While the 6.0 downloads growing, we look to the new release managers for Joomla 6.1. Last month we featured  Harald Leithner and now we turn our focus on Stefan Wendhausen.

Do you have a feature for Joomla? Then Harald and Stefan are the people to speak to, Feature freeze is the 17th of February 2026 so you need to get coding!
Now lets find out more about the other 6.1 release manager. Someone who has been a pillar of the German Joomla community and translations guru: Stefan Wendhausen.

To start off, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Who are you, where do you come from, and what's your background - both professionally and personally?

Stefan:
Hello, my name is Stefan Wendhausen, and I come from near Nuremberg in Germany. I live outside the city with my wife and two sons, surrounded by greenery. I first came into contact with Mambo sometime around 2004. That's when I met Christian Hent (formerly Mambonews and then Joomlanews) and founded the first Mambo User Group. A regional get-together for exchange. The Nuremberg User Group still exists today, and we meet several times a year. In 2005, I attended my first community event, back then in Bonn. There I met wonderful people such as Robert Deutz, Thomas Kahl, Alexander Kempkens, and Sören Eberhardt-Biermann. Years later, in 2009, Robert asked David Jardin and me if we could take over admission control. After the general meeting, we both joined the board of J and Beyond e. V. and are still there today.
During my many years on the board, I have helped organize JoomlaDay Germany, the JaB conference, JoomlaCamp Germany, and the trade fair booth at Cebit, among other things. I have been leading the German translation team for many years and have also been leading the Core Translation Team for some time now. I am also the deputy lead of the CMS release team.
When I'm not investing my free time in Joomla, I work in my main job as CEO of a digital agency. There, we focus 100% on web projects with Joomla!

Everyone needs something outside the code.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time that has nothing to do with Joomla or the web?

Stefan:
I enjoy being outdoors, and since the pandemic began, we have been spending our annual vacation in the mountains. I have also re-enrolled at the gym, with the firm intention of exercising there.

Every Joomler has their origin story.
How did you first discover Joomla, and what made you decide to try it?

Stefan:
I've been building websites since 1997, and when I was sitting in a lecture at university in the early 2000s, I thought to myself that there must be an easier way than opening an FTP client and uploading data. Then I discovered Mambo. Even back then, I was more excited about it than any of the other alternatives.

Becoming a release manager is quite a commitment.
What inspired you to take on that responsibility?

Stefan:
Since 2009, I have been voluntarily responsible for the further development of Joomla at JaB e.V. In addition to my roles as Team Lead Core Translation and Deputy CMS Release Team Lead, it may be a logical step to take on the role of RM.
And with Harald, I have someone at my side who knows Joomla Core like few others. The decision came before the sprint for Joomla! 8—but that only reinforces my decision. We have a lot to do and are on the right track.

Many people use Joomla but never contribute back.
What motivated you to move from being a user to becoming an active contributor in the project?

Stefan:
There are always two sides to every coin. If I earn my living with a free open source system on the one hand, then I can also give something back for free on the other.

Do you work with Joomla regularly in your day to day life?
If so, what aspects of Joomla do you appreciate most compared to previous versions like Joomla 3, 4 or 5?

Stefan:
We use Joomla! every day at our agency for our customers. We often need to connect the Joomla CMS to an API, and that works extremely well.
The timed releases are very good for us, as we can prepare for them and rely on them. This means that when a bug is fixed, we know for sure that it will be available to everyone in the next release.
Joomla 3 was around for far too long; pssst, we still have a handful of very complex systems in migration. And every now and then, we get a request for migration to the latest Joomla, and then one of the best things is the look on people's faces. Now everything is so simple and tidy. Menu on the left, like everywhere else... great, and thank you!

Looking back at Joomla previous releases, can you see a change?
Are there particular improvements or procedures that are making the releases more professional?

Stefan:
I can only agree with Harald. I've been watching the releases live on the stream for some time now, and it usually works very smoothly.
And we also have a few ideas to make it even easier for future release managers. It won't be a "just press this button" job, but there are always little helpers that can be optimized and automated.

Let's talk about the road ahead.
What are your main goals or priorities for Joomla 6.1?

Stefan:
We definitely need a standard captcha in Joomla Core again. Specifically, a solution that makes us independent of data giants, as was the case in the past.
I'm really looking forward to that.
Personally, I'm interested in AI and MCP servers in particular. This is also a topic on the roadmap, and I would like to invest time in it, both in the concept and then in its implementation. One of the relevant topics is our documentation, where a lot has already been initiated and is on the right track.

Having seen the release process up close, what would you refine?
Are there things you'd like to streamline, document better, or approach differently this time?

Stefan:
We will try to implement all the things that we can automate for future release managers in the short term.

What part of your role as release managers excites you the most?
What are you personally most looking forward to in the months ahead?

Stefan:
I've been building the German language packs for ages, fully automated for all 5 versions. I actually enjoy it when the build process has created something based on my instructions. And I was also allowed to build something for 5.3. The first time, you still feel a little queasy, but when everyone thanks you for a mostly error-free release, I'm proud of everyone who contributed.
And sometimes it's also good to push issues or PRs in the right direction. So it's good that there are two of us!

The release process depends on many helping hands.
From your perspective, how can the wider Joomla community best support your upcoming release?

Stefan:
Yes, it always shocks me how extension developers seem to have zero interest in development and then only release their updates afterwards, sometimes days or even weeks later. It's a public repository and everyone should use it. Maybe we also have ways to make this easier to offer.
This was clearly evident with the release of 5.4 and 6.0; many people didn't understand the wording with the B/C plugin... this could have been tested very easily beforehand.
Problems with automated updates... Harald had also developed a special plugin for this to make the process very easy for everyone to carry out.
We are already doing a lot in the CMS release team, but if we can get part of the community to help out here, then we will all benefit. And you don't have to commit to anything or join a team if you don't want to. Just download and test the versions mentioned by Harald.
Perhaps this also needs to be supported more by the local communities. I see user groups, JoomlaDay events, etc. as having a responsibility here. Too few websites provide information about the releases before the stable release.

Finally, is there anything you'd like to say to the Joomla community?
Any thoughts, hopes, or messages you'd like to share before we wrap up?

Stefan:
Thanks, Harald. I was really happy when you agreed to rock this thing with me.
With the Captcha plugin firmly planned and our ideas, the community can look forward to a great release. And don't forget, the first alpha version of 6.1 will be available on November 25, 2025.
Please help us with testing and have fun with Joomla!