=== Bit Connect – Community, Discussion Forum, Feedback & Roadmap ===
Contributors: bitpressadmin
Tags: community, forum, discussion, feedback, roadmap
Requires at least: 6.8
Tested up to: 7.1
Requires PHP: 8.2
Stable tag: 1.0.2
License: GPL-2.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Build a community, forum, feedback portal and public roadmap with posts, profiles, votes, discussions, notifications and moderation.

== Description ==

**Bit Connect is a community plugin and forum plugin for building discussion forums, customer communities, feedback portals and public roadmaps directly on your WordPress website.**

Members can create posts, join threaded discussions, upvote ideas, follow conversations, manage profiles and receive notifications. Product and service teams can also use Bit Connect as a feature request board, customer feedback portal and roadmap. They can organize posts with topics, tags, stages and statuses.

= Bit Connect Features =

* **Front-end community portal:** Create a dedicated community or discussion forum on your own website.
* **Public or members-only community:** Allow everyone to view the portal or limit access to logged-in members.
* **Posts and discussions:** Members can create posts. If permitted, they can edit or delete their own posts.
* **Comments and threaded replies:** Keep conversations organized with nested replies.
* **@mentions:** Mention other members inside posts and replies.
* **Post upvotes:** Let members vote on ideas, questions and feature requests.
* **Feature requests and roadmap:** Collect ideas and feedback and move posts through stages and statuses.
* **Post organization:** Use topics, tags, stages and statuses.
* **Search, sorting and filters:** Help members find relevant community discussions.
* **Attachments:** Allow supported files on posts and replies.
* **Following:** Members can follow posts, tags or the whole community.
* **Member profiles:** Profile photo, cover image, display name, profile URL, bio and supported social/profile links.
* **Member activity:** Surface posts, comments and upvoted content from profile areas.
* **In-app and email notifications:** Keep members updated on supported community events and let them manage available notification preferences.
* **Authentication:** Built-in login, signup, email verification, password recovery, password changes and email changes.
* **Custom authentication URLs:** Use an existing login or registration page when needed.
* **Content reporting:** Let logged-in members report inappropriate posts or replies.
* **Moderation queue:** Review reports and take action on community content.
* **Moderation controls:** Remove content, pin useful posts, lock discussions and review moderation activity.
* **Role-based permissions:** Control who can post, reply, vote, moderate, pin, lock or manage the community.
* **Community dashboard:** Track posts, comments, members, votes, monthly activity, top posts and recent posts.
* **Community branding:** Set the community title, logo and portal options.
* **Community SEO:** Server-rendered portal content, titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, social tags, structured data, archive controls and community sitemaps.

= Easy Community Management =

Run your community from one place. Manage posts, member access, reports, moderation, permissions and community settings without sending users to a separate platform. Bit Connect keeps your forum, feedback portal and day-to-day community management inside WordPress.

= User-Friendly Community Dashboard =

See what is happening across your community from a simple dashboard. Track total posts, comments, members and votes, review monthly activity, find top discussions and check recent posts so you can understand how your community forum is growing and where members engage most.

= Member Profiles =

Give every member a clear identity inside your community. Users can add a profile photo, cover image, display name, custom profile URL, bio and supported social links, while profile areas show their posts, comments and activity across the community forum in one place.

= Organized Discussions and Engagement =

Create an easy-to-follow discussion forum with posts, threaded replies, @mentions, attachments, search, filters and post upvotes. Members can ask questions, share ideas and join conversations, while the most popular posts rise to the top and good discussions stay easier to find, follow and revisit.

= Feature Requests and Public Roadmaps =

Turn Bit Connect into a WordPress feature request plugin, customer feedback portal and public roadmap. Members can submit ideas, discuss requests and upvote posts, while you organize feedback by topic, tag, stage and status so everyone can follow progress clearly.

= Following and Notifications =

Keep members connected to the conversations that matter. Users can follow posts, tags or the whole community, then receive supported in-app and email notifications for replies, mentions, post activity and other relevant community updates automatically.

= Moderation and Role Permissions =

Keep your forum organized with built-in community moderation. Members can report inappropriate content, while moderators can review reports, remove content, pin useful posts and lock discussions. Role-based permissions control who can post, vote, moderate or manage the community.

= SEO-Ready Community Content =

Make your community easier for search engines to understand. Bit Connect handles server-rendered community pages, SEO titles and descriptions, canonical URLs, social metadata, structured data, archive controls and community sitemaps directly.

= Flexible Community Access and Authentication =

Control who can enter your community and how members sign in. Keep the portal public or members-only, use Bit Connect login and signup, require email verification, support password and email changes, or connect your existing login and registration pages when needed.

= Customizable Community Portal =

Make the community feel like part of your own site. Set the community title and logo, choose the portal page and slug, control visible portal filters, and organize the experience around your forum, product community, customer community, feedback portal or member discussion area.

= Who Can Use Bit Connect? =

Bit Connect is built for product and service providers, SaaS teams, LMS platforms, WooCommerce stores, membership sites, support communities, creators, agencies, project teams, community owners and individuals who want to keep discussions, feedback and member activity on WordPress.

It can work as a traditional forum, but it can also serve as a product community, customer feedback portal, feature request board or public roadmap. The same community can combine discussions, ideas, questions, votes and progress updates in one place.

= Source Code =

The files in `assets/` are minified builds. The full source code is on GitHub:

https://github.com/bit-apps-pro/bit-connect

To build it yourself (requires PHP 8.2+, Node 20+, pnpm 9+ and Composer 2):

`git clone https://github.com/bit-apps-pro/bit-connect.git`
`cd bit-connect`
`composer install`
`pnpm install`
`pnpm build:free`

= Bundled Fonts =

The portal's text is set in **Inter** (© 2016 The Inter Project Authors) and its headings in **Outfit** (© 2021 The Outfit Project Authors). Both are included in the plugin and served from your own site, and both are licensed under the [SIL Open Font License 1.1](https://scripts.sil.org/OFL); see `LICENSE-Inter.txt` and `LICENSE-Outfit.txt`. Sources: https://github.com/rsms/inter and https://github.com/Outfitio/Outfit-Fonts

= Other Products by Bit Apps =

* [**Bit Form:**](https://bit-form.com/) WordPress form builder for contact forms, multi-step forms, calculations, payments and other form workflows.
* [**Bit Integrations:**](https://bit-integrations.com/) Connect WordPress plugins and site data with external apps and services.
* [**Bit Flows:**](https://bit-flows.com/) Visual multi-step workflow automation for WordPress.
* [**Bit Social:**](https://bit-social.com/) Social media auto-posting and scheduling for WordPress content.
* [**Bit Assist:**](https://bitassist.co/) Floating multi-channel contact and support widget for WordPress.
* [**Bit SMTP:**](https://bit-smtp.com/) SMTP email delivery plugin for WordPress.
* [**Bit CRM:**](https://bit-crm.com/) CRM for managing leads, contacts, deals, invoices and sales activity.

= Useful Links =

Join our [Bit Apps Community](https://www.facebook.com/groups/bitcommunityusers) for the latest plugin updates.

View the full, uncompiled source code and build instructions on [GitHub](https://github.com/bit-apps-pro/bit-connect/). See *Source Code* above.

== External Services ==

This plugin relies on one external service, the Bit Apps API, and only from a single admin screen. It receives none of your site's content, your members' details or your settings. The public forum portal contacts no third party at all: the **Inter** and **Outfit** typefaces it is set in ship inside the plugin (SIL Open Font License 1.1) and is served from your own site.

= Bit Apps plugin catalogue =

On the **Bit Connect → Support** screen, the bottom of the page offers a **Show other Bit Apps plugins** button. Only when you click it does your browser request `https://wp-api.bitapps.pro/public/plugins-info` to display that list. Opening the screen alone contacts nobody.

* **What is sent:** nothing beyond an ordinary web request. No site content, user data, email addresses or settings are transmitted. As with any web request, the receiving server sees your IP address and the referring admin URL.
* **What is received:** a list of plugin names, descriptions and links, plus the address of each plugin's icon image, which your browser then loads from Bit Apps' servers to display the card.
* **When:** only after an administrator clicks the button on the Support screen. Never automatically, never on the front end, and never on other admin screens.
* **Provider:** Bit Apps. See the [terms of service](https://bitapps.pro/terms-of-service/) and [privacy policy](https://bitapps.pro/privacy-policy/).

== Installation ==

= Automated Installation =

Installation is free, quick, and easy. Simply search for **Bit Connect** in your WordPress dashboard under Plugins → Add New, then install and activate it.

= Manual Alternatives =

Alternatively, you can download the plugin zip file from [its WordPress.org page](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bit-connect/), upload it via the **Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin** option, and follow the on-screen instructions.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Is Bit Connect a forum plugin or community plugin? =

Both. Bit Connect includes forum-style posts, comments and threaded replies while also supporting customer communities, product discussions, feature requests, feedback and public roadmaps.

= Can I use Bit Connect for feature requests and a public roadmap? =

Yes. Members can submit ideas and feedback, discuss requests and upvote posts. You can organize them with topics, tags, stages and statuses.

= Can I use Bit Connect for a SaaS or product community? =

Yes. Bit Connect can combine product discussions, customer feedback, feature requests and roadmap updates in one community portal.

= Can an LMS, membership site or WooCommerce store use Bit Connect? =

Yes. Bit Connect can be used as a discussion and community area for learners, members, customers or other registered WordPress users.

= Can I make the community members-only? =

Yes. The portal can be public or limited to logged-in users. Role-based capabilities control who can create posts, reply, vote, moderate or manage the community.

= Does Bit Connect include member profiles and notifications? =

Yes. Members can create profiles and receive supported in-app and email notifications for community activity.

= Does the plugin contact any external servers? =

One, described under *External Services* above: the Bit Apps API, which is contacted only from the Support screen. The public portal contacts no third party; its typeface is bundled with the plugin. The plugin collects no usage or diagnostic data and sends nothing about your site, your members or your settings anywhere.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.2 =
* The plugin now calls topics "posts" and topic types "topics".
* The admin can show the Following link in the portal sidebar.
* The dashboard shows Activity before Needs Attention. The stat labels do not show "Total".
* Fixed: a new forum can take its first post. Its first topic is named Discussion.
* Fixed: on a slow host, image uploads do not repeat.
* Fixed: the post column does not push the other columns out of view.
* Fixed: dashboard cards have no gap under short content, and the stage gauge total stays inside the ring.
* Fixed: options saved with autoload set to false stay that way.

= 1.0.1 =
* Removed reply upvoting and author-only private topics.
* Removed automatic hiding of reported content and its report threshold setting. Reports are queued for a moderator to decide.
* Settings screens no longer show disabled controls.
* The Outfit typeface now ships with the plugin instead of loading from Google Fonts, so the portal contacts no third party.
* Members register with the site's default role, through WordPress's own registration checks.

= 1.0.0 =
* First stable release.

= 0.1.0 =
* Initial Beta release
