Have you came up with untapped social concept? Do you want to add Web 2.0 capabilities without breaking the bank on outside programmers, or third-party software? Well BuddyPress may be the solution you are looking for. BuddyPress is a completely free and open source solution for adding social networking features to your WordPress MU powered site. Since its stable release in May of 2009, BuddyPress has increased its capabilities extensively. This simple solution has many features that work from initial installation and activation. The plugin is great for building a social network for your university, company, blog, or even a focus group for a product or service you are pushing. For more information visit buddypress.org

Whether you are deciding to establish a web presence for your business, or figuring out how to approach a project for your client, it’s important to keep in mind the purpose of the site. Having ambitious goals in the field of design for a site is great to quench that creative urge, but never let that get in the way of the overall functionality of the site. The goal of any design process should be to support your message and not overwhelm it. Cameron Chapman at Six Revisions discusses techniques and practices for effective information architecture. Read the article here.

HTML5 and CSS3 are steadily gaining support from major browsers and mark the beginning of a more simplified and SEO friendly page structure. They aim to both improve on previous technologies, and scripting-based API’s, while eliminating useless repetitive syntax. 1stwebdesigner.com offers a great list of resources these new languages. Read the article here.