[_ck_]

There are way too many integration questions lately so I am going to try to gather some current info here.

This is an unofficial help guide to try to make a fairly straightforward operation as painless as possible. Feel free to contribute and we’ll edit as necessary.

There is a “power user” shortcut below, but I am also going to try to explain more of the concepts so integration is less “magic” and easier to understand.

With bbPress 0.9, integration is “officially” supported and there is an attempt to make it much easier to accomplish during install but it’s not flawless by any means because of the wide range of possible configurations by users.

update: for adventurous bbPress users, a 1.0 alpha is available that should integrate with WordPress 2.6 – however it is not possible to downgrade back to bbPress 0.9 (because of database changes) afterwards so please keep that in mind – also there are three new items that have to be sync’ed between WP 2.7 and bb 1.0

As of February 2009 it is now possible to use WordPress 2.6, 2.7 or 2.8 with bbPress 0.9 where previously you had to use the unstable bbPress 1.0 alpha. Although WordPress has radically changed the way cookies are used in those versions compared to 2.5, you can either downgrade the WordPress cookie method to the one used in 2.5 via this plugin or you can allow bbPress 0.9 to use the newer WordPress cookies via this plugin.

Keep in mind if you are already using bbPress 1.0 you cannot simply downgrade to bbPress 0.9 because of database changes. However you can always upgrade from bbPress 0.9 to 1.0, so please start with 0.9 instead of 1.0 alpha when possible.

To integrate with WordPress 2.3 see here for extra instructions..

ATTENTION PHP 4 users with WordPress 2.5.0 (aka 2.5)

You MUST upgrade to 2.5.1 – there is a compatibility bug.

Assuming you have access to your bbPress admin area, virtually all integration adjustments (as of 0.9) after installation can now be made at

http://your-website-url.com/your-bbpress-directory/bb-admin/options-wordpress.php

If you’ve lost admin access or it’s not working correctly, most adjustments can be done instead via simple edits to the bb-config.php (and wp-config.php) files. I personally prefer this bb-config.php method because it will override any mistakes in the database regardless.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Instant Integration for Power Users
2. Regular, Reverse & Complex Integration
3. Levels (or Depth) of Integration
4. Installation locations for WordPress vs bbPress
5. The Shared User List (table)
6. WordPress & bbPress Cookies
7. Integrating WordPress and bbPress Roles
8. Loss of Admin Access
9. Users Registered via bbPress appear as “anonymous” in WordPress
10. Security Considerations when Integrated

.

(there is also a wealth of experience available via the “integration” tag on the forum here)

[_ck_]

If you read the levels of integration I posted in the beginning here you will see that even the most simple level of integration requires cookie sync. It is impossible to sync the cookies between bbPress 0.9 and WordPress 2.6 because they literally use different cookies. A user cannot stay logged in between both. They will have to login twice. Log out twice. The db may be similar and the user table may be used by both but the login cookies are different.

I don’t know how to state it more clearly than that.

[kirabug]

Oh, OK, yeah, that makes sense. I am using BBPress and I’ve got it set up so that my two installs share the same user table, so I’ve got the same users and the same posts on both sides of the wall. As far as I was thinking, that *is* integration.

If users have to log in and “remember me” on both sides, well, that’s the least of my problems.

[_ck_]

Well the definition of integration is that the two softwares operate as one. If a user has to log in twice, then they do not perceive the website operating as one big system but two different programs.

[kirabug]

By that definition, the categories and tags would also be matching/transparent and the back-end UI (where visible) would match. Editing a wordpress post that didn’t exist on the bbpress side would still create a post on bbpress, but it’d date it for when the wordpress post was created, not when the edit took place. They’d use identical login pages and registration pages out of the box instead of forcing me to spend hours hacking together a template, or better yet would find a way to leverage the templates (especially the CSS tags) so that the UI would look closer to transparent, and the “comments count” on the wordpress side would work.

So like said, dual log-in is the least of my integration problems.

I’m still learning PHP but plan to at some point down the road dip in to the dev side to try to help, so these aren’t criticisms so much as “kirabug’s someday to-do list”.

[_ck_]

I agree on the registration process which can be done by forcing the links on one side to the other but I could not disagree more with “Editing a wordpress post that didn’t exist on the bbpress side would still create a post on bbpress, but it’d date it for when the wordpress post was created, not when the edit took place.”

I can’t fathom people who do that. WordPress is for One-To-Many posting and bbPress is for Many-To-Many posting.

What bbPress needs instead is a “promote-to-front-page” option where the front page becomes a descriptive list of topics with summaries that have been marked by admin as worthy for the front page. It’s yet another plugin that I want to write but don’t have time for right now.

[kirabug]

The problem I’m having is that I’ve had is that my blog is 4 years old but I only started adding tags less than a year ago and bbpress install is only a few months old. So I’m adding new tags to old posts (because I’m a borderline obsessive compulsive organizer) and they’re becoming the top posts on bbpress even though they’re years old. I’m almost done, but it’s still crazy. If I were smart and had realized what was going to happen I’d’ve finished my tagging and then installed bbpress. But I’m not

Anyway, thanks for the tips and the info

[_ck_]

Adding tags does not bump posts to the top of latest discussions. In any case that question/problem should be asked in a new topic, not in this one.

[Hellweaver666]

Daft question time… I’ve recently built a site based on WordPress 2.6 and want to launch soon, so BBPress integration is out of the question for now. However, I don’t want to use another forum system in it’s place.

So… my question is, If I have a standalone BBPress installation now, is it easy to integrate it with my WordPress installation later on when BBPress gets upgraded or is it going to be a major hassle?

Thanks all!

[_ck_]

That’s what I call reverse integration and it definitely can be done but you are going to have to decide which user table you want to use – you cannot merge them. You’ll either have to use WordPress’s or bbPress. Then you can either rename the usertable or make very specific settings inside bb-config.php and wp-config.php to point to the new table.

[842113]

Sorry to be mildly off topic, but with regard to the cookie issue, is it not possible to create an interface cookie? Like a simple plugin that creates a cookie in WP 2.6 to interface with the BB cookie? Just as a quickfix?

(as an aside, I signed up with a wordpress.org account and I can login here at bbpress, but when i try to view my profile, I get an error at a bbpress page. This error also occurs when I view my profile from wordpress.org. I’m wondering if this is an integration bug as well)

[_ck_]

The problem is WordPress 2.6 re-used the existing cookie name but with a different format and calculation (and purpose). It was not the brightest design move on their part. Had they chosen a new cookie name, your idea would be valid.

At the rate Sam and MDA are working, I suspect there will be a stable enough bbPress 1.0 alpha by the end of this month (which will work with – actually require – WordPress 2.6).

A few other people have reported the profile bug. I will ask them to investigate.

[grifter]

oops! Just spent ages upgrading my blog today to 2.6 which broke an afternoon’s work I spent a while back integrating with BB press 0.9. Thankfully the 1.0 Alpha release isn’t too far away

[_ck_]

Sam has just tagged bbpress 1.0 alpha 1 (r1636)

bbPress 1.0 alpha series

https://bbpress.org/latest-alpha.zip

[playwithsticks]

I’m getting a funky error:

Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

I’m trying to integrate WP 2.5.1 and BB 1.0

It only started when I edited the bb_config file bbpress was working smoothly as a stand-alone… I think

[_ck_]

Ah, I guess it’s important to point out that just like bbPress 0.9 is not compatible with WordPress 2.6, it’s also that bbPress 1.0 is not comptible with WordPress 2.5

Major cookie changes.

WordPress 2.5.x <-> bbPress 0.9

WordPress 2.6.x <-> bbPress 1.0

[playwithsticks]

ah! ok, thanks

[Hellweaver666]

I now have a good working intgration between WordPress 2.6 and bbPress 1.0.

So… errrm… YAY!

[mytriniphone]

ok so what would be the best way to upgrade?

thanks in advance

Aaron

[playwithsticks]

IT IS WORKING!!!!! Thanks for all your help!

[bh]

I just did the installation, and things went quite smoothly.

Just one issue so far…

If you log into wordpress, you are logged into bbpress. Great!

But, if you log into wordress, you are not logged into bbpress. Not great.

I made sure the settings were correct, but I could not find a reference to secure_auth_salt in WordPress.

Also, how would one go about creating a single login for both sites that isn’t either wordpress or bbpress specific?

Lastly, is there any type of theme integration, or any tips on creating a unified design?

BBpress 1.0 alpha 1

Wordpress 2.6.1 beta 2

[csseur3]

hi,

for the wp-config.php file in wordpress, it is:

define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ‘.website.org’);

or

define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ‘website.org’);

?

thanks

Fred

[bh]

BBpress told me to put this in the wp-config, and I did, but still no luck.

define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ”);

define(‘COOKIEPATH’, ‘/’);

[bh]

define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ‘.website.org’);

or

define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ‘website.org’);

I tried both of these, in addition to define(‘COOKIE_DOMAIN’, ”);

But still no luck. Any ideas?

/edit Just another bit of info, bbpress is in /bbpress, and wordpress is in /wordpress. I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I thought I would mention it.

[chrissydunno]

i have latest WP and latest bbPress. Looks like integration results in every bb registrant being automatically given ADMIN login role in WP. Role mapping doesn’t seem to make a difference. Is there really no solution to this other than recommended downgrading?

[chrishajer]

If you mean WordPress 2.6 and bbPress 0.9.0.2, then no, they’re not compatible. Choices seem to be:

1. Go back to WordPress 2.5.1

2. Install bbPress alpha release and take your chances

3. Wait for a new bbPress release that’s compatible

4. Live without integration