Re: Evaluating BBpress for an ambitious project
Keep in mind, bbPress is at its core simply a WordPress plugin. bbPress does not take away from anything WordPress is capable of doing.
To try and answer your questions.
1. Yes. You pretty much have full control over the registration system just like you do with a standard WordPress install.
Want it open to everyone with no info collected? Sure it can be done.
Want it open but require some info collected? Sure it can be done.
want it open but require double opt in? That’s pretty much standard behavior.
2. If using a subfolder install of multisite then this is pretty much standard behavior. If using subdomain install, then yes there are workarounds. If using subdomain install with domain mapping… well that is a can of worms but possible.
3. Yes but requires some custom code. Not to difficult.
4. Nope, but keep in mind that topics and replies are simply custom post-types. Hence you can add in custom metadata or custom fields to each topic. Then add in the front end metabox inputs and your 90% there.
5. I personally have a bbPress forum with 300k posts, 45k members on dedicated server and have no issues. This would NOT work on a shared server. bbPress is a ‘heavy’ plugin using a lot of resources, but compared to just about any other forum system, including commercial products, it holds its own.
6. plugin territory – I believe Paul Gibbs has a rewards system for buddypress which could probably be reused for bbPress, though I have not tried it.
Remember that bbPress is just a plugin which follows all the WordPress coding standards. It is simple code to understand, clearly labeled and well thought out. Not to mention JJ is a coding ninja.