Start Here: Your Map to BuddyNext

Free & Pro

BuddyNext is large on purpose. The free plugin is a complete community platform, and BuddyNext Pro adds a whole application layer on top - memberships, payments, email campaigns, AI, real-time, analytics. That is a lot of surface, and it is easy to feel unsure where to begin.

This page is the map. If you read one page first, read this one. It shows you the whole landscape at a glance, the handful of things to set up in your first hour, and an "I want to..." index that points straight to the exact guide for whatever you are trying to do. Everything here links into the deeper pages - come back to this map whenever you are not sure where something lives.

Start by who you are

BuddyNext serves several kinds of people, and each one starts differently. Find your row, follow the flow, then open the guide it points to.

You are	Your starting flow	Start here
The site owner / admin (setting the community up)	Install and activate (no key needed) -> run the seven-step setup wizard -> set your logo, colours and pages -> create the first space -> decide open or paid.	Your first hour, then Admin Setup Wizard
A new member (joining a community)	Register or use social login -> verify your email (if the owner turned it on) -> the welcome wizard walks you through profile, interests, spaces to join, people to follow, and notifications -> you land on your own profile with a feed worth reading.	New-Member Onboarding
A space owner / moderator (running one community inside the site)	Create a space and choose its privacy (public, private or secret) -> invite or approve members -> post and pin, and keep it healthy from the space's own moderation queue.	Creating a Space, then Moderation Queue
A visitor (not signed in yet)	Browse the public feed, spaces directory and member directory -> when you reach members-only or private content you are invited to sign up -> join and the member flow above takes over.	Guest Experience, then Registration
A developer (building on or customizing it)	Read the architecture overview -> use the REST API that backs every surface, the hooks and filters, template overrides and custom blocks.	Developer Guide

Everything below expands the owner path in detail; the links above take members, moderators, visitors and developers straight to theirs.

The landscape at a glance

Everything BuddyNext can do, grouped. Free is complete on its own; Pro adds the growth and business layer on top. Nothing in Free is taken away when you upgrade.

Area	What you can do	Tier	Learn it
Posting and the feed	Post text, links, photos and polls; react, comment, share, bookmark, mention, report	Free	Activity Feed, Post Composer
Spaces (communities)	Public, private or secret sub-communities, each with its own feed, members, forum and media	Free	Spaces Overview
Members and profiles	Rich profiles, custom fields, a searchable directory, member types and roles	Free	Member Profiles, Directory
Social graph	Follow and connect, presence, blocking and muting	Free	Following, Connections
Messaging and notifications	Private one-to-one messages, in-app notifications, email digests	Free	Direct Messaging, Notifications
Moderation and trust	A report button on every item, a review queue, suspensions, appeals, safeguards	Free	Reporting Content, Moderation Queue
Accounts and access	Registration, login, social login, email verification, two-factor, onboarding	Free	Registration, Member Onboarding
Search and discovery	Search people, posts, spaces and hashtags; trending tags; explore	Free	Search, Hashtags
Growth and engagement	Points, badges and leaderboards, real-time updates, an installable app (PWA), announcements	Free	Gamification, PWA
Look and feel	Brand colours, logos, appearance controls, navigation and page placement	Free	Appearance and Branding
Integrations	Media and messaging, forums, gamification, and business plugins (courses, events, jobs)	Free	Integrations Overview
Memberships and monetization	Paid plans, gated spaces, content paywalls, coupons and tax	Pro	Membership Plans, Gated Spaces
Payments	Stripe checkout, payment gateways, renewals and refunds	Pro	Stripe Payments, Payment Gateways
Email and automation	Broadcast emails, drip sequences, scheduled posts, renewal reminders	Pro	Broadcast Email, Drip Sequences
AI and advanced moderation	AI-assisted feed and moderation, auto-moderation rules, bulk moderation	Pro	AI Feed and Moderation, Auto-Moderation
Real-time and push	Live updates over WebSocket, browser and mobile push notifications	Pro	Push Notifications, Real-time
Analytics	Deeper insight into activity, growth and engagement	Pro	Analytics
Personalization and white-label	Custom reactions, member labels, advanced profile fields, full white-label and space branding	Pro	White-label, Custom Reactions
Build on it (developers)	REST API for every surface, hooks and filters, template overrides, custom blocks	Free	Developer Guide

Your first hour

Do these in order and you will have a real, branded community ready for members. Each step is a few minutes.

Install and activate. The free plugin works the moment it is active - no key to enter. See Installation.
Pick a theme (or keep yours). BuddyNext works with any theme; BuddyX (free), BuddyX Pro, and Reign are the community-tuned options. See Choosing Your Theme.
Run the setup wizard. A seven-step first-run wizard sets your pages, roles and defaults. See Admin Setup Wizard.
Make it yours. Set your logo, colours and appearance. See Appearance and Branding.
Place your community. Put the feed, directory and spaces where you want them with blocks or shortcodes. See Shortcodes and Placement.
Create your first space and invite people. Give members somewhere to gather on day one. See Creating a Space.
Decide open or paid (optional). If you plan to charge, set up plans and a gateway now. See Membership Plans.

"I want to..."

Jump straight to the goal you have in mind. (Some goals cross several features; step-by-step recipes that stitch them together are in the Recipes section.)

...launch a paid community - Membership Plans, then Stripe Payments, then Gated Spaces.
...run a private or invite-only space - Space Types and Privacy, and to charge for it, Gated Spaces.
...keep the community safe as it grows - Moderation Queue, then Pro's Auto-Moderation and Bulk Moderation.
...move from BuddyPress or BuddyBoss - BuddyNext vs BuddyPress and Migrating Your Data.
...let members message each other - Direct Messaging.
...add courses, events, or a jobs board - Integrations Overview.
...email my members - Broadcast Email for one-off sends, Drip Sequences for automated series.
...reward and rank members - Gamification and the Leaderboard.
...customize the look or remove our branding - Appearance and Branding, and Pro's White-label.
...extend it with code - Developer Guide.

Free vs Pro, in one view

Free is a genuinely complete community platform - the whole "Posting" through "Integrations" range in the table above, plus the full developer surface. You can launch and run an active community on Free alone, indefinitely.

Pro is the application layer you reach for as you grow: charging for access (memberships, payments, gated content), reaching people (broadcast and drip email, push, real-time), working at scale (AI and bulk moderation, analytics), and making it fully your own (white-label, custom reactions, member labels). Upgrading only adds - it never removes anything you already use. Your license key controls updates, never which features are on.

Every Pro feature page ends with a short "Free vs Pro" note so you can see exactly where the line falls for that feature.

Where to go next

New here? Read the Introduction, then Installation.
Coming from BuddyPress or BuddyBoss? Start with Migrating from BuddyPress.
Ready to grow or charge for access? Browse the Pro section, starting with Membership Plans.
Building or customizing? Open the Developer Guide.

Introduction to BuddyNext - the fuller "what it is and who it is for"
Admin Setup Wizard - the guided first-run flow
Admin Overview - a tour of the admin screens this map points into