Buddypress 1.1 for WordPress Multi-Users (WPMU) was released September 30th turning any installation of WPMU into a complete social network.

BuddyPress is a suite of WordPress plugins and themes, each adding a distinct new feature. BuddyPress contains all the features you’d expect from WordPress but aims to let members socially interact.

With the buddypress plugin your WPMU adds the ability for your members to interact in a way they were not able to before. Adding groups, forums, friends, messaging, a wire (an instant commenting system), Status display and of course blogging.

Groups can be made for any topic with the option of being public, private or hidden. Each group then can have its own forum and wire assigned to it. Members can then join individual groups or be invited to groups. All site activity related to you can be seen in your members profile page.
The members profile page is setup so it is your home base for most of your social interaction with everything you have joined linked from there.

I was very impressed by the possibilities of buddypress I decided to give it a trial. You can take a look at buddypress in action at Go Gamerz Net and if you are a gamer join the Go Gamerz Net community.

One simple plugin that comes with your wordpress installation can save you from comment spam hell. The plugin is called Akismet and is one of two plugins that are included with your WordPress standard isntallation. It only takes a couple of simple steps to stop that comment and trackback spam in its tracks.

From your WordPress Admin panel navigate to your plugins and activate Akismet. After activation Akismet will ask you for your API key. You can get an API key for free from WordPress.com. If you don’t already have a free account at WordPress.com. You can sign up for a FREE WordPress.com account. After you have a wordpress.com account click on your profile on wordpress.com and copy your API key at the top of your profile page to the Akismet settings. Save and you will be 99% free of comment and trackback spam.

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“Webmaster’s Guide to cPanel”

There is much more to developing a Web presence than choosing a domain name, applying a template, writing some content, and adding navigation menus. There are a multitude of tasks related to developing, managing, and maintaining Web sites that are required. Often these technologies must be gleaned haphazardly from vast resources or learned by trial and error. On the other hand, most Web services hosting providers – those fine folks who make our sites available to the world – include control panels that allow us to easily manage and maintain our sites. The most popular control panel – cPanel® – includes an extensive array of features that when fully understood can save many hours of frustration.

John Pfost has released his new book “Webmaster’s Guide to cPanel”. This is a must read for any aspiring webmaster. Cpanel being the most used control panel available. If you host a website or are a web site developer this book will be invaluable to you.

cPanel User Guide and Tutorial: Get the most from cPanel with this easy to follow guide