{"id":4070,"date":"2021-10-08T13:18:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T12:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/?p=4070"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:05:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:05:29","slug":"wordpress-social-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/wordpress-social-network\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make a social network on WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"head-text\">Have you ever wanted your own social network? It\u2019s actually pretty easy to make one. You won\u2019t even need powerful servers \u2014 a social network for 500-1000 users can work straight from your hosting account.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why would I need my own social network<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to make a new Facebook \u2014 forget about it. Promoting such a large-scale social network simply isn\u2019t viable these days. But nothing stops you from developing a small, niche portal for the fans of some hobby or another dedicated community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, you can make a social network for your city. Or your high school. Or for people who love cats. It\u2019s completely up to you, which niche your network will occupy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, in this case you\u2019ll have to compete with the groups in the existing social networks. But a niche network has two advantages:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>It\u2019s focused. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many items in your Facebook feed are relevant and interesting? Among the lame statuses, memes and ads, I doubt there\u2019s much. But a specialized social network won\u2019t have such trash and that means there will be more interesting posts. And you will have an easier time monetizing your website.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s functional<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, in a social network for people who love cats, there can be a field in a profile for the pet\u2019s name and description. Or, if it is a network for audiophiles, a field for gear.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to make your own social network<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are three main options. <\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Coding a network from the ground up. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll probably need a team of programmers, a couple of years and a lot of money.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>Using an existing engine<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several solutions on the market.<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Boonex Dolphin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. A decent, convenient system, but with a rather bad support. If you have some experience of working with CMS other than WordPress \u2014 you can give Boondex a shot, but you will be pretty much on your own. The price of the license is $40.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Elgg<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s just not good and almost abandoned. It\u2019s free, on the other hand, so at least the only thing you\u2019d waste is time. Do not recommend.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>PHPFox <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Social Engine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Two commercial-grade CMSs, which are designed specifically for social network creation \u2014 and it actually feels like it. They are functional and convenient, but the problem arises when it comes to pricing \u2014 $300 will barely be enough for the CMS itself, not to mention support. And you will probably need a VPS or even a small server due to the sheer complexity and performance required.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Social network on WordPress. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the last couple of years, WordPress plugins have finally reached the level where I can recommend them for commercial projects. They can even work from the shared hosting, which lowers the expenses even more.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, we are going to be using WordPress. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which plugin is better<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two popular WordPress plugins for social network creation \u2014 BuddyPress and PeepSo.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BuddyPress<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BuddyPress belongs to Automattic \u2014 the owner of WordPress.com, WooCommerce and other large WordPress projects. And you can definitely see it \u2014 the system is very convenient and intuitive, everything works as it should. On the downside, monetization is rather annoying and somewhat limiting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Functionality<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to use BuddyPress to its full capacity you need a special theme \u2014 like Boss, offered by BuddyPress for $200. Otherwise, you\u2019ll have to drone over the settings of your current theme and get only an acceptable \u2014 but nowhere near exceptional \u2014 result. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buddypress has:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User profiles;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Groups;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feeds (for both users and groups);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personal messages.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, Buddypress is very convenient and easy-to-use, but somewhat primitive. Luckily, there are many free add-ons that can fix the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Add-ons<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add-ons allow you to add:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blogs for groups;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gifts;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forums;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Galleries;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And a lot of other stuff.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A particularly memorable one is BuddyPress Default Data that allows you to fill the social network with bots and fake data. This allows to test the whole functionality without having multiple testers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the other hand, I rather dislike the need for plugins. Even now there are some plugins for BuddyPress which are not updated and refuse to work on the current version. It\u2019s not a dealbreaker, but it is a concern.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PeepSo<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PeepSo was created a several years later than BuddyPress and the plugin creators really tried to learn on their competitor\u2019s mistakes. Spoiler alert: they didn\u2019t succeed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Functionality and add-ons<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can\u2019t talk about one without bringing up another one. You see, in the basic version of PeepSo you can\u2019t even add another user as a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than that \u2014 there\u2019s no way to unlock the so called \u00abfeature-complete\u00bb version. PeepSo requires you to use official add-ons, and all of them are rather high-priced. You\u2019ll have to pay $20 to let people friend other people, another $20 for galleries, $20 for videos, $30 for personal blogs, $100 for the notifications, the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The final price is around $800, but PeepSo offers a generous discount to $664. That\u2019s actually enough to get a license for PHPFox or Social Engine, as well as pre-pay the server for it for a couple of months. And that solution will blow anything PeepSo can offer away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides, despite promises from creators that their platform won\u2019t be fragmented and the add-ons will never deprecate, I still could not import data from BuddyPress. Why? Well, the corresponding add-on does not support the current version of PeepSo \u2014 1.7.4.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among BuddyPress and PeepSo, I pick BuddyPress. It\u2019s far from perfect, but it is cheaper, more convenient and has more functionality.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to install and setup Buddypress<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin with, you\u2019ll need a WordPress website. Fresh install is highly recommended, but you can make it work with an existing one too.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log into WordPress control panel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Plugins &gt; Add new<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_befa51.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1204 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_befa51.png\" alt=\"plugins\" width=\"160\" height=\"169\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 1\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the search field, enter <em>BuddyPress<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_afaece.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1203 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_afaece.png\" alt=\"keyword\" width=\"382\" height=\"55\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 2\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find this plugin and click <em>Install Now<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_1b43cd.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1202 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_1b43cd.png\" alt=\"BuddyPress\" width=\"546\" height=\"264\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 3\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Activate<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8a9c69.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1201 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8a9c69.png\" alt=\"BuddyPress\" width=\"546\" height=\"264\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 4\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <em>Settings &gt; BuddyPress<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_afbb1b.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1206 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_afbb1b.png\" alt=\"settings\" width=\"158\" height=\"233\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 5\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check all the components you want to enable.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_ec53e0.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1205 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_ec53e0.png\" alt=\"components\" width=\"254\" height=\"605\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 6\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Save settings.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now the core of BuddyPress is working and your website already has a registration page, login page, feeds, groups and all the other stuff. The problem is, you visitors do not know about it, since they cannot access those pages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First of all, enable the registration.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click Settings.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8df659.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1207 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8df659.png\" alt=\"settings\" width=\"159\" height=\"240\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 7\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check the mark in front of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anyone can register.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_e23078.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1208 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_e23078.png\" alt=\"membership\" width=\"481\" height=\"50\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 8\"><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_a6cffd.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1209 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_a6cffd.png\" alt=\"week starts on\" width=\"342\" height=\"112\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 9\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, add the pages to the menu.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Appearance &gt; Menus<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_adc440.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1210 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_adc440.png\" alt=\"Appearance\" width=\"158\" height=\"273\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 10\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enter the name of the menu and click <em>Create menu<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pick all the pages under BuddyPress and click <em>Add to Menu<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_c34ec7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1211 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_c34ec7.png\" alt=\"add menu\" width=\"277\" height=\"546\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 11\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sort them the way you like, check the mark <em>Top menu<\/em> and click <em>Save menu<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_30f66f.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1213 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_30f66f.png\" alt=\"save menu\" width=\"1357\" height=\"741\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 12\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now you need to let people go to the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Activities<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> page when they login on your website.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Settings &gt; Reading<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_38444a.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1214 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_38444a.png\" alt=\"settings wordpress\" width=\"160\" height=\"265\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 13\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under <em>On the main page<\/em> click<em> Static page<\/em><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under main page select <em>Activity<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Save changes<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now your website looks like this:<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_b7d6d7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1709 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_b7d6d7.jpg\" alt=\"my blog wordpress\" width=\"966\" height=\"574\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 14\"><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It does resemble a social network, but only barely. You need a different theme, ideally \u2014 BuddyBoss. But a free theme would do nicely too.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <em>Appearance &gt; Themes.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_a581bb.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1217 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_a581bb.png\" alt=\"themes\" width=\"157\" height=\"143\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 15\"><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Add new.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_709d85.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1219 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_709d85.png\" alt=\"add new\" width=\"240\" height=\"57\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 16\"><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find a fitting theme. I like <em>Rara Academic.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_024ae4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1215 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_024ae4-e1503324867222.png\" alt=\"front page\" width=\"447\" height=\"175\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 17\"><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Install Now<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1218 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_a69583.png\" alt=\"install theme\" width=\"379\" height=\"331\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 18\"><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Activate<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_3a27d4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1699 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_3a27d4.jpg\" alt=\"activate theme\" width=\"379\" height=\"331\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 19\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your website already looks like a social network, but the widgets still show that it\u2019s a blog at heart. Let\u2019s fix it.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <em>Appearance &gt; Widgets.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8ac2a8.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1222 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_8ac2a8.png\" alt=\"Widgets\" width=\"160\" height=\"125\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 20\"><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Delete all the widgets from the sidebar. To do this, click on the widget and click Delete.<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_940bbc.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1223 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_940bbc.png\" alt=\"sidebar\" width=\"447\" height=\"244\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 21\"><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drag BuddyPress widgets to their locations. I like it like this:<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_de628b.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1224 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_de628b.png\" alt=\"settings sidebar\" width=\"365\" height=\"408\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 22\"><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only thing that still snitches on the true origin of your social network is the header. Header can be easily changed in settings.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <em>Settings &gt; General<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Change the name and the description of the website:<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_280a1f.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1226 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_280a1f.png\" alt=\"Change the name and the description of the website\" width=\"489\" height=\"114\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 23\"><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click <em>Save changes<\/em>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s done. Take a look at how my social network looks like after I flood it with bots:<a href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_f97cb3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1227 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/minio.php?2017\/08\/DS_210817_f97cb3.png\" alt=\"social network\" width=\"966\" height=\"887\" \/ title=\"How to make a social network on WordPress - Image 24\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From this moment on, you can start setting up BuddyPress the way you like \u2014 add custom fields to the profile page, install plugin add-ons and overall make your social network special and memorable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now you\u2019ve got your own social network. It\u2019s time to look for new users \u2014 talk about it on forums, send messages to friends, post about it on Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I wish you luck and success. And if you still have questions \u2014 I\u2019ll gladly answer them.<\/span><\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-4070\" data-postid=\"4070\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-4070 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever wanted your own social network? It\u2019s actually pretty easy to make one. You won\u2019t even need powerful servers \u2014 a social network for 500-1000 users can work straight from your hosting account. Why would I need my own social network If you want to make a new Facebook \u2014 forget about it. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webdev","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to make a social network on Wordpress - Unihost.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2714 Why would I need my own social network \u2714 How to make your own social network \u2714 WordPress plugins for social network creation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unihost.com\/blog\/wordpress-social-network\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to make a social network on Wordpress - 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