Hi! It’s been a while. =)

I want to share the updated plan for BuddyPress 15.0.0. We are targeting 19 January 2027 for the final release.

If you have been following this release, you know it has taken longer than we initially planned. I’ll talk about that below. But first, the dates, and what we hope to have ready along the way.

Release schedule

Date	Milestone
1 December 2026	Preparation checkpoint: review documentation drafts, the changelog, and related plugin compatibility work.
8 December 2026	Target publication date for the REST API V2 introduction, deprecated-function notice, and standalone BP REST API plugin guidance.
15 December 2026	BuddyPress 15.0.0-beta1 — feature freeze and community testing.
5 January 2027	BuddyPress 15.0.0-rc1 — release candidate and string freeze.
18 January 2027	Release dry run: check packages, installation, upgrades, and release materials.
19 January 2027	BuddyPress 15.0.0 final, subject to testing results.

The plan is one beta and one release candidate. That’s the starting point, not a limit. If testing shows we need another beta or RC, we will publish one.

Why January? WordPress 7.2 is currently scheduled for 8–10 December 2026. This gives us time to test BuddyPress against its stable release, without putting the final BuddyPress release in the middle of the year-end holidays.

We have allowed three weeks between Beta 1 and RC1 because of those holidays, then two weeks between RC1 and the final release.

Documentation and related plugins

REST API V2 is an important part of this release. I want developers to have a chance to understand the changes before trying the beta. Our goal is to publish its introduction one week before Beta 1, along with the a blog post with the functions or/and features we are deprecating, and guidance for users of the standalone BP REST API plugin.

These posts will cover the changes, replacements, and migration considerations for existing integrations.

But I also want to be clear about what happens if they are not ready: unfinished documentation will not block the release. The publication dates above are goals. If we miss them, we will share what is available and continue publishing the remaining guidance as it is ready. Beta 1 does not depend on those posts being published a week earlier. Even though we will do our best to get them ready in time. 🙂

Related tools and plugins need attention too. That includes wp-cli-buddypress and other integrations maintained by the team. We will test their compatibility and aim to make any required updates available before the final BuddyPress release.

About the delays

BuddyPress 15.0 has taken longer than originally planned. We have moved release dates before, and I know that makes it harder to plan your own updates. Thank you for sticking with us.

I recently read the Preact 11 announcement. Their roadmap ticket opened more than six years earlier, while work continued on Preact X. Different project, different timeline. But it was a reminder that a major release can take a long time without development stopping.

That is not a reason to leave you guessing about BuddyPress, though. My goal with this post is to make the plan clear: what we are aiming for, what still needs testing, and what could change.

These dates are targets, not a guarantee. If WordPress 7.2 moves or testing uncovers release-blocking issues, we will reassess the affected dates. I would rather allow time to test a fix than rush it into a final release to meet the calendar.

If the schedule changes, we will post an update here explaining why and sharing the revised dates. Documentation may follow later, but release-blocking bugs still need to be fixed.

A note about BP Dev-Chat

If you follow our BP Dev-Chat summaries, you may also be wondering about the meetings. BP Dev-Chat is suspended for the time being. When we bring it back, the plan is to meet monthly. We will announce the return date and meeting time here.

The BP Docs-Chat meetings were already suspended in August 2025. Documentation work continues as time allows. Pausing the meetings does not mean that work has stopped.

Help us test

Once Beta 1 is available, please give it a try on a development or staging site—not your production site. If you maintain a BuddyPress plugin or theme, this is a good time to check your integrations, REST API usage, and deprecated-function calls.

You can follow the remaining work in the BuddyPress 15.0 milestone and report bugs on BuddyPress Trac.

You do not need to write code to help. Testing an upgrade, reviewing a documentation draft, or reporting a compatibility issue all help us understand what still needs attention.

That’s the plan for now. I’m looking forward to getting this release into your hands, and hearing how it works with the communities you are building.

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