At last check, there were 6,769 plugins available on the repository. Many of these plugins overlap each other providing similar or the same exact functionality. Over the past few months, I’ve heard developers tell me about particular plugins which were gaining in popularity in the repository were nothing more than ripoffs of their own creation. But, plugins on the repository are filed under the GPL meaning modifying and redistribution of code is completely valid. To make matters worse, many of the plugins that make use of another plugins code do not contain any form of credit acknowledging the plugin author or where the code came from. I know this because I’ve taken a look at the source code of some of the plugins in question and if you didn’t know any better, they wrote the entire thing themselves. While I could ask the same questions regarding themes, I would like to save that for another day.

So how much code does it take to qualify a plugin as a ripoff? Can a plugin even be considered a ripoff when the license clearly says you can modify and redistribute GPL code without worry? If a plugin author is going to use code from another plugin, what is the proper way of attributing that code? Is attribution even required?

The latest version of BuddyPress is now ready for download.

This release includes a substantial number of core code improvements as well as an array of useful new features.

Some highlights of this version are:

• One click internal bbPress forum integration allowing you to set up group forums in less than a minute.
• A global forum directory (example) allowing you to easily browse public facing forum posts regardless of the group they are attached to.
• Completely re-written theme handling. One theme now controls all of your installation. No hidden HTML, everything is in the template ready for you to skin.
• Easily create themes that are upgraded automatically when BuddyPress is updated.
• Total site admin control of all content within an installation. Edit user’s profiles, update avatars, mark users as spammers, manage all groups, delete site activity entries.
• Activity streams everywhere. Activity streams can be filtered allowing for feature specific activity streams or adding an activity stream to your custom plugin.
• A new status updates feature is included in BuddyPress 1.1. Actions and filters are included to allow plugin developers to hook into any external service.
• An awesome group extension API allowing developers to easily extend groups and add completely new features.

If you’re starting with a brand new installation, check out the new setting up a new installation help guide. If you’re upgrading from a previous version of BuddyPress, please make sure you read the upgrading from 1.0.x help guide before upgrading. There is a specific help guide on upgrading your 1.0.x custom theme to 1.1.

If you’re interested in building themes and plugins for BuddyPress 1.1, be sure to check out the new version of the BuddyPress Skeleton Component and the creating a BuddyPress child theme help guide.

I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone from the community who has helped in reporting problems, submitting bugs, writing patches and answering support queries. Without your help BuddyPress would not have the thriving community and development momentum it has today.

A special thanks to the following developers who submitted multiple bug reports and patches and also spent countless hours in IRC (#buddypress-dev) talking through issues:

JohnJamesJacoby, DJPaul, Junsuijin, JeffSayre, Jason_JM, Chouf1, GIGALinux, burtadsit, Ezd, Mariusooms, r-a-y, slaFFik, pertronic, j.conti

Happy BuddyPress-ing, and onwards to version 1.2!

Adsense Ready

Three column, widget and gravatar ready theme with Google Custom Search integrated.

Rente

Two column, widget ready, fixed width theme

Gray and Square

A gray, square and smart WordPress theme with eight color schemes

Are you a theme author? Submit your theme to get listed in these posts.