BuddyPress 2.3.0 will deliver some exciting new features with my favorite being the completely redesigned “Avatar Upload User Interface. We’re not just talking about a cosmetic face lift here. This new interface brings with it added functionality you’re sure to love. Users will now have the ability to drag and drop images for upload and, better yet, users will be able to snap a fresh pic for upload using their cell phones or laptop cameras thanks to “improved mobile support, & integration with phone/laptop cameras.”
Other Notable Changes Include
Improvements to the way Blog Posts Appear in the Activity Feed: Blog excerpts containing images or other embedded media content will be better displayed on the activity feed page.
The Ability to Add Stars to Private Messages: This new feature will allow users to easily find important messages which are marked as such. Users with cluttered inboxes will truly appreciate this feature.
Support for “Member-type-specific Directories”: This added support will make it possible to browse members based on their assigned roles in a community. The previous filters only allowed member sorting by “last active”, newest registered” and “alphabetical”.
The most significant improvement to BuddyPress may go unnoticed for some time.
The New BuddyPress Attachments API: This improvement is groundbreaking. Though the benefits may not be immediately realized the new BuddyPress Attachments API “will allow developers to more easily manage user-generated media” and that will supposedly spur the development of “media-related BuddyPress components and features.” I personally have waited a long time to hear this kind of news. The lack of user friendly media-related components is the main reason I do not recommend BuddyPress to the vast majority of my clients. This could really be a game changer. BuddyPress may be one step closer to becoming a true “Social Networking Software in a Box”.
A full and detailed change log will be made available upon the official release of BuddyPress 2.3.0. The official release date should be right around the corner. The software has already move out of beta testing phase 2 and is now available for download as Release Candidate 1. You may download this release here. Please do not use this release in a production site.
Stay Tuned!
