Latest Version of bbPress Integrates with WordPress 2.5
Aside from WordPress, the creators of Automattic have several other software products you might be interested in. I mentioned social network platform BuddyPress a few days ago; now let’s talk about bbPress.
bbPress is forum software (like phpBB, SMF, et cetera). It’s still relatively younger and less popular than its blogging counterpart, WordPress, so it’s a good idea to finally develop compatibility between the two. Blogging may be a community in itself, but some people just can’t help hanging out in the forums, and would seem like a great feature for blog-based websites. And if I may be even bolder, the Internet was practically built on bulletin boards!
But I personally don’t like that forums tend to look completely different from their parent websites. It sort of alienates your visitors. An even more important issue is that if you require your users to register on the main site, chances are they have to register again in the forums. With bbPress, you can:
- Use your WordPress user data in the forum
- Customize the look and feel of the forum practically the same you would with WordPress themes
- Pretty permalinks! (Need I say more?)
- Spam protection from Akismet, pretty much the most effective spam fighting system out there
And knowing Automattic, the future of bbPress should be looking bright, so expect even more droolworthy features along the road.
Now my question is, since we’re not using bbPress here at the WordPress Philippines Forum, do you think we should make the switch? Since WordPress 2.5 is out, there’s not really an excuse left, right? What do you think?
Check out some of the newest features of bbPress, download the software, and read how you can integrate bbPress with WordPress.
