As 2022 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on what happened in the Joomla Community Magazine in the past twelve months. Team members Luca Marzo, Anja de Crom, Hans van der Meer and Phil Walton look back on the past year and forward to the next.

If you could pick just one favorite article from 2022, what would it be?

Luca: My favorite article is not just one, but a series: Joomla Performance Tuning series by Nicholas Dionysopoulos. He wrote five episodes on how to get the most performance out of a Joomla 4 website. 

Anja: definitely 17 Joomlers share 17 Joomla 4 websites. For this one we asked Joomlers to share the Joomla 4 sites they’re most proud of, and this resulted in an article that shows a very broad spectrum of Joomla websites. This article was so much fun to put together!

Hans: as an author I definitely have to say the interview with Julian White. We had a nice mail conversation back and forth and he had a lot to share in this interview.

Phil: Joomla 4 – Cassiopeia Template – a bunch of Tips & Tricks was the one I keep referring to over the year. I find Marc Dechèvre an engaging writer and very informative. Several others have already been mentioned, especially the Julian White interview.

What do you consider the most pleasant surprise(s) in JCM this year?

Luca: a team that keeps the enthusiasm to contribute to the magazine by writing, reviewing and collecting a number of high quality articles.

Anja: the growing number of people contributing to the magazine. We see new authors and long lost friends, all writing great articles. 

Hans: actually, “meeting” people. Until now I did a lot of interviews of Joomlers and Teams and with some of the Joomlers you get to know each other a bit. Like meeting Joomlers at a JUG or JoomlaDay.

Phil: not a tangible thing as such but it just feels as though things are coming together, the magazine has found its voice and I am hearing some really good feedback from unexpected quarters.

What have you learned in 2022?

Luca: that contributing to a team in which there is a great level of involvement, respect and active participation, makes volunteering more pleasant.

Anja: that leading a team isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But it could be I’ve just been lucky, with a fantastic team full of easy-going people. So maybe it just isn’t hard in this particular team 🙂 

Hans: start asking the Joomler/volunteer in time to not get into time pressure. 

Phil: it's been an amazing year for me working with Joomla, the friendships, mostly through the internet but then meeting up in person. The crazy bicycle ride was a memorable time and showed to me that just saying yes and taking the leap can be fun.

How would you describe the development of JCM in 2022?

Luca: With the move to Mattermost, we’ve increased our openness. Anyone interested in contributing to the JCM can come to the team room and participate in discussions and propose new ideas and topics.

Anja: more and more we’ve become a constant and well-developed source of information for the whole community, with articles about a great variety of topics. 

The number of ‘spontaneous’ contributions is growing, and people are contacting me, Luca or Philip on a regular basis about ideas they have for the magazine, which is a very positive thing (if you read this and think: hey, I’ve got an idea that I could turn into a smashing article, please go ahead - contact us or submit your article directly to JCM). Contacting us has gotten a whole lot easier since we've moved to Mattermost. 

I think it’s become more common for everyone working for the JCM to communicate about what they’re doing. That means everyone knows what’s going on and what to expect from each other, and this works out really well. 

Phil: maturing is a word I would use to describe it, but still keeping the sense of fun.There will be a churn of contributors but that's not a bad thing. Often people who turn out great thought they would not be ‘good enough’ so need encouragement. The final article being a surprise to all but most likely the author. There is still a lot of undiscovered talent that needs teasing out into the open.

What would you like to see happening next year?

Luca: new ideas and topics brought by a growing number of people. I'd like to see new authors, regular or one-timers, to continue improving the reputation of the JCM.

Anja: I would love to see the commitment growing even further, and more people getting involved in the JCM. By writing articles, on a regular basis or just once or twice a year, or by joining the team (did I mention it’s a really great team?), by translating them in your own language or, if you’re not the writer type, by commenting in the comments section or by sharing articles on social media. 

Hans: I hope to get the time to write a few own articles, also to have ideas what to write about 😅 And of course that even more Joomlers take the effort of writing an article themselves and share it with the Magazine.

Phil: personally I would like to find a way to write the articles in the pub. Seriously, some of my best ideas happen around 9pm in the evening when I pop to my local for an hours relaxation and I don't start the articles and forget the ideas, so using the ability to write to myself in Mattermost and start those topics to finish later.

For the team, more contributors and perhaps some guest writers from outside Joomla talking about topics that affect us.

Do you want to be part of the fun? Contribute to JCM! Read all about it here: https://magazine.joomla.org/all-issues/february-2022/the-jcm-team-is-looking-for-you