Installing Group and Sitewide Forums (v1.5)
Sections: Set up new Forums for Groups only | Use Existing Installation of Forums for Groups only | Set up Sitewide Forums only | Set up Forums for Groups and Sitewide Forums | Forums Frequently Asked Questions
C. Set Up Sitewide Forums only
Note: Since you are setting up Sitewide Forums only, you can disable Discussion Forums in the BuddyPress > Components panel.
Step 1. Go to wp-admin dashboard > BuddyPress > Forums and click on "Intall Sitewide Forums"
Step 2. The box below will show up on screen. Click on the red "Install" button
Step 3. Click on the "Activate Plugin" link
Step 4. Activating the bbPress plugin brings you to the Installed Plugins panel. You’ll already find the new “Forums”, “Topics”, and “Replies” navigation links added in dashboard menu under the “Comments” menu. We’ll explore the forum links later as we need to finish configuring the Sitewide Forums first.
Look for bbPress in the the list and beside the plugin nane, Click on the Settings link or go to Settings > Forums
Step 5. This opens up the Forums panel where you’ll be able to further configure the Sitewide Forums. Since this is your only bbPress Forum installation, you can keep the “forum” as your Forums base under Archive Slugs. Keep default configuration or make your modifications then click on "Save Settings"
Note: During the Installation Wizard, Forums will be associated with the “Forums” page. In some installations, you do not need to change anything. But if your sitewide forums won’t work, go to wp-admin BuddyPress > Pages and you’ll find the association and remove the Forums Page as the selected page.
Step 6. Go to dashboard menu Forums > New Forum to Create New Forum to test.
Step 7. This brings us to the Create New Forum panel. In this example, we’ll add an “Announcements” forum then click on the "Publish" button.
Step 8. Check out your new forum. Click on "View Forum" link.
Step 9. This is how your new “Announcements” forum would look like.
[Note: You will have to create the link to your sitewide forums page in your custom menu or main navigation. The menu links in the image below were created prior to setting up this tutorial.]
Step 10. Create a new Topic under the Announcements Forum. Enter the Topic Title, Topic Description, Topic Tags, and Topic Type. The Topic Types- Normal, Sticky and Super Sticky – can be set by the Forum Key Master. Although hidden in image below, you can check “Notify me of follow-up replies via email.” After you finish with creating your topic, click on the "Submit" button".
Step 11. Congratulations! Your Topic has been posted under the “Announcements” Forum.
Step 12. Now go Create New Forums as needed in your social network and open up for business!
