The NEW Joomla Resources Directory takes center stage at http://resources.joomla.org with the goal to empower Joomla users to “Connect and Do More” After several years of deliberation, feature enhancements and development, the Joomla Resources Directory (JRD) team proudly presents to the community a fantastic, updated providers resource directory.

The first JRD was launched into the world wide web more than five years ago and it attracted over 500 vendors and generated thousands of new leads from potential clients. It served to provide a reliable resource for people looking to build a new website, update a current website and/or have custom development work done.

Over the years, the Joomla community provided useful feedback for improvements to this model; so for the last year and a half, the JRD Team has been meeting on a weekly basis to design, build and deploy a new and improved directory.

Our well organized and diverse team collaborated with a number of Joomla vendors to build a new Resources Directory that aims to serve as one of the most valuable places for seeking out professional support of service providers that specialize in Joomla.

By putting “customers first”, the new JRD offers streamlined access to vendors via categorized results and geonavigation search tools.

Key Improvements Include:

• Easier registration process.
• User and Company listings are now separate profiles that can be linked, so a single user's profile may be listed as team member on different business listings.
• New badge feature that provides approved listers with an HTML snippet (image) that links to their Resource Directory Listing.
• GEO Radius Search so users can search for a business in their region.
• Faster category search results.
• Single users are now able to manage multiple unique businesses.
• Newsletter and communication channel.
• New Code of Conduct to ensure applicants are being reviewed and monitored  in accordance with defined standards of best practices.
• Interface configured for Multi Language support (Coming Soon in Spanish and Portuguese!).
• Permissions management for relationships between listing types (Coming Soon!).

If you hop over to the new site http://resources.joomla.org you will see just how easy it is to get your company listed or find an approved web developer, consultant or designer to achieve greater success with your Joomla-based project.

For the Joomla Practitioner:

One of the key differences in the new JRD is that it has two types of submissions

1. A “Registered Provider” is the main business listing users will find on the JRD site.
2. A “Linked Profile” represents an individual’s profile and can be linked to one or more companies (Registered Providers).

If a Registered Provider is a company with numerous team members or if the company name is different from the sole proprietor who runs it, then the Linked Profile is a useful way to associate a business with one or more individuals. Within the Registered Provider listing, you’ll see there is the company information listed at the top, then the “Linked Profiles” are populated beneath it to showcase teams and/or individuals associated with their business. Often freelancers work for more than one company, so this system lends autonomy to the individual so they may be in ownership of their identity on the JRD. Additionally, everyone that submits to the JRD agrees to a Code of Excellence and Conduct so people searching for providers can have assurance that the results are vetted for compliance and best business practices.

What’s Next?

JRD Joomla! In Action 2014, Cancun Mexico, Joomla! World Conference

That’s right, the JRD team will be traveling to Cancun and spend our Saturday afternoon improving the website for version 2.0 (instead of on the beach, now that is dedication). The JRD team will review their goals and develop a master roadmap for the site that includes documentation, marketing, translations, technical development, and new features. They plan to document more clearly the approval and ticketing process from an administrative perspective so future volunteers have clear methodologies in place. Additionally, they’ll look at adding portfolios to the directory listings and update the relationships between a linked profile and a registered provider to Version 2 which requires approval by both parties. We are now in search of a technical support volunteer and a marketing volunteer with specific skill sets who can help us continue to improve the site. The volunteer should have the following skills:

• Time availability for meeting with the team and doing work
• CSS / LESS / HTML Skills (Medium to Advanced knowledge) - Technical Support
• Joomla Administrator Expertise (Advanced knowledge) - Technical Support
• Social Media Knowledge - Marketing
• Great writing skills - Marketing

If you believe you’re able to help contribute to the Joomla community in this way, please fill out this form and our team will contact you.

In Closing:

Remember the JRD is your resource and a gateway to business opportunities and partnerships. If you have ideas that you would like to see incorporated please submit them as a ticket at http://resources.joomla.org/en/do-you-need-help and the JRD team will put them into consideration. If you want to contribute to the success of the JRD the team they would like your help getting the word out about this great collection of information they always welcome new volunteers for driving future initiatives. Just raise your hand and reach out to them.

Thanks again to the Joomla! Resources Directory Team

• Chad Windnagle
• Christopher Nielsen
• Dawn Russell
• Deb Cinkus
• Erico Lopez
• Brian Mitchell
• Ron van Schaik
• Duke Speer
• Søren Beck Jensen