... as presented at the WordPress Toronto Meetup Group May 2010 meeting ...

The 10 steps to go from having no domain to a BuddyPress MultiSite installation:

Presentation Slides: [download id=”2″]

  1. Register (or choose) a domain; and, choose a web host if needed.
  2. Start downloading WordPress 3.0 or greater.
  3. Enable “Wildcard DNS“.
  4. Create a database and assign a user for your WordPress installation.
  5. Upload WordPress.
  6. Start the WordPress installation.
  7. Read this page thoroughly: http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network!
  8. Add define ('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true); to wp-config.php
  9. Go to your Dashboard (or refresh the page).
    • Under Tools | Network (now available from above step)
    • Choose your settings; click install.
      • Follow the directions on the page to modify wp-config.php and .htaccess
  10. Install the BuddyPress plugin; activate it; and, choose a BuddyPress friendly theme.
Your BuddyPress is Ready!

Enjoy!

NB: These steps are based on my experiences using HostGator Web Services, other web hosting services may vary in their requirements.