PS Community – A Community Platform for ClassicPress

Plugins
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PS Community – A Community Platform for ClassicPress

I’ve been working on another piece of the ClassicPress ecosystem that I think could be useful:

PS Community – a community and social networking platform for ClassicPress.

ClassicPress has some good options for many areas, but when it comes to building a complete community, a lot of the existing solutions are closely tied to BuddyPress or PeepSo.

I think ClassicPress deserves another option.

What is PS Community?

PS Community provides the building blocks for running your own community directly on ClassicPress:

  • User profiles

  • Activity streams

  • Friends

  • Forums

  • Email notifications

  • Community pages

  • And much more

It can be used for clubs, schools, interest groups, customer communities, support sites, gaming communities and many other types of projects.

It is intended as an alternative to BuddyPress and PeepSo, not as an extension of either one.

From WP Symposium to PS Community

PS Community originally started as a fork of the old WP Symposium project.

The original project had been abandoned, but I thought the idea was still worth keeping alive. So I took the code, modernized it, reworked large parts of it and expanded it considerably.

At this point it has moved far enough away from the original project to become its own thing.

The goal isn’t simply to keep old software running.

The goal is to take a good idea, bring it up to date and make it useful again for the ClassicPress ecosystem.

Why does ClassicPress need another option?

I don’t think ClassicPress needs one solution for everything.

I think it needs choices.

We shouldn’t have to tell everyone which shop system, theme framework or community system they have to use.

Different projects have different requirements.

PS Community is simply another option for people who want to build a community without depending on BuddyPress or PeepSo.

It is also designed to work as part of the wider PSOURCE ecosystem, where additional PSOURCE projects can extend and complement each other.

Almost ready

PS Community is already very close to being finished.

I’m currently working through the final cleanup, testing and internationalization. I’m already preparing the English .po translation, and I’m working towards getting PS Community into the ClassicPress Directory as soon as possible.

This is where the community can help.

If you want to test it, find bugs, suggest improvements or help with translations, the current project is available here:

PS Community on GitHub

The faster we can get real-world testing and translations done, the faster I can get the finished version into the Directory.

One more thing

This is another project that comes from the same philosophy behind PSOURCE.

Good open-source software shouldn’t necessarily disappear just because the original developer stopped working on it.

Sometimes it needs to be modernized. Sometimes it needs to be rebuilt. Sometimes it needs a completely different direction.

But if the idea is good, I think it is worth saving.

That’s what happened with PS Community.

Now I’d like to see what the ClassicPress community can do with it.

If you’re interested in community functionality, testing, translations or simply want to see another option available for ClassicPress, give it a look.

Feedback is very welcome.

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More Than a Community Plugin

PS Community brings the essential building blocks of a modern online community directly to ClassicPress. You decide in the admin area which features your website needs. The modules work together while remaining individually configurable.

The result adapts to your project: a members area, club, customer community, support forum, school, internal network, project platform, or an idea entirely your own.

Test it from HERE

Highlights

Area What PS Community Provides
Profiles & Members Extensible user profiles, avatars, privacy controls, profile tabs, a member directory, and last-active information
Activity Personal and global activity walls, posts, comments, link previews, media, and lounge mode
Social Network Friend requests, favorites, blocking, invitations, and email notifications
Forums & Q&A Unlimited forums, topics, replies, subforums, accepted answers, unanswered questions, and expert rankings
Groups Public and private groups, memberships, roles, invitations, group activity, and dedicated content areas
Media & Galleries Images, video, audio, and PDFs, directories, sortable galleries, a lightbox, and optional slideshows
Documents Document libraries, folders, profile and group contexts, and PDF previews with a local PDF.js fallback
Projects Personal and group projects, tasks, priorities, deadlines, comments, and activity logs
Multisite Network-wide module policies, level-based permissions, storage scopes, and a centralized site configuration overview
Customization Extensive shortcodes, attributes, profile tabs, hooks, filters, custom styles, and translatable interface text

Modular by Design

Under PS Community → Settings → Features, you can activate exactly the building blocks you need.

Core Module Function
core-profile User profiles and profile fields
core-activity Activity stream and Activity Plus
core-avatar User avatars
core-friendships Friendships and social connections
core-alerts Email notifications
core-forums Forums and Q&A
core-groups Community groups
core-members Searchable member directory
core-media Media and galleries
core-docs Documents and folders
core-projects Projects and tasks
core-invite Secure email invitations

Profiles, activity, avatars, friendships, notifications, forums, the member directory, and invitations are enabled by default on a fresh installation. Media, documents, projects, and groups can be enabled to suit your use case.

Quick Start

Requirements

  • A running ClassicPress installation

  • PHP and a database that meet the requirements of your ClassicPress version

  • Pretty permalinks are recommended for readable profile, group, and forum URLs

Installation

  1. Upload the ps-community directory to wp-content/plugins/, or install the plugin through your preferred package management method.

  2. Activate PS Community in the Plugins area.

  3. Open PS Community → Setup and assign the required community pages.

  4. Select your modules under PS Community → Settings → Features.

  5. Visit Settings → Permalinks and verify the permalink structure once.

  6. Add more pages with the shortcodes listed below as needed.

Essential Shortcodes

PS Community registers an extensive shortcode API. This selection covers the most common pages and workflows.

Profiles, Activity, and Members

Shortcode Usage
[cpc-activity-page] Combined profile and activity page
[cpc-activity] A user’s activity
[cpc-activity-wall] Global or configured activity wall
[cpc-avatar] A user’s avatar
[cpc-members-directory] Searchable member directory
[cpc-usermeta] Display profile information
[cpc-usermeta-change] Edit profile information

Example member directory:

[cpc-members-directory per_page="30" show_search="1" show_atoz="1" show_actions="1" order="ASC"]

Groups

Shortcode Usage
[cpc-groups] Group directory
[cpc-group-single] Single group
[cpc-group-members] Members of a group
[cpc-my-groups] Current user’s groups
[cpc-group-create] Create a group from the frontend
[cpc-group-join-button] Join a group

Forums and Q&A

Shortcode Usage
[cpc-forums] Forum list
[cpc-forum] Single forum
[cpc-forum-post] Single topic
[cpc-forum-children] Subforums
[cpc-forum-unanswered] Topics without an accepted answer
[cpc-forum-experts] Top members by accepted answers 
[cpc-forum-unanswered days="30" max="10"]
[cpc-forum-experts days="30" max="10" show_rank="1"]

Content and Invitations

Shortcode Usage
[cpc-media-directory] Media and gallery directory
[cpc-gallery-list] List galleries
[cpc-gallery-items] Contents of a gallery
[cpc-docs-directory] Document directory
[cpc-projects-directory] Project directory
[cpc-invite] Send or accept an invitation
[cpc-events] Embed upcoming content from PS Events

You can find all attributes and specialized shortcodes in the documentation and in the relevant admin help sections.

Media, Galleries, and Documents

PS Community treats community content as more than simple attachments. Members can organize and present media and documents within profile or group contexts.

  • Previews for images, video, audio, and PDF files

  • Modern keyboard-accessible lightbox with focus management and ARIA status

  • Touch and swipe navigation on mobile devices

  • Sortable gallery content with immediate saving

  • Optional image slideshows with configurable intervals

  • Native PDF display or a local PDF.js fallback without a CDN

  • Folders and directories for structured content

  • Visibility rules for private and group-related media

Projects That Live in Your Community

Projects are connected to profiles, groups, and the activity stream. Tasks can be prioritized, scheduled, and commented on. Personal projects, projects in groups you created, and projects you participate in remain clearly separated, while relevant changes appear in the appropriate activity context.

Integrations

PS Community works with other PSOURCE plugins. Available integrations are managed under PS Community → Integrations.

Integration Function in PS Community
PS Events Automatic event integration and frontend output through [cpc-events]
PS Chat Group chat, profile status, and context-aware chat features
PS PM-System Private inbox and conversations directly in the profile, including unread messages and optional media integration
PS Jobboard Jobboard tab with jobs and experts in the user’s own profile
PS MarketPress Orders from the current site as a protected customer area in the user’s own profile
PS Security Two-factor authentication in the community profile, when available

The extensions remain independent plugins. PS Community detects their availability and displays only the appropriate features.

Built for Multisite

PS Community can be managed centrally in ClassicPress Multisite:

  • Allow or block modules for subsites across the network

  • Define rules by hosting or site level

  • Review the effective modules for each site in a centralized overview

  • Keep the user cloud network-wide or site-local

  • Set storage limits centrally

  • Manage profile media and avatars with their own scopes

The main site retains full control over its community features.

Security and Privacy

Community features need reliable permissions. PS Community therefore checks more than whether a user is logged in; it also considers the relevant context.

  • Nonces and capability checks for write operations

  • Signed, time-limited invitation tokens

  • Validated email addresses and secure same-host redirects

  • Role and membership checks for private group content

  • Visibility rules for activity, media, documents, and projects

  • Deterministic group roles and consolidated memberships

  • Local frontend dependencies without required CDN requests

Please do not disclose security-related findings publicly. Use the contact options on PSOURCE instead.

Customization and Development

PS Community is designed for extensibility. Themes and plugins can hook into profile tabs, activity events, integration areas, module output, and more.

For local customizations:

  • Prefer overriding presentation in your theme or through the available hooks and filters.

  • Only modify cpc_config.php deliberately; the file may be replaced during plugin updates.

  • Use the cp-community text domain for translations.

  • Enable only the modules you need to keep the runtime footprint small.

Project Structure

activity/       Activity stream and Activity Plus
alerts/         Email notifications
avatar/         Avatars
cpc_docs/       Documents and folders
events/         PS Events integration
forums/         Forums and Q&A
friendships/    Friendships and relationships
groups/         Groups and memberships
lib/            Integrations and shared workflows
media/          Media, galleries, and lightbox
members/        Member directory
multisite/      Network-wide policies
projects/       Projects and tasks
usermeta/       Profiles, profile fields, and privacy
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Interesting! I too am working on an integrated social network for CP.

But mine is much more of a drains-up reworking of the original concepts and methods of implementation of such platform based on historical WordPress plugins.

I’ve been an admin on the BP forum for around ten years. So I have seen the issues created by its archetecture.

Hence the drains-up.

BuddyPress was never designed for its core use-case in my opinion.

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I hear BuddyDev are looking to do the same.

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That’s very interesting, especially coming from someone with around ten years of experience administering the BuddyPress forum.

And yes, that’s actually one of the reasons I didn’t want to simply fork or extend BuddyPress either. PS Community is based on the idea of taking what actually works for a ClassicPress community platform and rebuilding the architecture around those requirements, rather than carrying all of BuddyPress’ historical assumptions and architecture forward.

I would be very interested to see what you’re working on as well. Different approaches are exactly what ClassicPress needs right now.

If you’re interested, I’d also be happy to compare ideas and approaches. There may be quite a bit we can learn from each other — and possibly even things that could be useful across both projects.