1. Get Reliable Web Hosting

• Find a reliable web host. My favorite is KnownHost due to their uptime, excellent hardware, great customer support, and reasonable pricing. BuddyBoss is hosted there (SSD-2 option) and we’ve been very happy with them.
• You can start with cheap shared hosting if you’re on a budget, but BuddyPress queries the database constantly and your site will be slow. You’re much better off with a fast SSD (solid state drive) and a ton of RAM (memory) on your own dedicated virtual server (no other sites sharing resources). It makes an enormous speed impact.

2. Install BuddyPress

Upgrade BuddyPress to 1.7+

• If you already have BuddyPress installed, upgrade to 1.7 or above before installing the BuddyBoss theme. The upgrade to 1.7 runs a migration script on all of your activity posts, and this is necessary for compatibility with BuddyBoss 3.0’s more native method of handling activity posts.

— OR —

Install a fresh copy of WordPress and BuddyPress

1. Install WordPress.
2. Install the BuddyPress plugin. Requires BuddyPress 1.7 or above (works with 1.8).
3. Activate the BuddyPress plugin and follow the onscreen instructions.

3. Configure BuddyPress

Follow Onscreen Instructions

1. After activating BuddyPress, you will be asked to create a WordPress page to correspond with each BuddyPress component (Members, Groups, Activity, Forums, Activate, Register, Blogs – multisite only). Create these pages and link them to each component. BuddyPress may do this automatically for you.
2. Create your user profile fields by going to Users > Profile Fields. These are the fields your users will fill out to create their profiles.

Setup Forums

1. Install bbPress.
2. Activate the bbPress plugin and follow the onscreen instructions.
3. You can access settings at Settings > Forums.
4. If you want a specific WordPress page as your bbPress home (you don’t have to), copy this code into the editor on that page: 
5. You have the option to use a forum with each group, or to just use a standalone forum that is not related to groups.
   • If you choose to tie forums to groups, make sure “Enable discussion forum” is checked in the Settings section for each group you would like a forum on. The forum for each group will be accessible on that group’s menu and in the top level Forums page.

4. Install BuddyBoss

1. Purchase the BuddyBoss theme.
2. Upload the BuddyBoss theme folder via the WordPress admin or via FTP to your wp-content/themes/directory. Make sure the folder is titled “buddyboss” and not any other variation for child themes to work. If you are using a child theme, upload it in the same manner. The starter child theme comes with your purchase of BuddyBoss 3.0.
3. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and select Appearance > Themes.
4. Activate the BuddyBoss theme or the BuddyBoss child theme.
5. You can access settings at Appearance > BuddyBoss.

5. Customize BuddyBoss

Default user avatars

1. Go to Settings > Discussion in your Dashboard.
2. At the bottom of the page, set Default Avatar to “BuddyBoss Man”. The BuddyBoss custom avatar will replace the default Mystery Man.

Add your Logo

1. Navigate to the “BuddyBoss” menu at Appearance > BuddyBoss.
2. Upload your own logo. Make sure to click “Upload”.
3. Any logo size will work now. Images larger than 320 pixels wide won’t look as good though, especially on the login screen.

Configure the Admin Bar

The admin bar can either float to the right of the header, or be fixed (docked) to the top of the page like the default WordPress admin bar.

1. Go to Appearance > BuddyBoss.
2. Under the “Admin Bar” section select your desired position.

Add a login and profile widget

The login/profile section on the homepage is no longer hard-coded (like in BuddyBoss 2.0). It is now a widget provided with the theme.

1. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
2. Add the “(BuddyBoss) Profile Login Widget” to your desired widget area (usually the “Homepage: Left Column” widget area). You can add it to as many widget areas as you’d like.
3. Give the widget a title of your choosing. The title will only be displayed for logged out users; logged in users see their profile info.

Activate the profile “Wall”

1. Go to Settings > BuddyPress > Components.
2. Make sure both “Friend Connections” and “Activity Streams” are enabled.
3. Go to the BuddyBoss menu in your Dashboard.
4. Make sure “User Wall Posting” is enabled.

Activate photo uploads in the Wall, and user photo galleries

1. Go to the BuddyBoss menu in your Dashboard.
2. Make sure “User Photo Uploading” is enabled.
3. Users can now upload photos to their Wall, and any photo they upload is viewable at the new Photos tab on their profile.

Advanced member search

1. Install the “BP Profile Search” plugin.
2. Go to Users > Profile Search.
3. “Search Form Header” and “Toggle Form” are not relevant. Whatever you put in there will not be used as those options are only for the hard-coded option. BuddyBoss is using the widget provided with the plugin.
4. Check all of the profile fields you would like to be searchable.
5. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
6. Add the “BP Profile Search” widget to your desired widget area (usually the “Members: Directory” widget area).