Two WordPress plugins, BuddyPress and bbPress have been developed by the same people who helped design and develop WordPress. Both these plugins can assist in building a community over your website, thereby enabling you to interact with your visitors in a better way, and also allowing them to interact with others. Amongst the two plugins- BuddyPress Vs bbPress, BuddyPress enables you to add features of social networking whereas bbPress enables you to add discussion forums to the WordPress sites.
These plugins are integrated with the software of WordPress and they both can be extended using a wide range of plugins which add more features as needed. In case you have considered adding features that are community-based to your websites, like social networking or discussion forums, then this article of comparison between BuddyPress Vs bbPress covers two such popular options and you can determine their capabilities and decide if you need to opt for these plugins.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress 2020 | Which One To Choose
BuddyPress Vs bbPress- An Overview
BuddyPress, owned by Automattic (owner of WordPress as well as a contributor to the software of WordPress), was released in the year 2009. It means that this is a plugin that is built just like WordPress and it integrates smoothly with the WordPress software, making use of the WordPress user interface. Though Facebook has secured the social network worldwide, there are many instances wherein a small and niche network is needed, which could consist of social networks for local communities like schools, social clubs, churches, etc. BuddyPress is the perfect option for those who have to create such a niche online community.
bbPress is similar to BuddyPress. It is a free plugin of WordPress which has been created by WordPress Creators themselves. This, however, focuses on adding discussion forums to your WordPress website. This has been constructed much similar to BuddyPress; the user interface has been used. It delivers the essential features needed to manage and enforce a forum for discussion on your WordPress website. However, just like that of WordPress, and many of the popular plugins available, bbPress could also be extended using a wide range of plugins or add-ons.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress- Features
BuddyPress is free to use and you can install it from the WordPress dashboard directly. In addition to these basic features, BuddyPress has many powerful features that have made it amongst the most popular plugins downloaded for WordPress. A few of the important features are:
- Signing up is easy and users can create accounts easily
- Users get a detailed profile
- There are activity streams that display the latest interactions
- Messages can be posted by the user either publicly or privately
- Groups can be created for the interaction of users
- Connections can be created between users, for instance, friendships
- Notifications can be sent to get the users to the website
- There are many third-party add-ons that can extend the BuddyPress features
BuddyPress has many social networking features that are very useful, and if you do not need some of the features on your website, you can disable or enable them individually. This enables you to create the network that you actually require.
With the bbPress Plugin, you can access all features that come with the core software, along with any installed plugins. Additionally, you get access to the capability of adding discussion forums. The core features consist of the below:
(i) Adding discussion forums to your WordPress site
(ii) The plugin can be easily installed just like other free plugins of WordPress
(iii) It allows Account integration with the standard user accounts of WordPress
(iv) It could be extended using a wide range of add-ons
Though the process of adding discussion forums seems to be quite complex, bbPress focuses on making the entire process quite simple. It has a very streamlined installation. The features could also be expanded by way of installation of any amount of free or premium in-house/ third-party/ bbPress plugins.
BuddyPress vs bbPress: Add-ons
Similar to WordPress, BuddyPress features could be extended easily by selecting from a wide range of plugins that have been designed for it. These add-ons have been created by specific developers inclusive of third parties. A few add-ons are free, whereas there are a few premium add-ons too. To help you understand how the features of BuddyPress can be easily extended through the use of add-ons, there are a few popular extensions that are recommended:
(i) BuddyPress Activity
(ii) Invite Anyone
(iii) BuddyPress Courseware
(iv) Membership
(v) BuddyPress Request for Extended Friendship
You can have a look at the official list of recommended plugins if you require more examples.
If you wish to add extra features to the discussion forums of your bbPress, whether the aim is to ensure it is user friendly, or easy to manage, there are many plugins that could be used. Some of the popular ones are:
(i) bbPress New Topics
(ii) WP User Avatar
(iii) Better bbPress Signature
(iv) GD bbPress Attachments
(v) bbPress Protected Forums
These plugins when used can help you create either a simple or advanced discussion forum as per your requirements.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress: Showcase
BuddyPress, being a very popular plugin, when it comes to WordPress sites, this plugin is used on many websites.
A very popular example of using bbPress is none other than WordPress.org support forum. But, because bbPress is downloaded more than 1.3 million times, bbPress has been used extensively in other places as well. The official website of bbPress will give you a lot more examples of websites that have used the bbPress discussion forum plugin.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress: Themes
Ideally, any WordPress theme will work well with BuddyPress, because it is a plugin that is well integrated with the software of WordPress.
However, there are numerous themes created specifically to build a website using BuddyPress. The BuddyPress focused features consist of personalized templates for login pages as well as templates for many other pages that are unique to any website that is BuddyPress powered.
Similar to BuddyPress, a theme of WordPress could be used on any website running bbPress, theoretically. But, when a purpose-built theme of bbPress is used, you will have some extra templates for forum specific pages like registration pages, login pages, or user profiles, as well as many other areas that can be found commonly on any discussion forum. Most of the themes have been created keeping BuddyPress in mind and are promoted as themes that are bbPress friendly, as some could overlap in pages used, like registration and login, and due to the very fact that a few website owners make use of BuddyPress as well as bbPress on the same website.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress- Resources
If you keen to begin adding features of social networking as well as community building to the WordPress website, there are some BuddyPress resources that will make this easier for you and you can start converting your website into a sociable place:
- BuddyPress.org support forums
- Work with BuddyPress @ WPSessions.com
- Learn BuddyPress along with Treehouse
- BuddyCamp days @ WordCamps
Though there are not many specific blogs on BuddyPress, most of the popular WordPress blogs include content related to BuddyPress on a regular basis.
If you wish to set up a discussion forum that is bbPress powered, there is a guide that will help you with the same. There are plenty of resources available for all those who wish to develop their own themes, or even integrate an existing theme with bbPress.
Getting started with bbPress is quite easy and there are many plugins that help you extend the features of bbPress.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress: Similarities
- Both WordPress Plugins have similar requirements. Though the similarity is quite clear, CMS plays a role in the functionality. WordPress allows both these plugins to take advantage of the core capabilities of WordPress.
- Both the plugins have been created by the team that created WordPress which definitely adds more value to these plugins. The support for these plugins is amazing and enables you to focus on developing something valuable instead of concentrating on the problem at the time of installation, maintenance as well as different plugin work.
- Both these plugins have a very unique element; they both create a community: a discussion forum or social network.
bbPress Vs BuddyPress: Differences At Large
1) Usage
A forum can be used to receive comments, or develop topics for a discussion. With BuddyPress, users can post activities, create groups, exchange messages, etc.
2) PerformanceIn terms of the integration of forums on WordPress sites, BuddyPress is slower in contrast to bbPress. BuddyPress has a lot of functionalities to offer to develop a social media website whereas bbPress is meant only for forum websites.
3) Easy to useBuddyPress Vs bbPress- Pricing Review
BuddyPress Pricing
bbPress Pricing-
bbPress plugin is free to use. You can download the plugin from the WordPress repository.
BuddyPress Vs bbPress- My Honest Review
bbPress is very popular as well as a straightforward option for a discussion forum for all the users of WordPress. Though the core features might not be sufficient enough when it comes to functionality, bbPress offers users the choice to select from a wide range of add-ons. This means that any feature can be added to the forum through the installation of a few plugins.
Quick LinksCustomer Reviews-
BuddyPress Reviews
Conclusion- BuddyPress vs bbPress 2020- Which Plugin is Better?
Amongst the two WordPress Plugins - BuddyPress Vs bbPress, BuddyPress enables you to add features of social networking whereas bbPress enables you to add discussion forums to the WordPress sites. These plugins are integrated with the software of WordPress and they both can be extended using a wide range of plugins which add more features as needed.
Hopefully, the comparison between BuddyPress Vs bbPress will help you differentiate between the two plugins and according to it, you can them to your website.