The popularity of social networking websites has gone through the roof over the last decade. There are dozens of social networking websites available where people of shared or similar interests can connect and exchange knowledge. Social networks provide a common platform for people to interact with each other and engage in various conversations like PeepSo vs BuddyPress. Keeping this in mind, many organizations have created their social networking communities where their customers can turn into long-term members and build personal relationships with fellow members and the brand. The most common platform to create a community is WordPress.
This article will discuss two tools that can be used to fully functional community websites on WordPress – PeepSo vs BuddyPress. So let’s begin!
PeepSo
Launched in 2015, PeepSo is a social network plugin that integrates easily with your WordPress community website. It is an open-source platform and is completely free of cost. PeepSo also allows you to customize all the plugins without any effort. PeepSo also has a paid version that gives you access to some advanced functions on the website. The plugin is tested with the latest versions of PHP and WordPress to ensure smooth functionality for all users. It also comes with automatic testing tools and dedicated servers that provide the engineer with all the facilities required to build the perfect WordPress community website. PeepSo also makes sure your website has all the latest features and is being used optimally with continuous and frequent updates.
Key Features of PeepSo:
1. User profiles
PeepSo allows your users to create a user profile on your community website to topple customization options like setting a profile picture or a cover photo. It also provides many custom fields using which the users will be transparent about themselves on their profile page. The profile settings option also lets you configure various profile settings and lets users like other users’ profile pages.
Also Read: How to Create Website Content that Actually Converts
2. Custom profile fields
As the name suggests, this feature enables you to create custom profile fields, birthday fields, URLs, country, etc. PeepSo allows you to choose single or multiple options based on your requirements as the owner of the website owner takes it easier for you to provide all the necessary opportunities for the single page. It also allows you to customize your registration forms, customize the default fields, and set py to various profile fields.
Activity stream
The activity stream feature usually contains various selections which inc, lude:
- Activity posts, where the users can write/create posts on Activity Stream
- Three different privacy settings to choose from – Public, Members only, Only me
- Nested comments so that users don’t lose track of their conversations
- Pinned posts at the top of Activity Stream for making announcements
- Hover cards to display the user’s profile summary
3. Reactions and hashtags
Reactions can be used to make the conversations of the members more interactive. PeepSo provides you with a set of built-in reactions with an advanced admin panel for you to do everything. Responses in the form of GIFs are also common to standard by many using PeepSo. Moreover, it gives you the ability to use hashtags on your posts. This makes the users’ posts more visible to other users. Users can search by typing the hashtag in the search bar or directly clicking on the hashtag to view all the bases with the same hashtag. Like reactions, the hashtags tool is also a built-in feature on PeepSo.
4. Widgets
This feature allows you to add widgets anywhere on your WordPress websites. Some of these widgets include:
- PeepSo Profile Widget which, allow the users to add user profiles, avatar, notifications, and BuddyPress profile
- Latest Members Widget where the newest community members are displayed with their avatars
- Online Members Widget that displays all the online members
5. Some more features
Along with all the critical features different essentials mentioned above, PeepSo also offers many added features like blog posts, text formatting, and email notifications. It also comes with RTL support and is cross-browser compatible. Furthermore, it allows you to create a multilingual website and fully control how your website looks.
PeepSo Integrations:
Mentioned below are a few monetization plugins of PeepSo that can make your website more engaging:
- WooCommerce: This is a popular plugin that can be used to set up a fully functional online store
- LearnDash: With this, you can set up an e-learning platform on your website
- Advanced ads: This allows the owner of the website to optimize advertisements on the website
- Easy Digital Downloads: This plugin also enables you to set up an online store on the website
BuddyPress
BuddyPress is a free WordPress plugin that can be added to an existing WordPress website and create a social networking website. It can also be used as a content management system as it lets you add content to your social networking website. BuddyPress is an extremely high plugin that provides an out-of-the-box solution to create the perfect social networking or community website. With BuddyPress, you can create a website just like Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit.
Also Read: Best WordPress Affiliate Plugins
Key Features of BuddyPress
1. Member Profiles
BuddyPress allows you to create highly customizable profile members. It comes with editable profile fields that let your members share details with other members of the community. Some of the profile fields available by default include a text box, multiline text area, radio buttons, checkboxes, drop-down selector, and date selector. It also allows the members to adjust the visibility of their profiles in the following ways:
- Everyone
- Only Me
- All Members
- My Friends
2. Settings
This feature allows the users to access the set complete a highly receives powerful page to customize their profile as per their requirements. Some of the locations available on this page include:
- General: Here, users will be able to change or reset their passwords
- Notifications: This allows the users to block or unblock notifications from specific profiles
- Delete Account: As the name suggests, this setting allows the users to delete their accounts from the website.
3. Groups
This feature allows the users to create groups within the same community. Here, like-minded people can get in touch and share knowledge as sharing Buddy press docs works. The member that forms the establishes becomes the group administrator and holds access to all the settings in the group. Group administrators can make a private group, where they have control over who can join the group, or a public group, where anyone can join the group. In both cases, the group administrator can remove/block any member of the group for misbehaving.
4. Activity stream
The activity stream consists of all the activities on the website. BuddyPress records every action on your website. Some of the everyday activities that are recorded include new friendships, comments, and blog posts. The members will also be able to filter the activities to stay updated with certain profiles. Some of the specific selections here are listed below:
- Sitewide Activity Stream
- Group Activity Stream
- Member Activity Stream
- Activity Stream Management Screens
5. Notifications
Notification is one of the most common features used by website owners to boost engagement on your social networking website. New notifications get displayed in the admin bar, next to the navigation menus. Every time your user gets a friend request, a message, or a comment on any of their posts, they receive a notification, making them spend more time on the website.
6. Friend lists and Private Messaging
With a BuddyPress website, your members will add friends to their profile and grow their following. This feature also allows the users to make new friends who share the same interests and connect well. Furthermore, BuddyPress offers a private messaging option that allows the members to send messages privately to other website members to receive choose if they want to receive messages notifications from one or only people from their friend lists.
BuddyPress Integrations
Mentioned below are some integrations of BuddyPress to improve your website:
- Advanced ads: This allows the owner of the website to optimize ads on the website
- LearnDash: With this, you can set up an e-learning platform on your website
- MyCred: This allows the users to earn points and boosts community engagement
- BadgeOS: This helps you reward badges to certain valuable members and motivates others.
- WooCommerce: With WooCommerce support, you can turn your online community into a fully functional online store
- Paid Membership Pro: This allows you to restrict your content based on various membership levels
- bbPress: With bbPress, you can s seamlessly add a discussion board to your website
- Events Manager: This is a registration plugin that allows your members to register for specific upcoming events
- BuddyPress Docs: This lets your members form a collaborative workspace in your online community. With features like document editing and sharing, BuddyPress docs work similarly to Google Docs highly receives.
Here is a comparison table of PeepSo vs BuddyPress:
| Features | BuddyPress | PeepSo |
| Frontend user profiles with avatars and cover images | Yes | Yes |
| Frontend user registration | Yes | Yes |
| Frontend user login | Yes | Yes |
| Frontend user listing with search and filtering | Yes | Yes |
| User can create own activities | Yes | Yes |
| Reactions on user activities | Free & Paid addons | Inbuilt |
Conclusion of PeepSo vs BuddyPress
While PeepSo vs BuddyPress both has their advantages and disadvantages, it is important to compare both of them thoroughly before creating a social networking website. When you have a full-fledged plan for your website, you can choose based on your requirements and liking. If you are looking want a social networking website for free, you may want to consider BuddyPress. Active installations for BuddyPress are 200,000+, whereas, for PeepSo, the same is 5000+. Additionally, Peepso supports very few themes such as Gecko and Reign and Buddy, which provides you with a plethora of free and paid articles a highly receives to help kickstart your community. We highly recommend BuddyPress for your website! It is one of the best tools out there.
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