BuddyPress 5.0 Introduces BP REST API, Paving the Way for Blocks

BuddyPress 5.0.0 “Le Gusto” was released this week with the long-awaited BP REST API, a new Invitations API, and BuddyPress info on the Site Health screen. The release was named for a favorite pizza restaurant in Fortaleza, Brazil, where BP REST API contributor and core committer Renato Alves resides.

The new REST API is fully documented and includes endpoints for members, groups, activities, private messages, screen notifications and extended profiles.

The first feature powered by the new API is an improved interface for managing group members. It enables administrators to quickly search for specific members to promote, demote, ban, or remove.

https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/5zJCxp2ARb.mp4

BuddyPress 5.0 also includes a new BP Invitations API to help developers better manage group invites and membership requests.

BuddyPress site administrators may notice a new panel in the Site Health Info screen, containing plugin-specific debug information that may be useful when seeking help in the forums.

This release updates the BP Nouveau template pack to use the same password control as the one used in WordPress core. It provides a more consistent interface for users when setting their passwords on the registration page and on the user’s general settings page.

Blocks Are Coming to BuddyPress

The BP REST API offers a myriad of opportunities for developers to create new interactive features and front-end experiences, as well as improve performance by replacing AJAX calls. It also opens up the world of block creation. BP core contributors and community developers will have a much easier time creating blocks, since Gutenberg mainly uses REST.

In anticipation of BP blocks, 5.0 includes a new panel in the block inserter that allows developers to organize their custom blocks under a BuddyPress category.

BuddyPress 6.0 may include core blocks for specific components and core blocks may ultimately replace the plugin’s existing widgets. Contributors are still discussing which blocks to begin building. They are looking to get community feedback on blocks that will be the most useful, particularly from BuddyPress theme developers. The team plans to discuss 6.0 release priorities during the BP core dev chat on October 2, 2019, at 1900 UTC.