Automattic, the company behind WordPress, is moving into social networking, with the 1.0 launch of BuddyPress, an installable, open source software platform that runs on your own website. The software is freely available, and can be downloaded from BuddyPress.org.
BuddyPress 1.0 screen
The move comes more than a year after WordPress acquired BuddyPress, which at the time was essentially a series of plugins for adding social features to your WordPress blog. Today, it describes itself as “a suite of WordPress plugins and themes” that includes a fairly thorough set of features, like activity streams, groups, and forums.
What exactly is the need for yet another social networking platform at this stage in the game? Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg writes about it on the WordPress development blog. “I don’t think BuddyPress will be something you use instead of your existing social networks … but if you wanted to start something new maybe with more control, friendlier terms of service, or just something customized and tweaked to fit exactly into your existing site, then BuddyPress is a great framework to use,” he says.
Continue reading the original article: WordPress Leaps Into Social Networking With BuddyPress 1.0
