Joomla! Community Magazine™

As the summer ends, we head back to school, back to work, and back to reality. With the release of Joomla 3.0 this month, there is no looking back... we have a lot to look forward to in the Joomlasphere!

Joomla 3.0 is due out next month, and if you're thinking "oh no, another migration situation!", don't get your feathers all ruffled yet. If you're on Joomla 2.5 you'll be absolutely fine staying where you are, probably until 2014.

The Joomla! Community Magazine celebrates its 2nd birthday this month! Since July 2010, there have been 503 articles published in 18 languages. According to Google Analytics, we have had 1,118,483 unique visits to the site, with 1,769,164 page views! Not bad for a two year old!

Where can a young university student or graduate participate in a prestigious summer project, create something original and new, learn from experienced mentorship, while proposing and determining his or her own specific idea? Joomla and the Google Summer of Code, that's where!

As we all know, Joomla is a volunteer project made of up dedicated community members from around the world. It is the diversity and commitment of these members which makes Joomla so powerful, that and of course, the platform and framework behind it! There is a lot going on around the Joomla world…

April’s “nauty” theme for this article evokes maritime images of past issues that helped chart the course for the Joomla! Community Magazine from her maiden voyage to the present day. In-between the lighthouse and the ship is a deep blue sea with a life of its own...

When the Joomla Community Magazine launched in July 2010, the Editor's introduction for that first issue included a metaphor for the new JCM and team, which was that of ship built by a crew who longed for the sea. Now, twenty one months later, I am stepping aside from the JCM to better focus on my new role as President of Open Source Matters. I want to share some closing thoughts about the JCM and team, along with a new metaphor for what I think they represent for our project and our community.

One of the things I like best is looking ahead to a goal, and knowing that the skills and tools needed to meet it are available. I may not know exactly how the process will unfold — in fact it's better when I don't. That is the essence of the best kind of creative challenge. Satisfaction comes when the goal is achieved, and the different facets of the solution can be savored. Countless times my experience with Joomla! has provided exactly this kind of opportunity…

Every new year heralds a new beginning, and a moment to remember the accomplishments of the past year. In 2011, we had a number of milestones for Joomla! and the Joomla Community Magazine.

Our project has certainly been in the spotlight recently! On November 7, Packt announced Joomla won the 2011 award for Best Open Source CMS. This is the third time since 2006 that Joomla has won this award. Then on November 27, Water and Stone published their 2011 Open Source CMS Market Share Report. Some parts of this report weren't exactly positive when mentioning Joomla. Here are some thoughts about these two recent items.