WordPress Forum Theme: Buddy Download and Usage Tutorial

In addition to building websites, WordPress can also be used to create forums. The Buddy theme introduced in this article is a well-known WordPress forum theme. Naiba here introduces this Buddy theme and provides a tutorial on how to use it.

Buddy Theme Introduction

Buddy is a simple forum theme built using WordPress and BuddyPress.Buddy is a lightweight, modern, and responsive WordPress and BuddyPress theme suitable for any type of website, whether it's business, corporate, community, magazine, portfolio, etc. It's also excellent if you want to use the theme without BuddyPress or bbPress.

Complete Feature List

• BuddyPress integration
• bbPress Integration
• Responsive
• One-Click Installation
• Shortcode Support
• Frontend Login/Registration Interface
• Retina Screen Optimization
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Translation File Support
• Icon Font (FontAwesome)
• Clean Code
• Personal and Global Options
• Create Unlimited Sidebars
• Child Theme
• Contact Form 7 Support
• JavaScript fallback
• Compatible with All Major Browsers
• Valid HTML5 and CSS3

View DemoBuddy is relatively expensive, priced at $199. If you find it unaffordable, you can choose their other themeAardvark

Buddy Theme Usage Tutorial

Next, Naiba will explain how to use the Buddy Theme on WordPress to build your own forum community website.

Install Theme

First, you definitely need to have a WordPress website.If you don't have a website yet, first followWordPress Installation Tutorialto build one. Then, install the Buddy Theme. The installation method is very simple. From the Buddy theme folder you downloaded, upload and install the two files, buddy.zip and buddy-child.zip, via the Admin Dashboard, under Themes > Add New > Upload Theme.After installation, activate the Buddy Child Theme. You will be prompted to install plugins, as shown in the image below:Select all plugins, then choose 'Install' to proceed.Once the plugins are installed, visit your website's Frontend, and you will see the basic website layout. Of course, if you think it's not as beautiful as the demo, you can choose to import demo data.

Then, visit the website Frontend again, and you will see an effect similar to the demo, as shown in the image below:

Set Up Forum

In the WordPress Admin Dashboard, you can see the 'Forums' option. Here, you can modify the forum sections. Below that, there are also options for Topics, Replies, Activity, and Emails that you can configure and view.In the Widgets section, you can set the content displayed on the left and right sides of the website.

Buddy Theme Purchase and Download Address

Buddy is a paid theme, priced at $199. At an exchange rate of 1:7, it's likely unaffordable for many users. However, this theme is indeed excellent for building forums. You could also consider their cheaper forum themeAardvark Purchase Address