Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Getting Started → Configuring Components
Configuring Components

Archived file. Good up to BP 1.6.5

Settings > BuddyPress > Components panel
Settings > BuddyPress > Pages panel
Settings > BuddyPress > Settings panel
Settings > BuddyPress > Forums panel
Users > Profile Fields panel
Activity Streams admin panel

Settings > BuddyPress > Components
Only the xProfiles and Activity Stream components are enabled by default. You can selectively enable any of the components by using the form and saving your choices.

Available Components
Each component has a unique purpose, and your community may not need each one.

Extended Profiles
Customize your community with fully editable profile fields that allow your users to describe themselves.
Account Settings
Allow your users to modify their account and notification settings directly from within their profiles.
Friend Connections
Let your users make connections so they can track the activity of others and focus on the people they care about the most.
Private Messaging
Allow your users to talk to each other directly and in private. Not just limited to one-on-one discussions, messages can be sent between any number of members.
Activity Streams
Global, personal, and group activity streams with threaded commenting, direct posting, favoriting and @mentions, all with full RSS feed and email notification support.
User Groups
Groups allow your users to organize themselves into specific public, private or hidden sections with separate activity streams and member listings.
Discussion Forums
Full-powered discussion forums built directly into groups allow for more conventional in-depth conversations. NOTE: This will require an extra (but easy) setup step.
Site Tracking
Make BuddyPress aware of new posts and new comments from your site.
N.B. 「Network mode」 is a feature of WordPress that needs to be manually enabled and configured first. Instructions for enabling this can be found on the WordPress codex WP Codex – Create A Network

Required Components
The following components are required by BuddyPress and cannot be turned off.

BuddyPress Core: It『s what makes [time travel] BuddyPress possible!
Community Members: Everything in a BuddyPress community revolves around its members.

Settings > BuddyPress > Pages
BuddyPress components are rendered as WordPress Pages in BuddyPress. You』ll recall that the above Pages were created and associated to respective BP components in Step 2 of the Installation Wizard.

Directories
Associate a WordPress Page with each BuddyPress component directory.

Activity Streams
Discussion Forums
User Groups
Members

Registration
Associate WordPress Pages with the following BuddyPress Registration pages.

Register
Activate

Settings > BuddyPress > Settings

Disable BuddyPress to WordPress profile syncing? (default: No)
Hide admin bar for logged out users? (default: No)
Disable avatar uploads? Gravatars will still work (default: No)
Disable user account deletion? (default: No)
Disable activity stream commenting on blog and forum posts? (default: No)
Restrict group creation to Site Admins? (default: No)

Settings > BuddyPress > Forums
Three choices are available: Group Forums only, Sitewide Forums only, or Group and Sitewide Forums. Proceed to the illustrated step-by-step guide to set up both forums.

Users > Profile Fields
Your users will distinguish themselves through their profile page. You must give them profile fields that allow them to describe themselves in a way that is relevant to the theme of your social network.
Note: Any fields in the first group will appear on the signup page.

Arrange profile fields by drag and drop
Move fields to different field groups by dragging onto tab
Activity Stream Admin Panel

Codex Home → Developer Resources → Function Examples → Core Component → bp_core_new_nav_default()
bp_core_new_nav_default()

This function changes the default subnav item of a parent item.
Example:
function change_settings_subnav() {
$args = array(
'parent_slug' => 'settings',
'screen_function' => 'bp_core_screen_notification_settings',
'subnav_slug' => 'notifications'
);

bp_core_new_nav_default($args);
}
add_action('bp_setup_nav', 'change_settings_subnav', 5);

This changes the default subnav of the 「Settings」 nav item to 「Notifications」
NOTE: The 5 priority flag is required
Source File
bp_core_new_nav_default() is located in bp-core/bp-core-buddybar.php

Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Getting Started → Navigation Links Return 404 Errors
Navigation Links Return 404 Errors

A common error after installation of BuddyPress from within the WordPress admin panel is to not set pretty permalinks. If you fail to do this then all of the links in the header will return 404 errors.
To fix this problem, enter the WordPress admin panel > Settings > Permalinks – set to any configuration other than the default configuration. The mod_rewrite must be enabled on your server for pretty permalinks to work.

Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Getting Started → Installing Group and Sitewide Forums (v1.6)
Installing Group and Sitewide Forums (v1.6)

Archived file. Good up to BP 1.6.5 version

Installing Group and Sitewide Forums (v1.6)
The following is a step-by-step illustrated guide for installing the Group and/or Sitewide Forums (bbPress 2.1) for BuddyPress 1.6+ on WordPress 3.4.1 after completing the BuddyPress installation wizard.
Forums Setup
Forums in BuddyPress make use of the bbPress software to function and we made it easy for you to install from the wp-admin backend with a few clicks. Depending on your community』s requirements, you can choose to:

Set up new Forums for Groups only (internal bbPress setup),
Use Existing Installation of Forums for Groups only (internal bbPress setup – upgrading from BP 1.2+),
Set up Sitewide Forums only (integration with bbPress 2.0+ plugin – new in BP 1.5), or
Set up Forums for Groups and Sitewide Forums

Forums FAQ』s (Frequently Asked Questions)
What』s the difference between Forums for Groups and Sitewide Forums?
Forums for Groups:
Give each individual group its own discussion forum. Choose this if you』d like to keep your members』 conversations separated into distinct areas. You may use an existing bbPress installation if you have one.
Features:

Group Integration
Member Profile Integration
Activity Stream Integration
@ Mention Integration

In other words, the bbPress Forums for Groups in BuddyPress are fully integrated and attached to Groups instead of the categorical and hierarchical format available in the bbPress Sitewide Forums. The Group/Site/Super Admin has to enable the forum feature in the Group』s admin panel first.
Site Wide Forums:
Your site will have central forums that are not isolated to any specific group. Choose this if you』d like to have a central forum area for your members.
Features:

Central Discussion Area
Forum Plugins Available
Activity Stream Integration
@ Mention Integration

A. Installing Forums for Groups only
Step 1. Go to admin dashboard > Settings > BuddyPress > Forums. Click on "Install Group Forums"

Step 2. New bbPress Installation. You』ve decided to set a new bbPress for forum management in BuddyPress. This is very simple and is usually just a one click process. When you』re ready, hit the link below. Click on "Complete Installation"

Step 3. All done! Configuration settings have been saved to the file bb-config.php in the root of your WordPress install.

If you kept the original page name/slug, Forums, for your Group Forums during the Installation Wizard then just proceed to http://yoursite.com/forums and you』ll find the Group Forums Directory page.
If you changed the page name/slug to e.g. 「Our Forums」 by creating a new Page named 「Our Forums」 then associated it with the Discussion Forums in BuddyPress > Pages, re-run Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks > Save, then proceed to http://yoursite.com/our-forums
Step 4. Create a New Group and Set Up the Group』s Discussion Forums
a. Go to the Groups Directory in the frontend and click on the 「Create a New Group」 button.
b. Add Details about the Group -> Group Name and Group Description
c. Choose your preferences for the following features -> Privacy Options, Group Invitations and Group Forums where you click on the checkbox to 「Enable Discussion Forums」
d. Proceed to the next steps of to finalize Group creation -> Uploading Group Avatar (or not) and then to the Invites panel where Group Admins can only invite friends while Super Admin can invite anyone.
B. Use Existing Installation of Forums for Groups only
Step 1. If you already have an existing bbPress installation for Groups, go to admin dashboard > BuddyPress > Forums and click on "Use Existing Installation"

Step 2. Existing bbPress Installation
BuddyPress can make use of your existing bbPress install. Just provide the location of your bb-config.php file, and BuddyPress will do the rest. bb-config.php file location: (shows path where bb-config.php is expected to be found) Click on "Complete Installation"

Step 3. If the path to your existing bb-config.php was incorrect, you』ll receive an error message 「The bb-config.php file was not found at that location, please try again.」 Find where that bb-config.php is and make sure you have the right path when you go through the process again.
If the path to your existing bb-config.php is correct, you』ll receive a congratulatory message and you can proceed to home page and test drive your Group Forums.
C. Set Up Sitewide Forums only
Since you are setting up Sitewide Forums only, disable (uncheck) Discussion Forums in the Settings > BuddyPress > Components panel.

Step 1. Go to wp-admin dashboard menu Settings > BuddyPress > Forums and click on "Install Sitewide Forums"

Step 2. The box below will show up on screen. Click on the red "Install" button

Step 3. Click on the "Activate Plugin" link

Step 4. Activating the bbPress plugin brings you to the Installed Plugins panel. You』ll already find the new 「Forums」, 「Topics」, and 「Replies」 navigation links added in dashboard menu under the 「Comments」 menu. We』ll explore the forum links later as we need to finish configuring the Sitewide Forums first.
Look for bbPress in the the list and beside the plugin nane, Click on the Settings link or go to Settings > Forums

Step 5. This opens up the Forums panel where you』ll be able to further configure the Sitewide Forums. Since this is your only bbPress Forum installation, you can keep the 「forum」 as your Forums base under Archive Slugs. Keep default configuration or make your modifications then click on "Save Settings"
Note: During the Installation Wizard, Forums will be associated with the 「Forums」 page. In some installations, you do not need to change anything. But if your sitewide forums won』t work, go to wp-admin BuddyPress > Pages and you』ll find the association and remove the Forums Page as the selected page.

Step 6. Go to dashboard menu Forums > New Forum to Create New Forum to test.

Step 7. This brings us to the Create New Forum panel. In this example, we』ll add an 「Announcements」 forum then click on the "Publish" button.

Step 8. Check out your new forum. Click on "View Forum" link.

Step 9. This is how your new 「Announcements」 forum would look like.
[Note: You will have to create the link to your sitewide forums page in your custom menu or main navigation. The menu links in the image below were created prior to setting up this tutorial.]

Step 10. Create a new Topic under the Announcements Forum. Enter the Topic Title, Topic Description, Topic Tags, and Topic Type. The Topic Types- Normal, Sticky and Super Sticky – can be set by the Forum Key Master. Although hidden in image below, you can check 「Notify me of follow-up replies via email.」 After you finish with creating your topic, click on the "Submit" button".

Step 11. Congratulations! Your Topic has been posted under the 「Announcements」 Forum.

Step 12. Now go Create New Forums as needed in your social network and open up for business!
NOTE: For more information about how to use bbPress forums, please read https://codex.bbpress.org/getting-started-with-bbpress/
D. Installing Forums for Groups AND Sitewide Forums
You may activate both Group and Site Wide forums, but this may create a poor experience for your members. Having said that, if you still want to proceed with setting up both forums to meet your social network』s requirements, read on.
「Forums」 Page Slug issue:
If you』re going to install Sitewide Forums only, it gets the Forums slug automatically.
However, if you』re going to install both Forum for Groups and Sitewide Forums, know that Forums for Groups (internal bbPress installation) has priority over the 「forums」 page/slug under the Discussion Forums page as seen in BuddyPress > Pages over the Sitewide Forums (bbPress 2.0 the plugin). The conflict arises because the Archived Slugs -> Forums base for Sitewide Forums is also 「forums」. Uh-oh.
There are three ways to set up both forums and prevent conflict on the page slugs:
1. Change the Forums for Groups page slug OR
2. Change the Sitewide Forums archived page slug OR
3. Change slugs of both Forums for Groups and Sitewide Forums
1. Change the Forums for Groups page slug
In this example, we』ll set 「group-forums」 slug for our install』s Forums for Groups and use the 「forums」 slug for our Sitewide Forums.
a) Go to Dashboard > Pages > Add New and name that page, Group Forums, and click on the "Publish" button

b) Go to admin Dashboard > BuddyPress > Pages and change the Page assigned to the Discussion Forums component to the new Group Forums Page created above. Click on the "Save" button on the same line as Discussion Forums.

c) Settings saved. Go to your home page.

d) Click on the Group Forums link in bp-default theme』s main navigation and you』ll see the group Forums Directory page. Before you can add a new Topic, you would need to create a group first because each Topic should be associated to a certain group.

e) Now go back to admin Dashboard > BuddyPress > Forums and click on "Install Sitewide Forums"

f) Continue with the installation as seen on Set up Sitewide Forums only.
g) Everything looks good … except what』s this? Clicking on the 「Forums」 link in main navigation leads to an empty page titled Forums(!). There』s a solution for that.
– Go Dashboard > Pages > All Pages
– Edit the Forums page
– Add the bbPress shortcode 「bbp-forum-index」 and click on the "Update" button. Check out the other bbPress shortcodes you can add to your Forums page from this bbPress 2.0 shortcodes list by John James Jacoby, Lead Developer of BuddyPress and bbPress plugins.
h) Re-run permalinks via Dashboard > Settings > Permalnks > and Save Settings.
2. Change the Sitewide Forums page slug
In this example, Forums for Groups will retain the 「forums」 slug while we』re going to change the Sitewide Forums Base Slug to 「sitewide-forums」.
a) Follow the installation instructions of a new Forums for Groups only or that of Existing Installation of Forums for Groups.
b) Follow the installation instructions of the new Sitewide Forums until at Step 5 when you reach the Settings > Forums panel. Go down the panel to the 「Archive Slugs」 section and in the text area provide for 「Forums Base」, change 「forums」 to 「sitewide-forums」 (without the apostrophes). Click on the "Save Changes" button
c) Then continue on with Step 6 of the Sitewide Forums installation till end of the page.
d) Create a link for the Sitewide Forums in Dashboard > Appearance > Menus
e) Re-run permalinks via Dashboard > Settings > Permalnks > and Save Settings.
3. Change the slugs of Forums for Groups and the Sitewide Forums
In this example, I would like my Group Forums to named as 「Support」 and my Sitewide Forums to be 「Discussions.」
a) Forums for Groups:

Rename the 「Forum」 Page created during the installation wizard procedure by going to Dashboard > Pages > All Pages, click on Edit link for the 「Forums」 page.
Change 「Forums」 to 「Support」 (without the apostrophes) in title area and 「support」 in slug area below the title.
Click on the "Publish" button.
Go to Dashboard > BuddyPress > Pages.
In Directories – Discussion Forums – select 「Support」 from dropdown and click on the 「Save」 button in same line.
Go to Dashboard > Appearance > Menus and add the 「Support」 page to your custom menu.

b) Sitewide Forums:

Go to Dashboard > Pages > Add New
In Add New Page panel, put 「Discuss」 as page title and add 「bbp-forum-index」 shortcode to start off as seen on this page https://bbpress.org/forums/topic/bbpress-20-shortcodes
Click on the "Publish" button.
Go to Dashboard > Settings > Forums
In the bbPress Settings panel, go down to 「Archive Slugs」 – 「Forums Base」 and change 「forums」 to 「discussions」
Click on the "Save Settings" button.
Re-run permalinks via Dashboard > Settings > Permalnks > and Save.
Add new Forums via Dashboard > Forums > Add New panel.
Go to Dashboard > Appearance > Menus and add the 「Discussions」 page to your custom menu.

bbPress Forums Tables in Database
The installation of BuddyPress internal bbPress forums, Group Forums, adds seven (7) new tables to your database:

yourPrefix_bb_forums
yourPrefix_bb_meta
yourPrefix_bb_posts
yourPrefix_bb_terms
yourPrefix_bb_term_relationships
yourPrefix_bb_term_taxonomy
yourPrefix_bb_topics

.
Database tables of a single WordPress installation generated when internal bbPress – Group Forums – is activated.

Database tables of a WordPress Multisite installation (other subsite tables deleted) generated when internal bbPress – Group Forums – is activated.

E. Forums: Frequently Asked Questions
How can I enable my Group』s forum?

Create a Group – only Group Admin/s and Site/Super Admin can enable the group』s forum
Go to the group』s 「Admin」 link
Select Group Settings
Check 「Enable Forum」 box and save settings
Create a Topic to test

How can I migrate my Group Forums to the Sitewide Forums?
Migration script to transfer Group Forums to Sitewide Forums is not available at this time.
I cannot uninstall the Forums for Groups. When i click uninstall group forums, it just re-initiates itself. What step am I missing?
First, back up your database and the bb-config.php file which was generated in root of your WordPress install when you installed Forums for Groups. Delete bb-config.php file from server.
I installed this cool bbPress add-on plugin and it』s only working in my Sitewide Forums but not in my Group Forums. What』s wrong with my installation?
Unless it is specifically stated as a plugin for the BuddyPress group forums, all add-on bbPress plugins are specifically for the Sitewide Forums (bbPress 2.0, the plugin).

Codex Home → Getting Started → Exporting Data
Exporting Data

There is currently no plugin available to export your BuddyPress site data.
However, it is possible to manually execute a database dump to export your data.

Codex Home → Getting Started → Embeds
Embeds

Since BuddyPress 1.5, we have integrated WordPress』 native Embeds functionality.
So now it』s easy to embed videos, images, and other content into your Activity Stream, Group Forum, and Private Message posts.
All you have to do is add your embed URL on its own line in the textarea.
eg.
This is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROBmgYcIBww
And your content will be automatically embedded!

Frequently Asked Questions
What sites are supported?
See https://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds#Okay.2C_So_What_Sites_Can_I_Embed_From.3F
To embed more sites, you can use any oEmbed plugin for WordPress.
Embedly is a popular choice that supports over 200 sites. For performance issues when using Embedly, select only the sites you need to support.
How do I adjust the width of my embedded items?
If you』re not using the BuddyPress Default theme, you will probably want to customize the width of your embedded items so they match the width of your theme.
There are two ways to resize the width:

Set the 「maximum embed size」 in the WP Media Settings Subpanel
Set the $content_width variable in your theme』s functions.php:
if ( ! isset( $content_width ) )
// Change 640 to whatever the width of your column is
$content_width = 640;

Filtering embeds
BP doesn』t use the WordPress embed_oembed_html filter, but bp_embed_oembed_html can be used instead. For example:
add_filter( 'bp_embed_oembed_html', function( $html, $url, $attr, $rawattr ) {
// Wrap the embed with a

Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Theme Development → Installing a Compatible Theme
Installing a Compatible Theme

Archived file. Good only up to BP 1.5 version

After you activate BuddyPress, you』ll get this message under the header of the Plugins page:
BuddyPress is ready. You'll need to activate a BuddyPress compatible theme to take advantage of all of the features. We've bundled a default theme, but you can always install some other compatible themes or upgrade your existing WordPress theme.
Activate a BuddyPress compatible theme
This link goes to your admin themes page where you can activate the bp-default theme to test drive the different BuddyPress components that you, as Super/Site Admin, chose to enable for your community.
Note:
If you want to modify or customize the bp-default theme, build a child theme instead to ensure that your revisions will not be overwritten when you upgrade BuddyPress.
Install some other compatible themes
This link goes to a special theme installation page listing all BuddyPress-compatible themes and child themes of the bp-default theme which have been accepted in the WordPress Themes repository and are ready to install and activate in your site.
Notes:
1. BuddyPress themes and bp-default child themes are also available at:

https://wordpress.org/extend/themes/tags/buddypress
https://buddypress.org/extend/themes/

2. Make sure that the theme you want to install is compatible with the WordPress/BuddyPress versions you have activated in your installation.

BP 1.1.3 compatible themes are not compatible with BP 1.2+ installations.
New functions/features contained in WP 3.0 compatible themes will not work with WP/MU 2.9.2 installations

Upgrade your existing WordPress theme
This link goes to a new BuddyPress admin panel where you can automatically install the BP Template Pack plugin to integrate BuddyPress component templates into your active WordPress theme.
https://codex.buddypress.org/extending-buddypress/wordpress-to-buddypress-theme/

Codex Home → Getting Started → Troubleshooting → Blank Pages
Blank Pages

In some server environments, installation of BuddyPress can lead to blank pages. A great source for troubleshooting this problem is the error logs.
Memory Limit
Increasing the available memory may fix the blank page problem. Three methods are available for increasing the memory limit.
php.ini
If possible, increase the memory limit within the php.ini file.
wp-config.php
If possible, increase the memory limit in the wp-config.php file by adding define ('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');.
.htaccess
If possible, add the following to the .htaccess file: php_value memory_limit 256M
talk to your host
If you cannot resolve increasing memory with the fixes above, it means that your hosting provider prevents increases in memory limits. Contact tech support right away. Some hosting providers might require you to upgrade your plan or pay extra.
Clear your browser cache or try another browser
After increasing memory, be sure to clear your browser cache. Also, troubleshoot multiple browsers and multiple user roles (subscriber, author, admin, etc.)
Database Tables
Other things stopping the DB tables being run is some sort of warning or error with PHP – often either a memory limit, CPU limitation, a problem with the web server itself, bad code or corrupt file.
1) Memory limit problem often reveals itself with 「failed to allocate」 in the apache/php error logs.
2) People have had mixed success running WPMU/BP on virtual hosted servers; I suppose it depends on the company you are using. If such an outside influence stopped activity *part way* through the BuddyPress installation, then you』d end up with a corrupt install. As a rule of thumb, avoid virtual hosted servers for WPMU/BP.
3) I』m a *unix man as far as web servers go, so I can』t talk for Windows. If you see 「segfault」 errors in WPMU/BP for Apache (or similar), you』ve probably got a library or versioning conflict — i.e. incompatibility between specific versions of PHP and MySQL, for example. These are really tricky to figure out what』s causing the problem, but if you』ve recently installed a new version of your web server/mysql/php etc, this could be why.
4) Bad code or corrupt file – how is everyone in this thread installing BuddyPress? Via the automatic plugin installer? If so, try to FTP files up to your server – or better yet, SSH and use a shell to install the files yourself.
Source
XAMP and MAMP
Testing servers built with XAMP or MAMP should use the latest versions.

Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Getting Started → Configuring Components (v1.2)
Configuring Components (v1.2)

Archived file. Good only up to BP 1.2 version

After installing and activating BuddyPress, a new menu button with links to help you configure BuddyPress will be added to your dashboard under the Dashboard menu button.
General Settings

Base Profile Group Name
Full Name field name
Enable BuddyPress to WordPress profile syncing?
Hide admin bar for logged out users?
Disable avatar uploads? (Gravatars will still work)
Disable user account deletion?
Disable global forum directory?
Disable activity stream commenting on blog and forum posts?
Default user avatar

Component Setup
By default, all BuddyPress components are enabled. You can selectively disable any of the components by using the form. Your BuddyPress installation will continue to function. However, the features of the disabled components will no longer be accessible to anyone using the site

Activity Streams
Allow users to post activity updates and track all activity across the entire site.
Blog Tracking
Track blogs, blog posts and blog comments for all users across a WordPress Network (or Multisite) installation.
N.B. 「Network mode」 is a feature of WordPress that needs to be manually enabled and configured first. Instructions for enabling this can be found on the WordPress codex WP Codex – Create A Network
bbPress Forums
Activates bbPress forum support within BuddyPress groups or any other custom component.
Friends
Allows the creation of friend connections between users.
Groups
Let users create, join and participate in groups.
Private Messaging
Let users send private messages to one another. Site/Super admins can also send site-wide notices.
Extended Profiles
Activates customizable profiles and avatars for site users.

Forums Setup
Forums in BuddyPress make use of a bbPress installation to function. You can choose to either let BuddyPress set up a new bbPress install, or use an already existing bbPress install. Note that bbPress forums in BuddyPress are fully integrated and attached to groups instead of the categorical and hierarchical format available in an external bbPress forum. Choose one of the options below:

Set up a new bbPress installation
You』ve decided to set up a new installation of bbPress for forum management in BuddyPress. This is very simple process and is usually just a one click process. When you』re ready, click on the 「Complete Installation」 button.

Go to dashboard > BuddyPress menu > Forums Setup.
Click on 「Set up a new bbPress installation」 button.
Click on 「Complete Installation」 button.
All done! Configuration settings have been saved to the file bb-config.php in the root of your WorPress install.
Enable Forum for each Group

Create a Group
Go to the group』s 「Admin」 link
Select Group Settings
Check 「Enable Forum」 box and save settings
Create a Topic to test

Use an existing bbPress installation
BuddyPress can make use of your existing bbPress install. Just provide the location of your bb-config.php file, and BuddyPress will do the rest

Input bb-config.php file location:
e.g. directory /home/yoursite/public_html/bb-config.php
Internal bbPress installation is a success when you get the message:
Forums were set up correctly using your existing bbPress install!
BuddyPress will now use its internal copy of bbPress to run the forums in your site. If you wish, you can remove your old bbPress installation files, as long as you keep the bb-config.php file in the same location.

Profile Field Setup
Your users will distinguish themselves through their profile page. You must give them profile fields that allow them to describe themselves in a way that is relevant to the theme of your social network.
Note: Any fields in the first group will appear on the signup page.

Codex Home → Legacy Docs → Archived Section: Theme Development → The BuddyPress Default Theme
The BuddyPress Default Theme

Archived file. Good up to BP 1.9 version. The BP Default theme will no longer be activated in new installations from BP 1.9 onwards and will be retired in the near future. http://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/the-future-of-the-bp-default-theme/

The BP Default theme bundled with the BuddyPress plugin is a theme framework which contains all the functionality of regular WordPress templates enhanced with BuddyPress template tags along with special templates, AJAX, JS, and CSS to render the basic components and features of BuddyPress.
Basic bp-default theme HTML Structure
bp-default theme files have the basic structure in common:

[HEADER] div#header
div#container

div#content

div.padder

[PAGE CONTENT]

div#sidebar

[SIDEBAR CONTENT]

[FOOTER] div#footer

To be more specific, the general theme structure is shown below:
?123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445// Start of header.php    

 // End of footer.php