Create a social network
Five steps, on WordPress, with the software free and the members in your own database. The install is the easy part, so this guide spends most of its time on the decisions that actually determine whether anyone comes back.
Looking to schedule posts to Instagram or LinkedIn? That is social media marketing and you want a scheduling tool, not this. This page is about building a network of your own.
The five steps
Any host that runs WordPress will do to start. You do not need a big plan on day one, because a new community is a small site. If you already have a WordPress site, you already have this step.
BuddyNext is a plugin. Installing it adds the feed, member profiles, spaces, messaging, notifications and a moderation queue. Nothing here is a paid upgrade: that list is the free core.
This is the real work and the part that decides whether the network lives. Pick three or four spaces people will genuinely use, not fifteen you can imagine. Empty rooms read as abandoned, and a quiet network is harder to restart than to start.
Add the profile fields you want, keeping the list short so people finish it, and decide what is public. Members control privacy per field, so you are choosing the defaults rather than the rules.
Post a welcome and a few starter threads before anyone arrives. A network with a little life invites people in; a blank wall does not. Then invite a first group small enough that every post gets a reply.
Wondering what shape yours should take? There are worked examples of what people build, from alumni networks to marketplaces.
The short answer
You create a social network by putting a community engine on a WordPress site. The engine adds the feed, member profiles, spaces, messaging, notifications and a moderation queue. After that the job is mostly decisions: what the network is for, which rooms to open first, and who you invite.
With BuddyNext the software costs nothing, the install takes an afternoon, and the people end up in your own database. The steps above are the whole path. The sections below cover what you need first, your other options, the setup wizard screen by screen, and the mistakes that sink new networks.
That is the full shopping list. You do not need a developer, a design agency or a separate account on our side. The free plugin activates itself, and there is no key to enter.
Your options
There are five realistic routes, and the right one depends on how much control you want and how much upkeep you will accept. Here is each, including where it wins.
On the WordPress route you own the domain, the member list, the posts and the rules. You choose the host, the theme and the day you add a paid plan. Nobody can change the terms under you, close the community or put a fee on each new member. You also own the upkeep: updates, backups and a fast host are your job, or your host's. That is the honest trade, and for many owners it is a good one.
If you want your own domain, your own members and a free starting point, the WordPress route is the one this page covers. If you would rather pay a vendor to run everything, a hosted platform is a fair choice, and the comparisons above will help you pick one.
Step by step
The first time you activate BuddyNext, a seven-step wizard opens. It is written for the community owner, not a developer, and every choice can be changed later in the admin. You can also reopen it at any time, and re-running it never duplicates pages or categories.
Registration is your main lever over who gets in. There are three modes.
A separate Private community switch controls who can view rather than who can join. Turned on, every community page asks for a login. If you require email verification, send a test email first, because a verification step that never arrives locks people out.
Each space is Open, Private or Secret. Open spaces are public and join instantly. Private spaces are listed, but the owner approves each member and the feed stays members-only. Secret spaces are hidden and reachable by invitation only. Start with open spaces, because they cost members the least effort.
Prefer to see it done? The setup wizard guide and the installation page in our docs cover every field.
The first week
Most networks that fail installed the software fine. They failed in the first month, when nobody answered. Use this list for the first week.
Invitations can go to one person or to many. Under Members, Directory, Invites you can send a single invitation or upload a CSV to invite a whole list. Each space also has one shareable invite link, which you can limit by time and by number of uses, handy for a newsletter or a welcome post. The invitations guide has the steps.
Moderation is built in from the start. Members can report any post, and reports land in a review queue where you can dismiss, remove, warn, strike or suspend. Automated rules, spam scoring and bulk actions are Pro. See the moderation docs for the Free tools.
Coming from somewhere else
Many people already have an audience on a platform they do not own, and they want it to live on their own site. We will be plain about it: there is no one-click importer for hosted platforms.
The Facebook group migration guide walks the whole route, and the Skool guide does the same for Skool.
What goes wrong
If you only want to schedule posts to Instagram or LinkedIn, you want a scheduling tool. If you need a native iOS or Android app today, BuddyNext offers an installable web app now, and native apps are in development. If you will never touch a WordPress admin screen, a hosted platform will suit you better.
Everything else that grows out of a working network, such as paid membership, email campaigns and real-time updates, is covered on the Free vs Pro page.
What it costs
The honest numbers, because "affordable" tells you nothing and the gap only shows up once the network works.
Weighing this against a hosted platform? The platform comparison puts both sides next to each other.
Still deciding what to install, or weighing one engine against assembling the same thing from separate parts? The WordPress social network plugin comparison sets out what the category has to cover before it names a winner.
Where you are now
The right next step is different depending on what you are running today, so here are four, rather than one button for everybody.
Then the fastest way to judge this is to use it. The sandbox spins up a real community you can post in, and you can throw it away afterwards.
The bill grows with your membership and the members sit on their servers. Moving is the part people assume is impossible, so it is worth reading what it actually involves before you renew.
Your members keep their WordPress logins, so nobody re-registers. The free BuddyNext Importer brings the rest across: members, profile fields, groups, activity, forums, media and private messages.
Migrating from BuddyPress Migrating from BuddyBoss What the importer moves
A full REST API ships in the free core, so a custom front end or an integration is a first-class path rather than a retrofit. The plugin source is public, so you can read it before you commit a client to it.
See it for real
Every screen below is BuddyNext running inside a real WordPress theme. Click any screen to open it full size.
Sandbox demo
One click builds a private copy of our demo community, with members, spaces and posts already in it. InstaWP asks for an email to create it, it lasts four hours, and nobody else sees what you change.
Prefer to watch first? See the tutorials.
What to try in the demo
From the same team
BuddyNext runs on its own. These are separate plugins from the same team, for when the community needs more than a feed and spaces.
MediaVerse A separate plugin that powers direct messages and photo and file posts. Its bridge to BuddyNext is part of BuddyNext Free, and the free WPMediaVerse is enough to start. Visit MediaVerse → 
Jetonomy A separate plugin for discussions and forums. Its bridge adds an optional Forum tab inside spaces and is part of BuddyNext Free. Visit Jetonomy → 
WB Gamification A separate plugin that owns points, badges and leaderboards. BuddyNext Free shows them; BuddyNext awards no points itself. Visit WB Gamification → Questions
The software, yes. BuddyNext core is free and GPL, as are its companions for forums, media and gamification. You pay for WordPress hosting, which for a new community is a few dollars a month. What you avoid is per-member pricing, which is what makes hosted platforms expensive exactly when the network starts working.
Installing and configuring is an afternoon. Deciding what your spaces are, seeding the feed and inviting the first group is the part that takes real thought, and it is worth more than the setup. Most networks that fail did the install fine.
No. Installing a plugin and choosing your spaces is admin work. Code becomes relevant only if you want a custom front end or an integration, and a full REST API ships in the free core for that.
No, and it is worth saying plainly. If you want to schedule posts to Instagram, X or LinkedIn, you want a scheduling tool and this is not one. This is for building a network of your own, where your members post to each other rather than to an algorithm.
Ownership and reach. A group lives on someone else platform, which decides who sees what and can change the rules or close it. A self-hosted network runs on your hosting with your members in your database, and everyone who joins actually sees what is posted.
Fewer than you think, and invited in a group rather than all at once. A first cohort small enough that every post gets a reply builds the habit. A launch to thousands who each see silence does not.
The same job under different names. Whichever phrase you searched, the steps do not change: a WordPress site, a community engine installed on it, a few real spaces, and a seeded feed before you invite anyone. The five steps on this page cover all of it regardless of which term you started from.
A normal WordPress site is the starting point. There is no separate social edition of WordPress to buy. A regular WordPress site becomes a WordPress social site the moment a community engine like BuddyNext is installed on it, the same way it becomes a store the moment WooCommerce is installed. If you already run WordPress for anything else, you already have this part done.
Yes, and that is the more common starting point than a fresh install. Adding BuddyNext to a WordPress site you already run puts a social network on WordPress without moving anything that is already there. The one thing worth checking first is that your theme leaves room for a feed and a member directory, since some single-column blog themes do not.
Put a community engine on a WordPress site. Install BuddyNext, run the seven-step setup wizard, open three or four spaces, post a few starter threads and invite a small first group. The software is free; you pay for hosting. The decision that matters most is what members will do there, so settle that before you invite anyone.
Installing a plugin and choosing your spaces is admin work, not development. You upload the plugin, activate it, and the wizard sets up the community pages for you. Code only comes into it if you want a custom front end or an integration, and a full REST API ships in the free core for that.
Yes. Members are standard WordPress accounts stored in your own database, on hosting you pay for. If you ever move host, the members move with the site. A hosted platform keeps them on its servers, so check how it handles an export before you commit.
The core plugin is free, so your running cost is hosting and a domain. Pro is optional: $149 a year for one site, with lifetime options on the pricing page. There is no per-member fee and no cut of anything you charge.
There is no one-click importer for hosted platforms. The practical route is to export your members' emails where the old platform allows it, then send them a bulk invitation from a CSV file. The free importers are for BuddyPress and BuddyBoss communities only. Plan the move as a small project, and keep the old group open until the new network has life.
Watch the full walkthrough
The complete walkthrough first, then the setup steps one at a time: the wizard, your first space and your first members.
If you already have a WordPress site, the install is the next thing you do.
What a community platform has to do, and what changes once you host it yourself.
What a social network plugin has to include before it can replace a stack of add-ons.
Building the site around the community, including the parts that are not the plugin.
The two kinds of membership site, and which software each one actually needs.
Charging for access to the community itself, and where that differs from gating content.
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