_support( 'bbpress' );
to functions.php

5) Upload functions.php to server

6) Go to
/wp-admin/themes.php?activated=true
on your site and activate your child theme