Eventually all.
I am trying to get BBPress to look like my WP. I created a my-templates folder and copied all the files from bb-templates. I now want to use <?php get_header(); ?> in my front_page.php file.
With regards to logins, I did not add a plugin but it seems to work already. I created a new user in WP and that same user works in BBPress. I have BBPress in a subdirectory of WP. Are the plugins still required with the newer versions?