[katmmad]

OK… perhaps I’m a moron but I’m just trying to figure out how to get stuff up and running. I’m currently running a WordPress blog that gets a lot of traffic, self-hosted on a dedicated server, currently running the Thesis theme.

I am not wedded to the Thesis theme.

I want to add forums to my website and a social networking aspect, and from looking around it seems like bbPress and Buddypress are the best of the best. I want the move from my blog to the forum to the member area to be as seamless as possible (and the ability to run as many ads/same sidebar widgets/etc) as possible.

Where do I start? (I’m getting quotes from $2K-$15K, which really makes me feel like I ought to learn something before I engage a third party.) Do I start by learning about bbPress? Learning about Buddypress? Switching to a new theme (such as Genesis) and learning that first? Should/can I just add bbPress first and then add Buddypress later when time/money allows?

(Currently users do not have to log in to comment, so the forum will be the first time they have to do that.)

I had bbPress running for a while and obviously spam was a problem — is there some default list of plugins you need right from the getgo?

Sorry to ask such a basic question but every time I come to this forum I’m spinning in circles.

Thank you hugely for any guidance anyone can provide.

Thanks,

K