BuddyPress is a free software package that can be plugged in to WordPress to create a social networking website. For newcomers, think of BuddyPress as an out-of-the-box social networking website, complete with an administration area that lets you manage the site.

• BuddyPress is a plugin for WordPress. BuddyPress is set up as a plugin that can be added to a WordPress site. It’s a large plugin, and it adds a lot of functionality.
• It’s free. Like WordPress, it’s open-source software, which means you’ll never have to pay to download or use it.
• It’s a social networking system, with features similar to Facebook. In a BuddyPress site, users can create and update their profiles, send private messages to one another, befriend and de-friend each other, form and join groups, participate in forum discussions, and more.
• It’s a content management system. In conjunction with the WordPress engine that it runs on, BuddyPress lets you create and update content on your website.
• It’s extensible with plugins. The functionality of a BuddyPress site can be extended with the use of plugins. Hundreds of BuddyPress plugins are available for free in the plugins directory. BuddyPress is compatible with many of the thousands of plugins that already exist for WordPress. If you need functionality that isn’t already offered, you can build a custom plugin.
• It’s designed using themes. Just like a WordPress site, changing the look and feel of a BuddyPress site can be as simple as activating a new theme. Free and premium themes are available for BuddyPress, or you can design a custom theme