Many small and large businesses are using WordPress internally as a collaboration tool by combining it with tools like editing flow, user role management, and task lists. Using WordPress as an internal communication system is proving to be very effective for these organizations. In this article, we will show you how to make an internal communication system in WordPress using P2 Theme.
P2 is a WordPress theme that transforms a WordPress powered site into a Twitter-like real-time status update, blog post, comment tool. It eliminates the need to go to the admin area to write a post. You can post from the home page of your site. You have linked inline comments that appear below each post on the front page. It's powered by Ajax, which makes posting and commenting super fast.
The most famous example of a P2 site in action is the WordPress Make site. Where developers, contributors and other WordPress users can participate in discussions related to WordPress development.
P2 can be installed on any WordPress site. Since we've shown you how to use it as an internal communication system, we're assuming you might want to keep it private. The first thing you need to do is install and activate the P2 theme on your local intranet or subdomain.
Once you have activated the P2 theme, you will need to go to Appearance »Theme Options . On this page, you can choose a custom background color, select a background image if you like, hide the sidebar and titles, etc. But the most important thing is that you can configure access to the publication here. Check the box below to allow any registered member to post and save their settings.
Now that we've enabled publishing access on P2, the next step is to open your site for user registration. All you need to do is go to Settings »General and check the box next to Anyone can register countryside.
Since P2 is designed to encourage discussions, comments are an integral part of its design. You can go to Settings »Discussion and check the box next to 'Users must be registered and logged in to comment. '.
So far we have enabled user registration and allowed those users to post on the site. Next, you want to add login and registration forms to your website. To add the login and registration form, we recommend that you install and activate the Theme My Login plugin. Upon activation, the plugin adds a TML menu item to the WordPress admin sidebar. Clicking on it will take you to the plugin settings page.
On the plugin settings page, check the box next to the Theme Profiles option and hit the Save Changes button. You will notice a new menu item for 'Theme Profiles' It would appear in the TML menu. Click the button, and it will take you to the theme profiles settings. Here you need to restrict the admin area access to all user roles.
This will secure your WordPress admin area, and all users, including admins, will be redirected to a login form on the front end of your website. As an administrator, you can go to the administration area by typing the URL in the browser. You will be redirected to the admin panel after login. Other users will be redirected to their thematic profiles.
Now it's time to add the login form to the sidebar. Simply go to Appearance »Widgets and drag and drop the My Login Widget theme to the sidebar.
P2 Theme has a very simple design and there are very few things you can do to improve its appearance. You can upload a custom header image from Appearance »Header . You can also choose a custom background from Appearance » Customize . However, if you want a complete makeover, there are some child themes of P2 available for you to use. Alternatively, you can create your own child theme.
You can use all WordPress plugins with your P2 theme. For example, you may want to monitor user activity or add social media plugins. However, there are some plugins that are written specifically for P2 and you might want to try them out.
That is all. You now have a powerful WordPress-based application set up to communicate internally with your colleagues and team members. You'll soon discover that P2 not only improves communication between team members, but also makes things fun and interesting.
Let us know how you're using P2 in your comments below.
