[Ben Sutcliffe]

Heys,

I have to disagree. bbPress is the exact alternative to other forum software, and that’s why it’s great. It’s lightweight and really easy to fiddle about with. You do need to know PHP and an understanding of how other Automattic products work comes in handy, but the end result is that bbPress is a great base for dynamic forums.

I’ve used it to create forums that don’t really look like they ever were bbPress, and I think that’s the beauty of the software. There’s very little point in Automattic creating another phpBB – the market is already flooded, and services like vBulletin already “do that”.

bbPress doesn’t do a lot of things by default: it’s behind WordPress on things like threaded replies and the like, but it’s damn easy to create that kind of thing, without excessive code. If you want it all done for you, use something else; bbPress gives you the platform to take code and build on top. Add threaded replies if you so wish, require users to sign up using Twitter or FB Connect if you want to keep the robots out, and create templates and designs that are truly yours. You don’t have to use whatever pre-defined nonsense is held within phpBB.

If you want to get rid of links, you can comment them out or delete the link altogether in the template. The simplicity and lightweight nature of bbPress make it truly flexible. With plugins bbPress can do anything. I’ve never had to deal with a single element of spam on any forum I host, and I have a lot of posts on one of them. Akismet keeps spam down, like it does on WordPress, and ReCAPTCHA is a beautiful and highly functional tool for keeping robots out. It’s a little like WordPress: if you want a ready made blog you use Blogger or Tumblr, if you want to take more control, WordPress allows you to (simply) control anything.

Finally, why do you need a EULA? KISS – a terms of use page linked to from your footer works just as well. I’m not sure I ever actually read the EULA on any forum I joined.

Ben

[Ben Sutcliffe]

Heys,

I have to disagree. bbPress is the exact alternative to other forum software, and that’s why it’s great. It’s lightweight and really easy to fiddle about with. You do need to know PHP and an understanding of how other Automattic products work comes in handy, but the end result is that bbPress is a great base for dynamic forums.

I’ve used it to create forums that don’t really look like they ever were bbPress, and I think that’s the beauty of the software. There’s very little point in Automattic creating another phpBB – the market is already flooded, and services like vBulletin already “do that”.

bbPress doesn’t do a lot of things by default: it’s behind WordPress on things like threaded replies and the like, but it’s damn easy to create that kind of thing, without excessive code. If you want it all done for you, use something else; bbPress gives you the platform to take code and build on top. Add threaded replies if you so wish, require users to sign up using Twitter or FB Connect if you want to keep the robots out, and create templates and designs that are truly yours. You don’t have to use whatever pre-defined nonsense is held within phpBB.

If you want to get rid of links, you can comment them out or delete the link altogether in the template. The simplicity and lightweight nature of bbPress make it truly flexible. With plugins bbPress can do anything. I’ve never had to deal with a single element of spam on any forum I host, and I have a lot of posts on one of them. Akismet keeps spam down, like it does on WordPress, and ReCAPTCHA is a beautiful and highly functional tool for keeping robots out. It’s a little like WordPress: if you want a ready made blog you use Blogger or Tumblr, if you want to take more control, WordPress allows you to (simply) control anything.

Finally, why do you need a EULA? KISS – a terms of use page linked to from your footer works just as well. I’m not sure I ever actually read the EULA on any forum I joined.

Ben

[pkandathil]

Hey,

I am trying to install bbpress for my WordPress 3.0.1 website.

1) I created a folder called forums on my webserver

2) I extracted the bbpress code and copied over the files

3) When visited http://mystite.com/forums and I was able to complete the first step in the installation process.

4) I provided the correct db information.

5) When I clicked on “Go to Step 2” I see a white screen.

I checked the error log and this is what I get.

PHP Fatal error: main() [function.require]: Failed opening required ‘/hermes/web05/b2075/moo.techsamuraiscom/demo/forums/bb-includes/backpress/functions.wp-scripts.php’ (include_path=’.:/usr/local/lib/php-4.4.9/lib/php’) in /hermes/web05/b2075/moo.techsamuraiscom/demo/forums/bb-settings.php on line 987

Please help

[Adam Harley (Kawauso)]

I’m pretty sure bbPress is becoming a WordPress plugin rather than a BuddyPress one, with a converter being made once it’s stable. I also gather there’s a movement to branch the 0.9 code into a standalone forum which would also have a converter available for 1.0 installs.

That said, I really do have to agree with the rest of the points you made. I work a lot with WordPress and the level of documentation available is just without parallel in BuddyPress, but you really do need to know bbP just to do the simplest things at times.

Ideally there ought to be a set of core plugins, as was proposed for WordPress, so that essential functionality could be bundled but not necessarily included per se. I don’t support incorporating such functionality into the core itself though, since that would essentially be at odds with the WordPress/bbPress design philosophy.

[Adam Harley (Kawauso)]

I’m pretty sure bbPress is becoming a WordPress plugin rather than a BuddyPress one, with a converter being made once it’s stable. I also gather there’s a movement to branch the 0.9 code into a standalone forum which would also have a converter available for 1.0 installs.

That said, I really do have to agree with the rest of the points you made. I work a lot with WordPress and the level of documentation available is just without parallel in BuddyPress, but you really do need to know bbP just to do the simplest things at times.

Ideally there ought to be a set of core plugins, as was proposed for WordPress, so that essential functionality could be bundled but not necessarily included per se. I don’t support incorporating such functionality into the core itself though, since that would essentially be at odds with the WordPress/bbPress design philosophy.

[bbuser12345]

^ You are right to be hesitant.

I have had updates break a long relied upon plug-in. I am told not to worry because the functionality has been incorporated into the core software…well,.. it has been incorporated into the NEXT version… which may be called 1.03 or 1.1… which may or may not be released…and if it is it may or may not be a wordpress plug-in.

Ugh.

But once you adopt it you are stuck. There is no way for me to migrate out. So I am stuck without a key component of my board until….?????

[bbuser12345]

^ You are right to be hesitant.

I have had updates break a long relied upon plug-in. I am told not to worry because the functionality has been incorporated into the core software…well,.. it has been incorporated into the NEXT version… which may be called 1.03 or 1.1… which may or may not be released…and if it is it may or may not be a wordpress plug-in.

Ugh.

But once you adopt it you are stuck. There is no way for me to migrate out. So I am stuck without a key component of my board until….?????

[RandomGuySays]

Don’t get me wrong, I want to. bbPress looks wonderful, I love the simplicity and ease of use, as well as it’s integration features which are a huge plus to me. And while I acknowledge that bbPress is going through some tough times (being semi-new and through my understanding, the project lead leaving), I cannot choose bbPress for my site. The worst part about my specific situation is that I’ll most likely end up using it in the future once it’s matured, and knowing that is even more of a kick in the pants.

A lot of times with software, the more simple it is to use, the less features it has to be used. However, bbPress lacks basic bulletin board features – like poll creation, simple appearance settings such as customizing visible forum structures, and even a pre-made registration EULA. Other bulletin boards include prepared terms and conditions to protect your site, bbPress simply asks for your e-mail which with the lack of spam prevention filters like Captchas, even with the right plugin becomes an open door towards floods of spam. Other bulletin boards also give you the ability to, for instance, change the number of how many subforums are visible: Say you have a video game forum, organized as follows: Games (Category), Console/PC (Forums), Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo (Subforums), Xbox/Xbox 360 (Sub-subforums), Hardware/Accessories (etc.). On most forum software, the appearance settings default to showing one set of subforums per-page – e.g. when you click, ‘Console Games’, the next page displays only, ‘Microsoft/Sony/ Nintendo’, and you go from there. bbPress however, defaults to listing them all at once, resulting in enormously long forum pages that can only be changed by editing code. This may not be a problem for a lot of people as it should only require changing one or two lines to fix, but as a basic feature found in most other bulletin boards, to expect people to know how bbPress’ code works would just be wrong, and as such becomes a huge turn off.

In my opinion, one of the biggest bottlenecks and double-edged swords of open source software such as WordPress, bbPress, and even other open source forums, are the plugins. I remember reading a blog discussing the state of bbPress where the poster used the phrase, ‘there’s a plugin for that’. Plugins can be great, but they should also be considered an added bonus and not relied on for basic features. Most plugins are created by a third party, or even people like us. Just for talk sake, lets use wp-united for example. Wp-united is a plugin that links accounts between WordPress and phpbb so people can use their account from one, with the other. Say I used WordPress with phpbb, and then used wp-united to link the two. One day the wp-united team ceases support, and their latest version is incompatible with the new phpbb/WordPress. Now what happens to the huge install base I’ve developed? Do new users now have to register twice? Is my database going to be completely screwed up? bbPress eliminates this problem by having seemless integration with WordPress, but it just shows an example of how plugins can be both a good and bad thing, and how some features (like poll creation) need to be made a part of the main software despite, ‘less code being more’.

And lastly, arguably the number one issue preventing me from using bbPress, is the state of bbPress itself; the development of this software is up in the air with there being two completely different places to discuss it’s progress (this being one of them), and the other claiming talks of turning bbPress into a BuddyPress plugin. So the people new to bbPress, such as myself, don’t know what to do. Should we install the software now? Or wait until it’s a plugin? If we install now and they change it to a plugin, what happens to the standalone installations? Do they get screwed? Are they forced to install BuddyPress and switch everything over? Now I’m only human. I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong, I make mistakes. But even if not all my facts are straight, the fact that doing the research lead to this whole scenario makes for quite the first impression.

I didn’t post this to bash bbPress, I just hoped it would clear some of the confusion and thought it might in some way shape or form help bbPress and it’s users by getting these issues out in the open.

[Gautam Gupta]

Hello folks,

I’ve ported the famous Mystique theme for WordPress over to bbPress and it can be downloaded from here.

For the time being, there is no settings page – I’ll add one soon. Till then, you can edit the file settings.php located in the lib folder of the theme (from lines 11 to 20) for some basic settings.

Requirements: bbPress 1.0+ (works best with bbPress 1.1+ – it hasn’t been released yet)

Screenshot: http://gaut.am/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/bb-mystique-full.png

Announcement on my blog: http://s.gaut.am/1f

[zaerl]

OK. When will 1.1 be released?

Never, bbP will become a WordPress plugin.

[zaerl]

OK. When will 1.1 be released?

Never, bbP will become a WordPress plugin.

[TheNet]

Tweaks for the plugin repo?

Also the question remains, What difference does it make to have WordPress integrated?

[TheNet]

Tweaks for the plugin repo?

Also the question remains, What difference does it make to have WordPress integrated?

[lexayo]

look at the bulk password reset for wordpress and see if you can adapt it

[_ck_]

In October 2010, to make the Top 100 (out of 10,000+ installations) now requires over 50,000 posts!

We have a new leader Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

beating out the old champion Simon & Schuster (international book publisher).

with nearly 1.8 MILLION posts. Absolutely incredible growth!

There are five bbPress powered forums with over a million posts now!

singletrackworld.com  http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/

simonandschuster.com  http://forums.simonandschuster.com/

wordpress.org         https://wordpress.org/support/

greedyorneedy.com     http://www.greedyorneedy.com/forum/

weddingbee.com        http://boards.weddingbee.com/

Nearly 300 more have over ten thousand posts,

and nearly 1,000 have over one thousand posts.

Over four dozen new bbPress powered forums are put online every week on average!

[_ck_]

In October 2010, to make the Top 100 (out of 10,000+ installations) now requires over 50,000 posts!

We have a new leader Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

beating out the old champion Simon & Schuster (international book publisher).

with nearly 1.8 MILLION posts. Absolutely incredible growth!

There are five bbPress powered forums with over a million posts now!

singletrackworld.com  http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/

simonandschuster.com  http://forums.simonandschuster.com/

wordpress.org         https://wordpress.org/support/

greedyorneedy.com     http://www.greedyorneedy.com/forum/

weddingbee.com        http://boards.weddingbee.com/

Nearly 300 more have over ten thousand posts,

and nearly 1,000 have over one thousand posts.

Over four dozen new bbPress powered forums are put online every week on average!

[_ck_]

Welcome to the final installment of the (unofficial) bbPress Top 100 !

This will be the last look* at the incredible growth and diversity of

bbPress adoption around the world over the past several years.

You can see the previous summaries here via the Top100 tag.

http://bbshowcase.org/forums/view/top100

The list is based on post count which implies highest activity.

Sites that appear to fake the numbers or have dubious content

have been moved to the bottom of the Top 10,000

To see the complete Top 10,000 requires free registration/login:

http://bbshowcase.org/forums/view/top10000

Logged in users can also search the list and view the experimental

Tag Cloud http://bbshowcase.org/forums/view/top10000?cloud

and vote on sites that may have superior design even if they didn’t

make the Top 100 regardless of their volume of activity.

This list does not include most of the 1000+ or so BuddyPress installations

that use bbPress to power sub-forums for their groups. This is for technical

reasons, not political – it’s virtually impossible to analyze bbPress under

BuddyPress because of how it’s filtered and blocked. If you have a large

bbPress installation under BuddyPress and you are not in the current list,

contact me for a way to be included if your site would fall in the top 1,000.

*The upcoming rewrite of bbPress will make this kind of third-party analysis

extremely difficult but also unneccesary since it will start to “phone home”

as part of WordPress to Automattic on a daily basis from your server

with all your details, configuration and install information anyway.

So on that note, let’s take a look at the results from the final list!

[Xevo]

I believe this is just a standard bbPress install with tweaks for the plugin repo and the rest of the pages.

I don’t know if WordPress is intergrated.

[Xevo]

I believe this is just a standard bbPress install with tweaks for the plugin repo and the rest of the pages.

I don’t know if WordPress is intergrated.

[ethanthekiwi]

I found the answer to download the trunk

http://blog.ashfame.com/2010/01/download-zip-latest-trunk-wordpress-bbpress-buddypress/

[ethanthekiwi]

Thanks jpbruckler, that works beautifully. The user doesn’t see a thing.

(The only problem I could for see is if a user was logging in through the wordpress side of things they would be redirected to bbpress, but this won’t be a problem for me.)

[jurasiks]

@TheNet: this site is powered by WordPress + bbPress

[jurasiks]

@TheNet: this site is powered by WordPress + bbPress

[John James Jacoby]

BuddyPress acts as a wrapper for bbPress to get it to work seamlessly inside of WordPress, so using this built in method you won’t have access to the bbPress administration area to play with bbPress plugins.

[John James Jacoby]

BuddyPress acts as a wrapper for bbPress to get it to work seamlessly inside of WordPress, so using this built in method you won’t have access to the bbPress administration area to play with bbPress plugins.