Hello again, I am back with third post of this WordPress series, today in this article I am gonna tell you how to transform WordPress Mu into a cool social networking site like Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, Myspace…etc. To transform your WordPress Mu site you  just need to add a plugin whose name is Buddy Press. BuddyPress will add a social networking layer to a new or existing installation of WordPress MU.

How to install Buddy Press on Mu?

Firstly download Buddy Press from here, Extract buddy press folder and upload to your local server (C:\xampp\htdocs\wordpress-mu\wp-content\plugins) and activate from plugins page. After activating it from plug ins, page move buddy press themes to bp- theme.

Done! Browse the Buddy Press themes directory and select a theme that matches your needs and site content. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

Some cool features of Buddy Press :

1. Extended Profiles – The extended profile component allows site admins to create specific profile fields for site members to fill in.
2. Private Messenging – BuddyPress private messaging works like internal site email. Members can message people on their friends list as well as forward and reply to received messages.
3. Friends - Members of a BuddyPress enabled installation can be connected together by one member adding another as a “friend” and then the other member accepting the friendship request.
4. Groups – in BuddyPress are a gathering of members, wires posts and forum topics. In future versions members will be able to post any sort of content to groups including blog posts, images and links.
5. The Wire – The wire is a place where friends and other members can come along and post messages to a specific piece of content within a BuddyPress installation.
6. Activity Streams - Activity streams aggregate all of your activity across a BuddyPress installation. All of your friends activity is also recorded so you can check what others are doing on the site.
7. Blog Tracking- Allowing multiple blogs and multiple users per blog is a key feature to WordPress MU. BuddyPress preserves this functionality.
8. Forum – The forums component allows groups to create and manage their own bbPress forum. Group members can post and reply to topics all from within the group’s page.

Please share your comments and don’t forget to check other tutorials filled under WordPress category.