Instagram is one of the most popular social networking platforms today. It has got more than one billion monthly active users.

On Instagram, you can share photos, short video clips, and even longer-form videos using IGTV.

If you are also looking for a way to create something similar to that on WordPress, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will see how to create a visual social media platform on WordPress using BuddyPress and rtMedia WordPress plugins.

website like instagram

 

Required WordPress plugins

  • BuddyPress – To add the basic social networking features.
  • rtMedia – To manage media and extend BuddyPress features.
  • Transcoder for WordPress (Optional but recommended) – To convert video files uploaded in other formats to web-compatible MP4 format and enable support for AMP Stories.
  • rtAmazon S3 (Optional) – To offload media files uploaded to your server to Amazon S3 buckets.

How much does it cost to develop an app like Instagram

The social media app development cost is an important issue to discuss. To find out social networking app development costs, what you need to do is to multiply hours of development by the hourly rate. For example, the total time for developing an Android or iOS app is about seven months, the hourly rate for a middle size company varies from $30 to $70. Consequently, the cost of a photo-sharing app like Instagram will be approximately $59,300. The development cost of an Instagram-clone depends on a company’s rate. Yet, do not go for the cheapest option, make sure that the quality of an accomplished product is satisfying.

Here’s a rough estimate of the development of the cost to build a social media app like Instagram. Note that it only includes basic features.

How to create a website like Instagram using WordPress

Without wasting much time, let’s see how you can install and configure the above plugins to make a website like Instagram.

  1. Install BuddyPress

    Install and configure the BuddyPress plugin

    install and activate buddypress

  2. Install rtMedia

    Install and activate the rtMedia plugin from your WordPress dashboard.

    install and activate rtmedia media management plugin

  3. Install rtMedia add-ons

    Download the above premium add-ons from your rtMedia account (under the Purchase History tab) and install them on your WordPress site manually.rtmedia my account page

  4. Configure rtMedia Display settings

    Go to rtMedia Settings page and turn on the ‘Allow user to comment on uploaded media toggle’ under Single Media View, ‘Enable likes for media’ and ‘Likes in media comments’ under Media Likes, ‘Enable 5 star rating for media’ under Rating for rtMedia, ‘Use lightbox to display media’ under List Media View, and everything under Masonry View.rtmedia display settings

  5. rtMedia BuddyPress settings

    Go down to the BuddyPress section and turn on all the toggles under Integration with BuddyPress features. Next, scroll down to Album Settings and turn on the toggle for ‘Organize media into albums’.rtmedia buddypress settings

  6. Create default albums

    Move down to the Default Albums section and create some albums which you would like your users to use.rtmedia default albums

  7. Enable support for photos and videos

    Go to the Types section and enable support for photos and videos by turning on the toggle next to Photo and Video respectively. You can also limit the file size for the uploaded media from the same page.rtmedia types settings

  8. Set media dimensions

    Move down to the Media Sizes section to alter the dimensions for different image sizes.rtmedia media sizes settings

  9. Enable privacy settings

    Under the Privacy section, enable Privacy and configure the default privacy settings. Additionally, you can also allow users to set their own privacy levels.rtmedia privacy settings

  10. Apply custom CSS, if any

    Under the Custom CSS section, you can paste your custom styles to alter how rtMedia components appear to front-end users.rtmedia custom css

  11. Set up moderation settings

    To control people from going rogue on your platform, you can give users an option to report media files. Also, you can take them down automatically after a specified number of reports (recommended).rtmedia moderation settings

  12. Enable favorites list

    From the Other Settings page, enable FavList and turn on the toggle that says ‘Show Privacy Message on website’.rtmedia other settings

  13. Install Transcoder for WordPress

    Install and configure the Transcoder for WordPress plugin from your dashboard. This can help you convert videos uploaded in other formats to a web–compatible format automatically.install rtcamp rtmedia transcoder for wordpress plugin

  14. AMP Stories

    To enable Instagram-like stories on your site, you can take advantage of AMP Stories. It is available on the latest version of the AMP plugin (version 1.3 and above). AMP Stories and Transcoder

  15. Install rtAmazon S3

    Install and configure the rtAmazon S3 plugin to offload all media files to your Amazon S3 buckets by following the documentation page.rtamazon s3 wordpress plugin - create s3 bucket