BuddyPress in 2016.

As I wrote last year:

I write to share my thoughts about how BuddyPress did last year and highlight our successes because, let’s face it, we’re not always great at celebrating the effort we all put into each BuddyPress. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time for a moment of reflection.

Let’s get the numbers out the way:

Feature	2015	2016
Number of releases	3 major, 12 minor	3 major, 18 minor
Key features	Custom member types (directory, and Profiles Fields integration) Custom post types in Activity Stream Caching/performance improvements Drag-and-drop avatar uploads Companion stylesheets for WordPress default themes Member/Groups cover images Accessibility improvements TinyMCE in Profile Fields	HTML customisable emails with unsubscribe functionality Companion stylesheets for WordPress default themes Emoji support 😍 Profile Fields auto-link settings Activity items oEmbed Group types API Member/Group Navigation API rewrite Accessibility improvements Localisation improvements Caching/performance improvements Improved “Date” Profile Field type Localised timestamps So many caching/performance improvements, I’m listing it twice
Conferences	8 WordCamps (Buenos Aires, Cantabria, East Troy, London, Lyon, Paris, Pune, USA) 2 BuddyCamps (Miami, Brighton)	7 WordCamps (Paris, Miami, Los Angeles, Cologne, Antwerp, Sacramento, USA) 1 BuddyCamp (Miami)
Support forum topics	3773 new topics (10.3/day)	3421 new topics (9.34/day)
Support forum replies	10,701 new replies (29.3/day)	8732 new replies (23.85/day)
Codex articles	31 new (0.6/week)	33 new (0.63/week)

I think the project missed a few things in 2016. We should have got a lot more done with our REST API support — that’s a key priority of 2017 — and website revamps for both BuddyPress.org and the Codex.

Of my own contributions and time spent, I’m most pleased by the work I put into the emails revamp. I enjoyed being part of the leadership team as we pivoted BuddyPress to focus on site builders and developers. I’m proud of the effort I spent supporting the projects’ slow but constant trickle of new contributors. We gave three of those contributors — who were new in 2015 —  commit access in 2016. I wonder who’ll be stepping up this year.

In 2017, other than the REST API, I look forward to shipping our updated default templates. They’ve been one of those things that several people — myself included — have attempted and failed with in the last few years, but the current proposal (Nouveau) is looking solid and moving in the right direction. For that, special recognition is deserved for Hugo and Mathieu.