BuddyPress was conceived in 2008 while working to add social networking features to a WordPress MU powered site. The first official stable release was in May 2009. The platform has grown and morphed considerably since then, into the dynamic, easily extensible package you see today. Just like its parent project WordPress, BuddyPress is a completely open source endeavor. Everything from the core code, to the documentation, themes and plugin extensions are all built by the BuddyPress community. This means anyone can help the project by contributing their time and knowledge. BuddyPress provides a range of features that work right out of the box. However, you might decide that you only want to make use of a couple of features to start with. This is really simple using BuddyPress as you can turn off the features you don’t want with a click of a button. When you disable features, your site’s theme will auto adjust, showing only the menu items, pages and buttons for the features you have enabled. In this post I will do a round-up of some of the best free and premium buddy press themes for you to choose from.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you). I recommend that you do your own independent research before purchasing any product or service. This article is not a guideline, a recommendation or endorsement of specific products.
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Salutation – WordPress + BuddyPress Theme – DEMO
Salutation is a WordPress and BuddyPress theme. If you’re not familiar with BuddyPress, it’s a social network plugin for WordPress allowing your website to become a fully functional community portal. BuddyPress lets your users interract through groups, forums, friends, status updates, private messaging and a lot more. Salutation has a clean design focused on high-level content organization. It’s easy to navigate and promotes a feeling of user satisfaction. The well organized menus and page structures encourage a positive user experience allowing your visitors to find what they’re looking for quickly. The theme includes administration features giving you complete control of your website’s layout and design. The unique and easy to manage design ensures your site will stand out and be remembered.
SuperMassive – Business WordPress/BuddyPress Theme – DEMO
SuperMassive is a powerful professional WordPress and BuddyPress theme. The aim from the beginning was to create a great looking theme that would allow you to make your own unique and abstract layouts in minutes. SuperMassive achieves this by incorporating a ton of easy to use shortcodes. It also comes with excellent support for audio/video files. If that isn’t enough it comes in five amazing skins, Obsidian, Obsidian Grunge, Chocolate, Arctic Fox and Tiger (Dark) to suit your particular taste. SuperMassive really does live up to its name!
DynamiX – Premium WordPress Theme – DEMO
Dynamix is a professionally designed WordPress theme that you can customize in many different ways. it features Piecemaker 2 image rotator, BuddyPress plugin integration, WP e-Commerce plugin integration, Grid Gallery 3, 4, 5, 6 Column Options, etc.
Mingle – Multi-purpose WordPress Theme – DEMO
Mingle is an amazing WordPress theme and it’s BuddyPress ready! Mingle has been designed as an adaptable and highly intuitive WordPress theme. It includes administration features giving you complete control of your website’s layout and design. The unique and easy to manage design ensures your site will stand out and be remembered.
ReviewIt – Review WordPress & BuddyPress Theme – DEMO
ReviewIt is a WordPress and BuddyPress theme that provides you with powerful review and community features.
Score: Review WordPress & BuddyPress Theme – DEMO
Score is a WordPress and BuddyPress theme that is ideal for reviewing any kind of content
Game Portal WordPress & BuddyPress Theme – DEMO
Game Portal is a powerful WordPress Theme with standout design and multipurpose functionality. This theme supports BuddyPress which gives you an amazing chance to build your own social network community within your website easily. Turn your website into interactive place for fans and visitors via multiple user groups, discussion forums, activity steams, friend connections, private communications and your favorite blogging features. Note, this theme is compatible with BuddyPress V1.5.5.
Angus – WordPress & Buddypress community theme – DEMO
Prepare for a different approach to content management. Angus has a front end admin system that lets you add, remove, reorder and move elements around on your pages and posts via drag and drop. Change colors and backgrounds in a real wysiwyg environment. Resize images, and column widths with ease. This is a Buddypress compatible version of the Angus WordPress theme. Allthough the themes look almost identical, the admin and functionality are quite different. If you want the flexibility of the front end editor or need Buddypress compatibility you should choose this version.
Feature! A Community Magazine Theme – DEMO
Feature! is a magazine theme that works perfectly with BuddyPress and BBPress. Now you can build a community around your website with social networking functions and forums. With 6 core color schemes, unlimited background colors and over 100 background patterns. Feature! is as customizable as it gets. This theme comes with a built in review system with 3 different thumbnail types (Standard, Box and App) which is perfect for gaming and movie niches.
Huddle – WordPress & BuddyPress Community Theme – DEMO
Huddle is a clean, robust and easy to use community theme designed and developed for WordPress and make compatible to run seamlessly with both BuddyPress and bbPress plugins installed. Finally, a community theme that is both elegant, clean, modern, and easy to use, with top notch features and functionality out of the box.
Studio – DEMO
Studio is a balance of beautiful, pixel-perfect design with flexible, easy-to-navigate customization.
Blogs MU – DEMO
Blogs MU is a stunning teams, groups and networking oriented theme. Control the site appearance and allow members to customize their profile pages too – works great with BuddyPress, WordPress and Multisite!
BuddyPress Magazine – DEMO
The Magazine Theme meets allows you to run a media rich, gorgeous looking, BuddyPress or WordPress site that doubles as powerful community hangout – Publishing meets Community!
Business Portfolio – DEMO
Business Portfolio is all about showcasing things – it lives to make your content the center of attention in a fresh, elegant manner.
BuddyPress Scholar – DEMO
Scholar is a theme designed to work for heavy content sites, educational institutions and more ‘formal’ communities.
Business Feature – DEMO
Business Feature is all about making your content count. Get your content noticed with this great flexible and high impact theme. Based on the design of the incredibly popular wpplugins.com – Business Feature brings all the power to feature content that site has to your doorstep. Not only that it has an added ability to link to BuddyPress as well.
Gallery Theme – DEMO
Gallery is designed to showcase images. They could be photographs, paintings, products, services, even portfolio items – as the name suggests a gallery but a gallery can be of anything.
BuddyPress Social – DEMO
Social is a truly beautiful theme that takes inspiration from Facebook and delivers you more than you ever thought was possible from a theme – BuddyPress, WordPress or Multisite ready to go!
Business Services – DEMO
Business Services does exactly what the name suggests – it is a great way to show the services you offer. This theme though goes beyond that and can adapt easily to suit a range of sites and requirements.
EduClean – DEMO
The Edublogs.org homepage theme, is ready for you to disassemble and use in as many personal, business or other projects as you like!
The Daily Theme – DEMO
The Daily Theme is the Daily theme is the ultimate news / CMS based theme with multiple designs and layout options to launch your site into the headlines.
Network – DEMO
Network is a powerful front page theme perfect for displaying network-wide content on WordPress or BuddyPress.
Solitude – DEMO
The solitude theme features a two column fixed layout with a jQuery powered slider for the frontpage. This theme is easily configured through the themes option panel, and the theme is fully widgetized.
Product – DEMO
Product is a perfect theme to feature what you want to sell! Whether its your great BuddyPress community, handmade goods, ecommerce or your own services – this is the perfect marketing theme for you.
BuddyPress Community – DEMO
BuddyPress Community Theme is a theme which brings your people together, your friends to the table and your BuddyPress goodness out of the closet.
Author : Dustin Betonio
Dustin Betonio is a Translation Management graduate at University of Mindanao. His earlier career was devoted on customer service outside the information highway. Currently studying Law in the same University.
