Many Joomla users are familiar with Falang, the well-known multilingual extension — but few know the story of the developer behind it: Stéphane Bouey.
In this interview, Stéphane takes us through his journey — from his early days as a developer in France to launching his own business in Argentina, where Falang was born almost by accident. He shares how one client’s need for a multilingual site and a missing extension update led him to create a solution that would go on to serve thousands of Joomla users.
With honesty and clarity, Stéphane talks about the technical challenges, the evolving Joomla ecosystem, and the everyday reality of providing long-term support. He also shares his candid thoughts on Joomla’s strengths, its growing complexity, and what could help make it even more accessible for developers and users alike.
Hello Stéphane, Many Joomla users are familiar with your extension, but we don't really know much about you. Can you give us a quick introduction?
My name is Stéphane Bouey, I'm 52 and I live in Montpellier (France). I've been working in IT since I finished my studies. I started by working for a mutual insurance company, then in a mobile start-up and finally in an IT services company on a major tax project.
My life changed significantly when my eldest son was born, with a move to Argentina, where I lived in Buenos Aires for 5 years, and where, above all, I decided to set up my own business.
What was your first encounter with Joomla?
When I became a freelancer, I started using php/mysql (whereas before, I had only done Java/Delphi/Oracle/SqlServer).
I started out to help a friend who was setting up her own online shop, which I created using Prestashop - which was very fashionable at the time.
However, my next clients needed a CMS, so I took a look at the existing solutions in 2009 and chose the one that seemed the most structured, with an easy-to-learn MVC model: Joomla!
I also liked the Administration section with the menu at the top: it gave a clear overview and above all was easy to develop.
When did you start developing? At the same period before or later?
I've been a professional developer since 1998. Initially, I worked with Delphi/Oracle, then Java/Oracle/Sql Server for 10 years in various companies. It wasn't until I went freelance, with smaller clients and shared hosting, that I started working with php/MySQL/Joomla 1.5.
Aside from the technical aspects, I clearly wouldn't go back to the way things were before: this way of working and this freedom suit me just fine.
What led you to create your Joomla extension in particular?
One of my clients in Argentina needed a multilingual site (flat rental site in Buenos Aires). It was at the time of the switch to Joomla 1.6 and I was initially planning to use Joomfish; but the update wasn't coming out...
So I made a fork and migrated from Joomfish to Joomla 1.6 to translate my client's site: Falang was born! Of course, I put it on the JED to help other developers in the same situation as me.
I remember that moment very well: it was Christmas, we were on holiday in Uruguay, in a small village with no network connection and I was getting messages every day asking me for help (obviously, I hadn't done the doc yet!).
A Canadian I had helped even offered to send me money. I had never imagined I had be able to sell my component, and it actually seemed like a good idea. You could say, however, that Falang developed a bit by chance. As for Joomfish, unfortunately the extension was released after a year, and stopped shortly afterwards.
What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them?
The biggest constraint for me is the internal changes to Joomla, which force me to upgrade the Falang version, without any new functionality.
Today I have the feeling that there's also a lack of translation management for component ini files. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think there's a tool that lets you manage this easily in Joomla. I used to use transifex but there's no longer a component that lets you create a language package. So we're a bit stuck.
That's why I'm thinking about making one and offering it on the JED.
Finally, beyond the technical challenges, the biggest constraint is that of providing permanent support: I have to be highly reactive, and in 95% of cases, I respond to my customers within a few hours. As a result, for 13 years I haven't spent more than a week away from my PC.
By contrast, my wife congratulates me on being a "super dad", always available when the 3 kids come home from school or when one of them is sick. Teleworking, for me, didn't wait for Covid 🙂.
Did you start earning a living quickly or was it complicated?
I have to say that I benefited from a favourable context: when I went into business for myself, I was living in Argentina, where the standard of living was lower than in France. So I had fewer constraints and less pressure. At the same time, my clients were French, so I was able to develop Faboba at my leisure.
In fact, my initial aim was to develop websites for clients, which I did, mainly using Joomla and Prestashop. Eventually, it was when I was faced with a lack of certain components that I started developing them.
Over time, the situation was reversed and sales of Joomla components became more important than my services.
Things went smoothly and naturally...
Is this still the case?
It's been more complicated over the last few years. I make fewer and fewer sites for clients and I mainly sell extensions. However, since Joomla 4, the market for Joomla components seems to have dropped, or perhaps the integration of translation since version 3 has made it less necessary to use Falang...
To broaden my scope, for the last 3 years, like many people, I've been doing a WordPress extension. So there's a Falang for Wordpress and integrations into builders like Elementor / Yootheme / Divi / WpBakery, which have been requested by clients.
The principle remains the same: there is a default language that is translated, which doesn't really exist in the Wordpress environment.
Feedback has been very positive, but the reality is that there is a lot of support for very few purchases.
To be clear, however, I have to say that the component for translating the Yootheme builder, which is compatible with Joomla and WordPress, works very well.
Are you in contact with other (independent) developers? How can this kind of collaboration work?
Not too much. The truth is, I'm a bit of a bear ;-)
I did meet some other developers at the "Joomladays" in France, notably Nicolas from Hikashop, with whom I'm still in contact and who moreover did a great job of integrating Falang directly into Hikashop. It was great fun, but unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the last few.
Finally, I'm in contact with other extension developers, to make Falang compatible when necessary.
You might think that working on your own can be burdensome and lead to a kind of solitude; but I have to say that I enjoy organising myself as I see fit; while still having support exchanges with people from the 4 corners of the world.
What are the most common misconceptions about your extension?
I don't think there really are any.
The documentation isn't extensive enough, but as there's a free version, users can test it without any problem.
What is the one thing people don't know about your extension?
I haven't the slightest idea... When a Falang user has a doubt, they contact me directly by email, which allows me to give them a clear and precise answer. I've always provided email support, which I find more human than ticket systems.
Digging deeper, I could perhaps mention the fact that with Falang, you can use services to help with translations (which are obviously editable) such as Deepl, Google translate and Bing translate... (and it even works in custom fields).
What are the topics people always ask for support?
In fact, there aren't many anymore, because when a question comes up several times, I put a note in Falang or I write a specific article. As well as providing the answer, this also means that I don't need any support. What's more, over time the questions become more and more technical. Recently, this has been particularly the case with the use of custom fields (which seem to have been very well adopted by users). This has enabled me to move Falang towards better integration for the translation of these fields. Do you get a lot out of the Joomla community?
At the beginning it was very useful, I was present on the forums and I found many answers to my problems there.
But I have to admit that these days I don't participate much.
What is your involvement in the Joomla community?
Unfortunately, it's too weak for my taste and I'm on too many other subjects... although I'm aware that I should be more active.
What do you think of Joomla's ecosystem?
Joomla is a great system, reliable and solid. Updates go very smoothly on minor versions; it's really comfortable.
But it seems to me that Joomla is becoming more complicated for novice developers, which can be a brake on adding extensions to the JED. In fact, the strength of Wordpress lies in the number of plugins, and I have the impression that the reduction in the number of Joomla 5-compatible plugins makes it comparatively less attractive.
One comment though: major updates and structural changes to Joomla still require me to spend quite a bit of time making my products compatible. Time that I had rather spend improving the features that are useful to my users.
Overall, though, I had like to stress that the addition of custom fields has been a big plus and makes site management more 'user friendly' for the administrator.
What's more, even though I was dubious at first about the new administrator menu interface, I have to admit that I'm starting to like the left-hand menu.
How do you see your future with Joomla?
Do you have any surprises up your sleeve? Falang still seems to me to be relevant to Joomla's native multilingualism, as most sites present the same content in several languages. I'm therefore working on the evolution of Falang and Joomla 6, as well as the integration of translation tools in builders, such as Yootheme or Sp page builder. The aim will be to make translation even simpler. Finally, I'm planning to integrate AI tools to help with translation. However, I don't have any new components planned for the near future, apart from the one I mentioned for making language packages with Transifex. Anything else you’d like to say to our Joomler friends?
Anything else you'd like to add to our Joomler friends?
Nothing in particular apart a big thank you to Joomla and its community who keep this system alive!
Where to find Stéphane's Extensions :
- Falang
https://www.faboba.com/en/composants/falang/presentation.html
- Translate for Yootheme
Translation of a site made with Yootheme with or without Falang
https://www.faboba.com/en/components/translate-for-yootheme-builder/presentation.html
- Translate for SP Page buillder
Translation of a site made with Sp Page Builder with or without Falang
https://www.faboba.com/en/components/sppbtranslate/presentation.html