Pretty much every Joomla User will reach it: the point where you feel like the only Joomler in the village and wish you knew more people working with Joomla. The wonderful news is: there are. We have Joomla User Groups all over the world, in-person and online, and you can easily join or even start one! Share your knowledge, learn fast, help solve people’s Joomla issues, and have fun!

Learn about the JUG Team

Joomla has an official Joomla User Groups (JUG) Team to help and facilitate you. You can find it here: https://volunteers.joomla.org/teams/user-groups-team. Team members are Todd Woodward, Ahmad Moussa, Ak Shehu, Laura Gordon and Davide Messia.

What is a JUG?

• Any group of people that want to get together to discuss, work on, or create anything in Joomla!
• A JUG does not have to be in a physical location, it can be 100% Virtual!
• A JUG can be topic based, for example: JUGs for Extension Developers, JUG for an ‘area’ (not just a city), even JUGs for religious groups.
• We are currently updating all of the Joomla Document pages about JUGs, if you have any questions, feel free to send us a help desk ticket to learn more.

How to communicate with JUG Leaders like yourselves?

We have a channel on Mattermost dedicated to all JUG Leaders. The purpose is to ‘share your secrets’ and encourage others to attend your Joomla User Group Meetings.  This is also a good location where you might be able to find others that would be interested in leading a JUG group with you.  Please keep in mind this channel is specifically for communication between JUG leaders about how to improve your local JUG.  It is not a ‘self-promotion channel.

https://joomlacommunity.cloud.mattermost.com/main/channels/jug-leadership

How to start a JUG

It's easy! Just find at least one other person to run it with you. Then decide a 'place' where you will meet in person or virtually. If you meet virtually, we recommend using a tool that provides closed captioning. Determine a regular date/time for your JUG meetings. It is also helpful if you determine some kind of format so the members know the typical 'flow' of a meeting. Once you have the date/time, place, and contact, you can visit the help desk to request your meeting to be listed on the joomla.org website

I have a JUG but how do I start having meetings?

Discuss with your other 'leader' what you want to do. A JUG meeting could be a 'teaching' meeting, a 'networking' meeting, or a little bit of both, it is entirely up to you and your group. Once you figure out the 'theme' of your first meeting, add it to the Joomla.org calendar and consider creating an 'image' that represents the meeting, this can help for social media posts and to get the word out. 

Some sample meeting formats

Simple Flow:

• introductions
• Joomla topic
• networking

Complex Flow

• introductions
• member spotlight (have a member rotate each meeting to talk about their Joomla journey)
• Joomla / website topic
• Q&A

Networking / unstructured approach

• introductions
• have each person 'show off' their favorite website build

Unstructured Extension Format

• introductions
• have each person talk about their favorite extension

This meeting type is great when you are figuring out what topic to focus on in a future month. Typically an extension idea will come up that everyone wants to learn more about; now you have a future topic!

Special Guest Presentation

• introductions
• guest presents a special topic

How do I get a speaker?

It is asked frequently, but how do I get a speaker to present at my JUG meeting? I have been working with Joomla and various JUGs since 2005. It is very rare that when I ask someone to present something they are excited about, they say no. But how do you find these people? 

Check out Joomla Day Events and see speakers that have spoken at those events. It is likely that they already have a presentation ready to go, and something they can present directly to your group. You can also check out the Joomla Community Magazine; the authors of these articles may already be 'experts' in a specific area, it is a great opportunity to ask them to present at a JUG. 

Also, encourage your JUG members to participate in other JUGs and Joomla Day events; networking is the best way. 

Lastly, if there is a member in your group that might be more 'quiet,' see if they would be interested in speaking about a topic that interests them. The beautiful thing about a Joomla User Group is it allows everyone to participate, and that means it gives all participants a member to grow.

How do I get a Joomla User Group Logo?

The Joomla Marketing team has created an official logo that can be used for all Joomla User Groups. You do not HAVE to use this logo, but if you use it, you are certain it meets the Joomla trademark standards. To request a logo, visit our help desk link and request one. 

https://community.joomla.org/helpdesk.html

Create a JUG Sub Domain

We are still working on the process for building a subdomain for your JUG.  For now the link and instructions can be found on this page:

https://www.opensourcematters.org/organisation/directors/policies/312-official-subdomain-licensing-policy.html

Do you want to learn more about the Joomla User Group community?

Join the JUG leadership meeting on Thursday, June 29 2023 at 15:00 UTC | 11:00 am EDT

Register here: https://bit.ly/jug-leadership-spring-2023

We will go over all of these topics and, more importantly, you will get a chance to network with other Joomla User Group Leaders.

Joomla User Group Leaders - Quick Links

• Your Joomla User Group site on Joomla.org: https://community.joomla.org/user-groups.html
• need help: https://community.joomla.org/helpdesk.html
• Subdomains allowed: https://www.opensourcematters.org/organisation/directors/policies/312-official-subdomain-licensing-policy.html 
• Mattermost Channel - JUG Leaders: https://joomlacommunity.cloud.mattermost.com/main/channels/jug-leadership
• Request a subdomain for your site: https://www.opensourcematters.org/subdomain-request
• Submit your Joomla User Group events: https://community.joomla.org/
• Join the Volunteer Portal: https://volunteers.joomla.org/
• This way we can add you to: https://volunteers.joomla.org/groups/user-group-organizers

If you have further questions feel free to email our team.