BuddyPress groups just got a big boost this week with two new plugins that are bound to enhance the group experience:

BP Group Control

The BP Group Control plugin gives group admins the ability to:

• Create new members for their groups
• Add existing users to their groups
• Directly delete members
• Assign their members an identifying tag ( the group name ) that shows up next to their display name on their profile and directories.
• Make different parts of this plugin active for public vs. private groups
• Rich options page: everything above can be turned on or off individually, permissions set differently for site admins vs. group admins and for private vs. public groups
• Sends email to newly created users

This plugin gives group admins a greater level of moderation. Essentially, it helps you to strengthen group identity by improving the admin’s ability to control group membership. Got some cantankerous members? If they don’t abide by the terms of the group, this plugin allows you to yank the users’ memberships. Because it works with both public and private groups, the group admin is able to maintain a custom level of exclusivity based on the admin’s preferences.

BP Group CSS

BP Group CSS is an exciting new plugin that allows you to customize the look of your group page using CSS. Check it out below:

CSS updates to the page happen live on the page as you write them. Finally you can give your BuddyPress group a custom page!

These two groups-specific plugins will allow group admins greater flexibility and creativity when forming their own little discussion communities on your site. With this level of user freedom, just make sure that you have trustworthy group admins before you let them loose!