A new year begins and I'd like to wish all our readers throughout the globe a Happy New Year! For Joomla, this year means news and changes that will bring the CMS to a whole new level. 

New Structure

The main goal of the new structure is to encourage contributors, bring together fragmented leadership teams and processes, involve more global communities, and to have a voting process where leaders are not appointed by leadership itself. It sets a road map for organised conflict resolution and a code of conduct. The Transition Team is working hard for the new structure to see the light of the day soon. Keep your eyes and ear open!

Joomla 4

Although there is still no release date announced yet, Joomla 4 - aka Joomla X - is a promise to improve both the user experience as well code quality to allow modern technologies.
The priority in Joomla 4 development lies in having a one-click upgrade for core, minimal backwards compatibility breaks for the current extensions. However it’s also expected to create new ways to do other things for developers who wish to try them.

Joomla! Mascot

Last year there was an open contest to select a Joomla! Mascot. There were not enough entries to make the contest fair. News is that the contest might be opened again in 2017. So, if you have an idea for a Joomla! Mascot be on the lookout for more information on the Joomla! Community Blog.

Google Summer of Code 2017

After the success in 2016, Joomla is applying once again this year for the Google Summer of Code 2017, when accepted college students spend their summer break writing code and learning about open source development while earning a stipend!

[Your contribution here]

Yes, everyone is invited to contribute to the Joomla! Project. If you have questions on how to start volunteering, just ask. Use the comments section below, the Joomla! Forum, or any social network where Joomla is present.

We look forward to having you as part of the history of this great CMS called Joomla!