BuddyPress



[|**BUDDYPRESS.ORG**]

From the developer:

"BuddyPress was conceived in 2008 while working to add social networking features to a WordPress MU powered site. The first official stable release was in May 2009. The platform has grown and morphed considerably since then, into the dynamic, easily extensible package you see today. Just like its parent project WordPress, BuddyPress is a completely open source endeavor. Everything from the core code, to the documentation, themes and plugin extensions are all built by the BuddyPress community. This means anyone can help the project by contributing their time and knowledge."

1. Free (it is an open source product)  2. Can be easily integrated into a teacher’s new or existing Wordpress website  3. Provides the teacher full control over design and access 4. Has been used successfully by the City University of New York to create an online “academic commons”
 * Strengths **

1. Requires knowledge of Wordpress codex (can be picked up via trial and error, but that still takes time)  2. No direct customer support available
 * Weaknesses **

1. One of the only free social networking software platforms that is compatible with the Wordpress codex  2. Progressive design
 * Opportunities **

1. Some educators may prefer to use a more established social networking platform such as Faceboo k  2. Learning curve associated with a new user to the Wordpress Codex
 * Threats **


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Ideas for Classroom **

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The fact that this social networking plugin is free and designed specifically for Wordpress is a major asset. This provides teachers the ability to create a custom Wordpress webpage that is aesthetically pleasing for class announcements and assignments, plus a password protected social networking website for students to share ideas and collaborate on classroom tasks.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Getting Started - I wanted to see how difficult it would be to get going with BuddyPress to set up my own social site. I found a good video that explains how to install WordPress on your computer and locally host it to work on it before you publish it online with a web hosting company. Here is the link.

Next, I found a [|video] on how to get BuddyPress going in the new site. I was really surprised to see how intuitive it was to get this going. The user interface is just like WordPress online. There really isn’t any coding required to get it going. I’d say that if you are reasonably comfortable following tutorial videos to do simple technical tasks on your computer, you could get a site running quickly. It is very customizable and creators have a lot flexibility on how the site is set up. There are many settings so as mentioned earlier pages and information can be password protected. I would highly recommend this for someone who wants the flexibility to create a customized social site for their students or organization. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">The possibilities are literally endless with the other plugins available for the creator of the site.