BuddyBoss is quite different from the rest of the options in this list, in the sense that it’s a WordPress-based community software rather than a hosted platform. So, using BuddyBoss obviously requires you to be somewhat tech-savvy, but if that’s not an issue, you can use it to build the most feature-rich and customizable community platform. Most BuddyPress plugins will work with BuddyBoss Platform, since it’s based on BuddyPress. We just haven’t tested them all 🙂. Many BuddyPress plugins are no longer necessary since the BuddyBoss Platform and Theme come packed with features.
BuddyBoss Theme 1.6.5 + Platform Pro Plugin 1.1.1 +1.5.8 (+ 12 Plugins Package) with Key - Build communities on WordPress $ 228.00 $ 5.59 100% Money-back Guarantee. The BuddyBoss Platform allows members to organize themselves into public, private or hidden social areas with separate activity feeds and member listing.
Private online communities are a rising trend, allowing members to communicate more openly on focused topics and shared interests. You can now create a premium, private BuddyBoss membership community on WordPress without any developer experience.
With Paid Memberships Pro, your site can restrict public access and offer paid subscriptions alongside the BuddyBoss Platform. This article outlines the top features for sites using PMPro as their BuddyBoss membership plugin.
What is the BuddyBoss platform?
The BuddyBoss Platform turns your WordPress site into a robust community, with social networking features including groups, discussions, messaging, friends, and more. Community users can organize themselves into public, private, or hidden social areas with separate activity feeds and directories.
The platform is an evolution of BuddyPress and bbPress, consolidated into a single area of settings. For this reason, you can use the existing PMPro Add Ons for BuddyPress and bbPress to restrict features in BuddyBoss.
Restrict Community Components in BuddyBoss Platform
The BuddyBoss platform supports all the hooks in our BuddyPress Integration. You can use the BuddyPress Add On to restrict your BuddyBoss membership site for multiple user types including visitors, non-members, and members.
- Groups: Restrict the ability for visitors and members to view, join, and create groups. You can also restrict access to the list of available groups in your community.
- Messaging: Restrict the ability for visitors and members to send public or private messages.
- Friends: Restrict the ability for visitors and members to send or accept friend requests.
- Member Directories: Restrict visitors and members from being included in the member directory.
Read the docs for more information about settings in the BuddyPress Add On you can use with BuddyBoss.
Restrict Forums and Discussions in BuddyBoss Platform
The BuddyBoss platform supports all the hooks in our bbPress Integration. You can use the bbPress Add On to restrict areas of BuddyBoss discussions for multiple user types.
- Restrict Forum Discussions by Membership Level.
- Assign a Forum Role by Membership Level.
- Adjust the error message shown when a user does not have permission to view discussions.
- Show a member’s level name in line with their discussion replies. This helps other community members see another member’s access level.
Read the docs for more information about settings in the bbPress Add On you can use with BuddyBoss. Some of the settings are accessible under BuddyBoss > Settings > Forums. There are also some settings for Forums on the Membership > Settings > Levels > Edit Level page.
What is the BuddyBoss Theme?
When you’re ready to upgrade your BuddyBoss site design, we recommend checking out the BuddyBoss theme. The BuddyBoss theme has native styling for all PMPro pages, including the levels and checkout pages. Using the BuddyBoss theme creates a seamless experience across all frontend pages of your community.
Learn more about theme options on the BuddyBoss website »
How do users join your BuddyBoss membership community?
Paid Memberships Pro and BuddyBoss both include features to override the default WordPress registration process. Luckily, choosing Paid Memberships Pro as your BuddyBoss membership plugin offers two options for registration outlined below:
- Only allow member signup through your Paid Memberships Pro checkout process. In this option, all user registrations are processed through the PMPro default flow: Levels > Checkout > Confirmation.
- Members receive a membership confirmation email after registration.
- Members get immediate access to their account page and profile.
- All custom profile fields required at checkout must be collected through the Register Helper Add On for Paid Memberships Pro.
- Going this route will not allow you to use the custom fields in your BuddyBoss settings area at membership checkout.
- Allow users to join through the BuddyBoss Platform’s registration page. Sites that are only free or would like to start people at a free level often use this method.
- No membership fee will be charged through this process.
- Users do not get assigned a membership level through a default BuddyBoss registration.
- You can use a custom code recipe to apply a default level to all users in your WordPress site.
- This is a great method to give a free membership to all users that register on your site and encourage them to upgrade later.
Registration Settings in BuddyBoss and PMPro
BuddyBoss has a section for “Registration Settings” under BuddyBoss > Settings > General. You must check the box to “Allow non-members to register new accounts”.
- To use BuddyBoss registration: leave the default BuddyBoss Registration setting.
- To use PMPro’s checkout process: set the “Registration Form” to “Custom URL”. Enter the URL to your Membership Levels page.
PMPro has settings related to registration under Memberships > PMPro BuddyPress. Adjust the setting for “Registration Page” to the appropriate process you’d like for your site.
Buddyboss Platform Pro
Some people are very concerned about required profile fields as part of the registration process. Luckily, BuddyBoss has a Profile Completeness Widget. For sites that require certain profile fields, our recommended workflow is:
- Use the PMPro Checkout process for registration
- Add a link to the membership level’s confirmation message to “Complete Your Profile”.
- Use the Profile Completeness Widget for BuddyBoss to force members to their manage their profile on login. Users cannot participate in any features of your community until the profile is completed.
What you cannot restrict in BuddyBoss + PMPro:
Below are some features that aren’t currently supported. If you require these features for your membership community, please reach out to a developer for a quote for your project.
- Limiting the number of groups, friends, messages, etc. Currently, these features are either on or off based on membership level and admin settings. We do not offer a way to limit activity volume. An example of this is “Gold members can join 5 groups, Platinum members can join unlimited groups”.
- Documents: Media Uploading is a new feature in BuddyBoss. Currently, we do not offer support to restrict access to media uploads by membership level.
Building a Standalone Integration for BuddyBoss
As BuddyBoss continues to develop new community features, there may come a time that we develop a separate integration plugin for PMPro customers. Please reach out to us via email if there are features of BuddyBoss that you cannot protect for members (media uploads is one such feature). At this time you cannot protect the Media Uploads feature in BuddyBoss by membership level.
“Lead the people, the way they want” is a famous slogan. Hello people!!! All of you are familiar with numerous social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook to name a few. Ever wished to be a proud owner of a social media platform like these? Yes!! Your dream can come true. All you need is support from a platform that I am going to discuss in this review; BUDDYBOSS.
Buddyboss Review Introduction
Everyone in this world is having an account on social media these days. People tend to spend more time with their social family rather than spending time with siblings. This is because everyone gets connected to people who are far-flung. People get updates about their fellow mates. People also use these platforms to run successful businesses.
But what about being the owner of an analogous social media platform? Yes, this is possible with BUDDYBOSS. Buddyboss is a thematic platform that helps you create your own social world. As compared to other plugins like LearnPress, LifterLMS, LearnDash, and WP CourseWare, Buddyboss when merged with the Buddyboss theme can perform more efficiently for the user.
For using Buddyboss it is not necessary that the user should have knowledge about computer languages or coding. Instead, this is a plugin that can be used even by non-technical people who have zero knowledge about coding and computer languages. Buddyboss comes with all the essential, luxurious, and specialized features necessary for running a successful website. The main purpose of a plugin is to support, make the website unique, and eye-catching to the users who visit it. Buddyboss stands tall in all these guidelines necessary for an ambitious website.
Overview
The general idea of BuddyBoss is that it belongs to the family of the plugin and as all the plugins support websites to make them more appealing, BuddyBoss does the same. The differentiating aspect that makes Buddyboss stand at the first position is its unique characteristics. There are almost 69 key features that need to be taken care of and Buddyboss is the only plugin along with LifterLMS that checks more than 60 key features.
Further in the article, there is a piece of detailed information about the plugin on various parameters like the collection of themes, User interfaces, synchronism, the out of the box features you need, and other essential features and services the plugin offers to the WordPress.
In this article, I am going to discuss the plugin in more detail based on the following parameters
- Features
- Pricing
- Pros
- Cons
- User Reviews
- Personal Opinion
Features: Having a look at the ingredients
Talking about any plugin that would provide support to WordPress, it is very necessary for the user to have detailed knowledge about the features that the plugin has to offer. Does the plugin have every feature the user wishes for? which trademarks are missed? And what comes as a surprise for the subscriber. The answers to various such questions will get cleared under this section. One of the most important aspects of discussion is the features that Buddyboss has to offer. The following are the features that are welcomed by the users when they become a member with Buddyboss.
Simple Use:
The first feature that Buddyboss offers is its simple use. The user has the liberty of buying this plugin and in addition to it, the possessor gets the additional benefits of one theme and one mobile app keeping the plugin safe and simple. Buddyboss is very easy to use as compared to most other plugins. A single user can also work initially with this plugin.
Video guiding sections:
The second feature that makes Buddyboss unique is that the user finds it very easy to work with this plugin. This is because there is a guiding video from the plugin to the user, directing him to each section in detail. There are two more essential needs of WordPress namely forum functionality and social networking functionality. Buddyboss brings both under the same roof, saving time for the subscriber to search for them individually.
Same-day updates:
Another key feature for Buddyboss is their same-day updates. As soon as you have updated a theme or purchased a theme or designed a theme and selected it, at the same instance the user will see the changes done. As compared to other plugins, it takes time for the themes to get updated and the website looks fishy till then. These changes are done on the same day with Buddyboss. On the contrary, if you use a different plugin you have to make changes or spend money for someone to make the changes for you.
Features that stand out:
The next feature is a trademark of Buddyboss. There is an addition of this feature where the user can add photos and videos to their WordPress. They can provide support to each section on the website making it easy for the viewers to explore the website. As compared to other plugins, the user has to pay other parties or third-party plugins to do the same task for him. Instead with Buddyboss, there is no need for extra expenses, the plugin does it for him.
Customer Support:
The most important feature that is necessary for a successful business is customer support. Buddyboss has a 24/7 support to offer its users. Whenever the user files a complaint they get the solution to their problem after a few days. But this is not the case with Buddyboss. The support team is always ready to hear your complaints and in the same instance give you the solution you expect. The support system is open to its users every moment.
In the case of Buddyboss, the subscriber doesn’t have to pay an additional charge for customer support. Most of the plugin charge extra money for this service. Buddyboss has this service included in their premium version.
Scope of improvement:
The scope of improvement is a feature where the plugin improves with its users. Buddyboss welcomes the feedback from their users and then makes the necessary changes in their plugin making it more smooth and easy for the subscribers who will be visiting the website in the days to come. Buddyboss believes in self-improvement. This is because they know that if the plugin is perfect then they can provide the same services to their users. There is a team of workers that are continuously working over the improvement of the website.
Congenial with other Plugins:
Buddyboss is a plugin that gets compatible with many plugins. It works smoothly with themes from other plugins. If the user purchases themes from the different plugin and wishes to collaborate it with Buddyboss, there is no barrier and the plugin welcomes the theme. Buddyboss makes sure that the themes from other plugin retain their flexibility even after working with a different plugin like Buddyboss.
List of additional features:
Here we come to the end of the features section. There are many more features that make this plugin stand out from other plugins. Here is a list of all the features that Buddyboss offers its subscribers.
- User Profile
- Different face fields
- Notification bars
- Customer support
- Activity record
- Social media groups
- Mobile app
- All-time guiding team
- Updation of the themes, new theme compatibility
- Documentation with video guidance
These are few features and this list goes on increasing. To make you aware of how developed this plugin is I have mentioned some of those above.
Pricing: Have you spent enough?
Pricing is the factor that decides whether a subscriber should opt for the plugin or not. There are various questions that arise in the user’s mind when there is a thought of spending money. Obviously, no one wishes to get his pocket emptied and with heavy heart, if he does so, should get all the services that he wishes for. Pricing is the factor that changes people’s minds in the selection of a perfect plugin for their WordPress.
In this section, I am going to deal with various premium plans that BuddyBoss has to offer. What is the maximum amount a user will have to spend? What plan he chooses have a validity of a year or more? If he wishes to spend less, then what are the minimum charges that the subscriber needs to pay for buying the premium version of Buddyboss? The solution to all these questions will be cleared in this section. Here is the list of the premium plans that BuddyBoss has to offer.
- 228$ subscription.
- 288$ premium version.
- 348$ subscription.
- 5000$ package.
- 20000$ whopping service.
228$ subscription:
The first annual package that Buddyboss offers you is the 228$ premium package. It includes all the features that are necessary for WordPress. The package comes with full features of trademarks and themes that Buddyboss offers. The validity of this package is of one year and the user can use this premium plan for one website. This is the least or minimum amount that a person has to pay if he wishes to go for the services offered by Buddyboss
288$ premium version:
The second annual package that Buddyboss has to offer is the 288$ subscription. Similar to the previous plan, this paid version also comes with all the necessary features and trademarks and themes that Buddyboss offers. The validity of this feature is one year and the subscriber can use this version for five websites at maximum.
348$ subscription:
The third plan that Buddyboss offers is the 348$ subscription. All the features are made available to the user and like the two premium plans mentioned above, everything is the same except for the number of websites. With this version, the possessor can serve ten websites at maximum.
Additional Plans:
These are the three main subscription plans that Buddyboom offers. They offer two more premium plans which will cost you 159$ a month with all the necessary features for three years and add to it they help you with the mentor support as well. The last premium plan that Buddyboss offers charges you a whopping 20000$. This premium version costs you a huge amount but if you want each and everything served in the dish and also a hand to guide the food till it reaches your mouth, you can go for this plan. Each and everything that is needed will be designed and given to the user who goes for this plan.
Coupon Codes: Want to save money?
Coupon codes prove to be a boon for the people who are budget-oriented and wish to get better services as compared to the amount they pay. There are many coupon codes that will fetch users enough discounts. What this coupon code does is, it allows people to dream high spending less on the overall premium plan that they purchase. Below are mentioned a few coupon codes that users can use to get instant discounts.
2008NMAP4STU:
This is a coupon code that will help you get an instant 40% discount on the total subscription you buy. These coupon codes are for a limited time duration. So, make sure that you make users full use of these codes.
2020SPECIAL:
This coupon code gives you an instant discount of 20% on the overall purchase that you make. As mentioned earlier, this coupon code is also available for a limited time period.
PROS And CONS: Too Sweet or too Spicy?
Pros and Cons are factors over which the subscriber can change his mind whether to buy the premium plan or not. Again, if there are so many Pros and fewer Cons, people blindly follow the Pros and go for Buddyboss. Here are a few Pros and Cons listed below:
Pros:
- An advanced version of all the plugins and all the defects that other plugins are facing, Buddyboss has a solution to most of them.
- The minimum pricing plan is only 228$ providing every specialty that Buddyboss has to offer
- Buddyboss checks 67 features out of the 69 features that are considered as a luxury for the WordPress
- Buddyboss is an open platform and users can develop their WordPress without any difficulty.
- Buddyboss works smoothly with the themes downloaded from other plugin sources and does not have any issues regarding the adaptability to foreign material.
- Getting the solution to every complaint that the user has filed within the time span of 24 hours is the biggest advantage of Buddyboss.
- Buddyboss is currently ranked as the top plugin in the family of plugins as it has all the features covered under them and the characteristics that are left out, the support team is working day and night to get it resolved.
Cons:
- If the user wants to buy the best plan that Buddyboss has to offer, then he has to spend a whopping amount of 20000 which is very expensive.
- Buddyboss needs to improve in its collaboration with Elementor.
- Buddyboss lacks different versions. Including versions like negative or dark thematic versions can be adapted.
Whom does Buddyboss server:
Buddyboss is an online plugin software necessary for WordPress. If you have one of the following, then Buddyboss is the most profitable plugin user can opt for. The list goes as follows:
- Selling online courses
- Online communities
- Online membership program
- Corporate training
- Non-profit organization
- Online school and blended learning
Let me get you into detail of every section as to how Buddyboss will be helpful to the fields listed above.
Selling online courses:
Selling courses online is an area that Buddyboss serves best. Along with increasing your social family and generating revenues, sharing information and hobbies also becomes easy with the help of Buddyboss.
Online communities:
The online community means that the followers or the users can reach the platform without any difficulty. Buddyboss makes sure that it becomes very smooth for the customers to get connected to the platform that is created by the owner.
One thing Buddyboss makes sure of is that the owner of the WordPress gets an update about the loyal customers you have to keep them engaged.
Online membership program:
Buddyboss makes sure that the course user has designed gets full value. If the user has already developed a social community and wishes to sell his developed course online, then Buddyboss is the go-to option for him. Buddyboss uses each member of the community wisely by sending them updates about the courses. Buddyboss also helps the user with an online app that has the course you developed or the content that the user wishes to publish.
Corporate training:
A main corporate software hub for training the users and clients that approach WordPress is very necessary to run a successful social family in this era. Buddyboss helps you with the same. It makes a central hub for the user, where complete training and connectivity of people is conducted. With Buddyboss users can concentrate on moving ahead with the support of their customers.
Non-profit organisations:
Online learning is a stream where there is less material cost and also because of the over the net feature of the course, it gets expensive. Buddyboss helps the user with all the necessary commodities that the user needs and costs less. This benefits the employees, shareholders of the company to a great extent.
Online school and blended learning:
Online education is a stream that is growing at a rapid rate. Online learning gives the student liberty to study at their own pace. It allows the teacher to upload any assignment on the internet. The user just needs an online platform for uploading his courses that could be used by the students. Buddyboss helps the owner with this feature by providing an online application and a complete server.
Personal Opinion: It’s time for tasting
Buddyboss is an online plugin software that helps the user to generate his very own social media family. If I was to buy this plugin, I would have blindly opted for the plugin. Considering all the features that Buddyboss offers it was a win-win situation for the customer who goes for the plugin. Also, one more thing that pulls me towards Buddyboss is that it comes with a 14-day refund policy. If I come across any difficulty I can get my problem resolved because of perfect customer support. Customer support is ready to help me with all my problems at the same instance because of their availability.
Also, there are many features that excite me about Buddyboss. Buddyboss works great with all the themes irrespective of the plugin from which it is downloaded. Buddyboss makes additional changes in the website that the user creates making it more approachable to people. The designs that Buddyboss uses are really eye-catching and it gets me to skip a beat. Overall, If I were, to sum up, this Buddyboss plugin, hands down to this plugin as it covers almost 67 features out f the list of 69 features that are necessary for the development of a WordPress.
Conclusion: Buddyboss Review | Is It Good Or Not?
Every good thing comes to an end. This is a section where I will conclude the information about Buddyboss. Also, in this section, I will give you a summary of what actually is Buddyboss and its various features. To start with, Buddyboss is plugin support that is used to design a course, develop a website, and do many more wonders. Talking about the features, the features that Buddyboss offers are maximum in the market of plugins. Buddyboss covers almost every feature that is necessary for developing a website on WordPress. Also, the features that Buddyboss is lacking behind in, there is a special team of workers who are continuously working to overcome that deficiency.
Talking about the pricing, there are three premium plans. The cost that user needs to pay the plugin depends on the number of websites he wishes to get served. There are also options where the user can give the complete authority to Buddyboss but that will cost the user a whopping amount that is not affordable to most users. In the last few words, Buddyboss is a plugin that works very smoothly and is very easy for users to get used to. Even a person who has low knowledge of coding can work easily with Buddyboss.
Buddyboss Review Faqs
What are the premium plans for Buddyboss?
Buddyboss comes with five major premium plans. The number of websites you wish to get served is what you pay for. For one, five, and 25 websites, Buddyboss costs you 228$, 288$, and 348$ respectively.
What is the checklist of features that Buddyboss offers?
There are altogether 69 ket features which are necessary for the development of a perfect website in WordPress. Buddyboss checks almost 60+ features out of those 69.
Buddyboss Platform Pro
Does Buddyboss work with themes downloaded from other sources?
Buddyboss Support
Yes, Buddyboss works very efficiently with themes downloaded from other plugin sources. Buddyboss is compatible with all forms of thematic data.