Joomla! Community Magazine™

There's a famous story about Harald MacMillan, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. When asked by a journalist, "What do you fear the most in politics or what could most easily derail your government's agenda?" He supposedly replied:

"Events, dear boy, events."

Indeed, events can be fraught with unseen dangers when planning. Let's explore the key considerations to make your Joomla event truly welcoming for all.

We'll do it again, - mark the date!

Joomla! 5.2 is coming closer and we will do our beloved Pizza, Bugs & Fun event like the last time. Mark your calendars for August 24th, 2024 to get your pizza and help Joomla! to get release ready. Whether you're a seasoned Joomla! enthusiast or new to the scene, PBF 2024.2 offers a unique opportunity to make a real difference while enjoying some fun and free pizza.

In a world where digital landscapes are ever-evolving, it's easy to take the thriving communities within them for granted. But what happens when we neglect the very foundations that sustain us? Just as the once-abundant passenger pigeons vanished from our skies, the vibrant Joomla community risks fading into obscurity without our collective vigilance and support. As I shared at JoomlaDays NL 2024, the story of Martha, the last passenger pigeon, is a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility. Every one of us can play a crucial role in ensuring Joomla’s enduring success.

Stability and reliability are keywords when it comes to any software release. Only hindsight shows whether such was achieved. Yet Joomla 5.0 hit these two requirements and many more, nailing that many have said is the best release of a major to date. Yes, we need to celebrate the features, but often all the hard work can be eclipsed by the issues that follow. 

So you’ve decided to join the Joomla Community, and maybe even dedicate some of your talent, skills to Joomla. Great! But now what? Where is everyone? Where do all these cool people meet? How to find a team that suits you, and how to join them? We’ve got you covered! Read all about the steps you can take to get settled in, and know: every step of the way, there’s someone who can help you.

What is a Community Liaison, what do they do and do you have what it takes to become one? All good questions that this article is intended to answer. And in answering we deal with the beating heart of volunteer Open Source community-driven projects just like Joomla!

Every year, I promise myself I will see more national events, then promptly forget to book them. I think I’m not the only one. So, for all of us: here is your guide to what is happening in Joomla and how you can become more active.

To misquote Jack Swigert, “Okay, Joomla... we've had a problem here.”

We have tried to address this problem over the years, and it continues to be a problem in our community.
Making Joomla a safe space for all has proved challenging; we still have members making others feel threatened and intimidated.
But we must not give up; all together, we will make Joomla a safe space for all.

One of the big challenges in Joomla is we don’t have enough volunteers to do the work. Or rather: the volunteers we have are often overloaded with work, and no one is available to help new people find their way, so they don’t know what’s expected from them and just start working nevertheless. This is a vicious cycle we can’t seem to break out of. As a result, not every contribution gets the friendly reception it deserves. To put it mildly.

The advent of Joomla 5 heralds a new era for web developers and site managers, as it promises a suite of enhancements, optimisations, and fixes that streamline website creation and management. As we delve into the new features and improvements, it's pivotal to appreciate the developmental strides and transformations from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5.

These are more than just code!