You may already notice this blog was updated this weekend: from a blog to a community.
Blogging is an effective to share experience, to discuss some specific issues with a small group peers. This is the original format of AllAboutGalaxyNote.com, powered by WordPress.
However, when a blog post has 100-200 discussions, the limitation is obvious: it is hard to navigate (although WordPress is really a solid platform). In addition, it is very hard for a visitor to start a new topic due to the default security control in WordPress. So, an integrated forum is needed.
Sometimes, some people prefer private discussions. This is also hard to implement in WordPress.A private messaging system would be also helpful.
After some comparison, I chose BuddyPress, which is a social plugin for WordPress to extend the functions of WordPress. So, all contents (posts and comments) are preserved. Now we get additional features with this update:
- Private messaging (for registered users)
- Forum
- Chat room (coming soon)
- Facebook integration (some users want to receive update from Facebook)
- Google+ page (again, some users, like me, prefer receive update through RSS or Google +)
Now the communication is N-way.
Please give us feedback on any features, as well as your other suggestions.
What else do you want to have here?
