This presentation is about BuddyPress and how to get started at the Harrisburg WordPress Users Group Meetup at CURE Internationl

1. BUDDYPRESS
It’s like I am beating a dead horse.
What it is, what it’s not, what it can do, and setup.
Local BuddyPress Yapper: Tim McKenna aka @AzraelGroup aka Godzilla
GETTING STARTED

2. BUDDYPRESS
Started out as WordPress Multisite hack, now owned by Auttomatic.
A set a elegant social media components rolled into a plugin.
Activity Streams
User Profiles
Options to add user profile fields and sections
Avatar uploads
Group Creation
Group discussion forums (via bbPress)
Group logo and Wire
Friend system
Messaging
Custom themes
Blogs per user (via the WordPress engine)

3. BUDDYPRESS
Lead Developers of BuddyPress
John James Jacoby
@JJJ
Paul Gibbs
@pgibbs
Boone Georges
@boone
Andy Peatling
@apeatling
Follow them on Twitter. Do it, Do it now.

4. BUDDYPRESS
Getting Started
Find out your business requirements and do research
Setup up development environment
Development
Testing (try to break it)
Staging the site
Go live

5. BUDDYPRESS
Getting Started
Go to BuddyPress.org and sign in (WordPress.org credentials).
Join in the forums when asking for help be as specific as possible.
Read the BuddyPress Codex, refer to it often.
Download the plugin.
Save until you setup your development environment.
Resource: BuddyPress Codex

6. BUDDYPRESS
Find out your business requirements and do research
What is the purpose of your social site?
How should your site engage users in a meaningful way?
How are you going to address bugs?
Who do you hand the project off to once live?
This is a conversation you need to have with your stakeholders. This conversation is
imperitive because it will help define the necessitities and avoid scope creep.
Resource: Develop and present project plan, scope, and timeline

7. BUDDYPRESS
Setup your development environment
Create a local installation of WordPress and work on your desktop.
Setup your local install of WordPress and upload your BuddyPress plugin.
Download a theme and begin work on a child theme or use a
starter theme like Bones, Underscores, Roots or Handcrafted.
Work with a designer (preferably one familiar with web design)
Get your favorite Text Editor or IDE and get to work
Resources: Local Installer - BitNami, Text Editor - Atom or Sublime Text

8. BUDDYPRESS
Development
Front End Development - Design the UI and map out the UX.
Extending the Site: Download various plugins that meet you specific needs.
Customize Installation - Create custom post types, Edit roles and permissions, etc.
Version Control - Use Github and push up master files before branching off.
Test Features - Test features with others on OS’s, browsers and devices.
Resource: Access website over local network from other devices

9. BUDDYPRESS
Testing
Resource: The 5 Minute WordPress Security Audit
Test your site in multiple Browsers, make sure your
elements scale correctly and work across the board.
Test all functions and features in every possible
browser. Perform a security audit.

10. BUDDYPRESS
Staging the Site
Move your local installation to a staging site.
Retest everything.
Make sure to keep up with version control.
Get approvals to move forward with launching project.
Discussing managed hosting plan for live site (Bonus: Anchor Hosting).
Organize all of your documentation.
Resource: How to Create Staging Environment for a WordPress Site

11. BUDDYPRESS
Go Live
Do a soft launch, move it to live server and quietly do some more testing.
Once you have gone through your last testing, announce site is live
Having marketing and PR (whomever) announce site.
Hand off site to client or move into a maintenance/support role.
Updates to live site will only occur after thorough testing on staging site.
Keep up with version control.
Resource: 25 Things to Test Before Your Site Goes Live

12. BUDDYPRESSPAFP Community Configuration
Adminize
AAFP DB Import Members*
AntiVirus
Comet Chat
bbPress
Better WordPress Minify
BP Group Documents
BP Group Organizer
BuddyPress
BuddyPress Activity Plus (TK version)
BuddyPress Anounce Group
BuddyPress Group Email Subscription
BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Fields Type
Custom Login
Export Users to CSV
Gravity Forms
IE Enhancer & Modernizer
JKC Admin Bar Toggle
JCWP copy paste blocker
Private BuddyPress
Private Community for BP Lite
Responsive Image Widget
Role Manager
W3 Total Cache
WordPress Database Backup
WP-Optimize
VaultPress
WP Smush.it
WP TogetherJS
VaultPress
*Fork of Import Users from CSV

13. BUDDYPRESS
Role Manager
BuddyPress has an additional set of
roles due to the addition of groups
and forums (thanks to bbPress). Role
Manager allows me create/rename/
delete roles and capabilities. It
hasn’t been updated since WP 2.2,
but we’ve picked it up and maded
updates for WP 3.9, BP 2.0.1 and we
plan to post it to Github.

14. BUDDYPRESS
eLearning Modules
Using a combination of SlideShare,
Private Google Hangouts on Air,
and CometChat we created live,
interactive webcasts. Videos were
recorded, uploaded to Vimeo
and saved for continuing medical
education accreditation (CME).
CometChat allowed for us to have
real time, private chat while the
speaker responded live.

15. BUDDYPRESS
JWCP Copy Paste Blocker
We had to deter copy and paste
from inside the PAFP Community,
as it was stressed that all
communications inside were privy
to just members. JWCP Copy Paste
Blocker allowed us to turn off this
common action. While members
can paste into the input field from
an outside source, they cannot copy
and paste from inside of the site.

16. BUDDYPRESS
Member Database Integration
We use Avectra NetForum for our
membership database, which is
tied to the American Academy of
Family Physicians (AAFP) member
information. We created a simple
procedure that dumps member
information from Avectra into a .csv,
in which we automated the Import
User from CSV plugin at the end
of each month. Members do not
register for the site, they already
have login credentials.

17. BUDDYPRESS
Planned Integrations and Features
Retiring CometChat and integrating
Meetings.io as our new interactive video
and chat platforms.
Directing membership to do all event
registration and payment inside the PAFP
Community.
Since the PAFP Community is completely
advertising free, we plan on integrating
GoFundMe.com as a crowdfunding
platform inside the site to raise money for
medical student scholarships.
Upon three unsuccessful login attempts,
we are going to have the Jurassic Park
Denis Nedry Denied Access gif as a
popup.
Develop a new theme, based on Bones,
for use with other medical societies.
Member podcasts via SoundCloud to be
uploaded and added to member profiles.

18. BUDDYPRESS
It’s awesome, seriously.
Email me: hello@azraelgroup.com
Tweet at me: @AzraelGroup
LinkedIn at me: Tim McKenna
QUESTIONS?