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Community Openings - July 2021

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Since September 2021 each month in the Joomla Community Magazine the Volunteer Engagement Team have been promoting roles that need staffing throughout the Joomla project. We're keen to find people, as well as find out why we're not finding people. Can you help?

Despite what many might think, Joomla's actually thriving at the moment. Lots of enthusiastic volunteers are putting time in across the project to work on getting Joomla 4 ready for release (Joomla 4 RC 4 came out this week). Over 260 students earlier this year took a look at participating in Google Summer of Code (the 2021 Candidates have just had their first evaluation by the 25 mentors involved). The Joomla Community Magazine successfully published at least a dozen articles each issue thanks to both regular and new contributors. Volunteers, the lifeblood of Joomla, are working across dozens of teams - some extremely active, others in need of some fresh faces and reinvigoration - and as a project we're in need of a few more skilled individuals to join in particular roles.

Unfortunately, as life happens, there's an inherent churn of volunteers as part of the life cycle, and importantly, we need to refresh the pool of talent constantly. At the moment, that refresh is occurring from top to bottom. Right now is probably the best opportunity anyone has to join the project in many years.

President & Group 1 Elections

At time of publication, there's just over 24 hours left for manifesto's to be submitted for the President Replacement election, while manifestos for six other board members close on August 7 2021 for the Group 1 Elections. The election cycle typically sees five of the board positions up for election each six months at the end of a twelve month term. So even if you're reading this after August 7 2021, never fear - watch out for the next opportunity when Group 2 elections are announced in January.

Joomla will see 70% of the board either replaced or re-elected during the coming six weeks. With only a few of the incumbent position holders standing for re-election, there is likely to be a significant change in the makeup of the board and senior leadership of the project.

Now I'm not saying if you're a new volunteer that these are the roles for you.

The job descriptions are detailed on the Open Source Matters website and the board positions as well as the Department Coordinator positions involve a serious commitment by those undertaking them. Some may think the roles look to be a set of thankless tasks, and in the past that may sometimes have been the case. Moving forward, the Volunteer Engagement Team are working on ways to enrich the experiences for all volunteers, and the board will be playing a significant role in how some of these activities are delivered globally.

If you're a seasoned Joomla veteran, and the timing is right, then perhaps take a look at the roles up for election a little closer and talk with colleagues and contacts to garner support should you decide to submit a manifesto and stand for election.

Outsiders with suitable skills and demonstrable experience can also be considered, but will really need to be good at communicating to persuade the membership as to why they should elect them.

If you have questions about the election process or the positions, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you have questions about other ways to volunteer, keep reading.

Active Leadership & Practical Skills

Below the board, the next level of Joomla's structure is Teams and Working Groups. The department level is where the top level communications take place, but the teams and working groups in each department are charged with getting work done. You can find out more about the various teams and working groups via the Joomla Volunteer Portal.

Jobs in these teams and working groups have been the focus of all the preceding Community Openings articles over the year. Peruse the articles if you're interested to see what roles are currently available, as many of them still need filling.

Many positions we've advertised are perennial roles that need regular contributors to fill vacancies from time to time. There's also a range of tasks that are made easier by many hands being involved, such as documentation and translation.

Think Globally - Act Locally

One big area anyone passionate about Joomla can do to contribute to the project is locally. From getting involved in Joomla User Groups, to sharing Joomla's social media posts with your audience, to telling colleagues and clients about the pros of using Joomla, you can make a difference.

The Events Department has been busy in the past few months revamping and improving the events and Joomla user group features on the Joomla website. JUGs are in the process of being contacted so we have their current details. Some new resources for JUGs will follow later in the year, including a directory of speakers that JUGs can contact to speak with their local group.

If blogging is your thing, creating content about different aspects of Joomla for your audience is also another way to help. If helping is your thing, jump onto the Joomla Forum or Joomla Stack Exchange to answer other users' questions. If persuading is your thing, join other local meetup groups on various tech subjects and offer to run a session talking about Joomla. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need some resources to help you.

It's the little things…

Whittling our way down from the top jobs, every volunteer hour is valued. There's plenty of important things we're looking for volunteers to do that we're calling micro-contributions - things you can do if you've just got an occasional hour to spare.

That's just the few that are self-paced contributions. Each department has their own micro-tasks lists for various teams. 

Feedback

We'd love some feedback - comment on this article to let us know where you'd expect to find out more about Joomla volunteering opportunities, or what's stopping you from following up on an offer. You can also This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you'd prefer to not submit your feedback in a comment.

More information

There's a lot of things to be done. Can you help? 

If you want more information on getting involved at any level, the simplest starting point is to drop an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll be able to point you in the right direction, introduce you to team leaders, or even just add your skillset to a database we're building of people to talk to when we need something small but specific completed.

I look forward to a full inbox.

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