YooTheme's Widgetkit series just got that much better. Users could already use this power tool to quickly and easily ad widgets like Google Maps and dynamic photo galleries to their site. Now Widgetkit has been upgraded to include Responsive design rules. These easy to use widgets will now be automatically adjusted to fit the screens of whatever device is being used to view them. That's not the only update, though.

Kunena, one of the most popular forum extensions for Joomla!, has released version 2.0. Although a cursory glance won't reveal many changes, there have been significant improvements across the board to this beloved extension. The programmers have completed a full rewrite of the codebase which has offered up improved speed and performance for large Joomla! based forum's and communities. Anyone who has a high-volume of forum posts will want to upgrade ASAP. But that's not all that's changed with Kunena...

Open Source Matters, the non-profit organization in charge of providing "organizational, legal, and financial support for the Joomla! open-source project," has identified its four main goals for 2012. These goals were agreed upon after publishing a list of ideas and receiving community feedback starting in November of last year.

Anyone lookinng to upgrade their Joomla! website to include the Responsive design philosophy has has to pay a hefty fee upfront before they can start using a quality theme. Not anymore, though! GavicPro has released their latest theme, Music Free at no charge to their customers. Designed to work as a music news/sharing site, Music Free is perfect for any image-heavy site that updates frequently. The modules will automatically rearrange themselves to fit the browser size of whatever monitor the reader is using to view the material, making it super-easy to keep a consistent and attractive layout without having to redesign your site for mobile users.

Packtpub.com has published a new Joomla! 2.5 Beginner's Guide aimed at helping new Joomla users secure, administrate, and fill their sites with content. The book is an update to the Joomla! 1.5 Beginner's Guide by Eric Tiggeler.

Brand new component JEDchecker is aimed at the Joomla developer community, and promises to provide a quick and easy check of common possible problems an extension might have before submission to the Joomla Extensions Directory.

Several gaming themed Joomla templates have popped up over the years, but with Shaper Crux, JoomShaper has brought a twist to the genre with JomSocial integration and ecommerce capabilities built in.

Photo and video blogs may just have their new layout with the release of Youbricks. Layout your blogs, vlogs, and various photographs and notes in a simple "square' based design. Users of the popular social media site Pinterest will find the Youbrick theme to be particularly familiar. Featuring Responsive design and K2 software, this elegant theme is perfect for anyone who loves a site bursting with content that remains easy to navigate from the front page.

Many Joomla users have already made installing JCE a habit with each new website build, and after this latest release, they may have a much better time managing code tweaks and overall article management.

RSJoomla has released an update to their Joomla firewall extension, RSFirewall, that now allows users to block ip addresses by country as well as automatically blacklisting "repeat offenders."