Joomla! Community Magazine™

Yesterday I took out the garbage and came back inside carrying this beautiful sign of the changing seasons. It got me thinking about the many chapters of the Joomla story, and how it's always something new...

Joomla! has had a lot on tap the last few months, especially in the way of Joomla!Day events! If you haven't been to one yet, you are missing out on all the fun. It's a great way to meet new folks and learn some new tricks. 

In the field of astronomy, when two or more celestial bodies appear close to each other, that event is called a conjunction. Astronomical conjunctions are beautiful and rare occurances in our night sky that don't last for very long. Right now a rare and relatively short-lived convergence of important milestones and activities are all taking place for our project. Right now is our Joomla! conjunction.

I write this from San Jose following the third and closing day of the Joomla! Leadership Summit. This has been an incredible few days, not only for meeting fellow leadership team members, but also for discussing and making concrete plans for pushing the project forward.

This version of the Joomla! Community Magazine was launched on July 1st of 2010, and so the release of this issue officially marks your JCM's first birthday!

Joomla! is a huge, worldwide community, encompassing many languages and many cultures. When we are able to work and collaborate together, we can do amazing things with incredible results. When we bring our joy into what we do, it is shared with all.

Last month, the 2011 Joomla! draft budget was published and community feedback on it was invited. I believe this was the first time that community feedback was invited before our project's budget was formally approved.

Perspective is a strange thing, probably best experienced less metaphorically, when drawing still life. The slightest head movement can change how an object looks - it's the same object in the same position, only our perception changes.

Joomla! is a volunteer community. And, within that community, people come, people go, people stay. With each new arrival or departure, there are opportunities for change. Inspiration. A new direction, or a different way of looking at things. The changes may be subtle, or a total in-your-face-whammy. You, the User/Developer/Designer, may see it, or you may not. But know this... Change is inspiration, and, like the wind, it can go in many directions.

Unless you've been stuck under a REALLY big snowdrift, hopefully you're aware that Joomla! 1.6 was released on January 10, 2011.  Over three years in development, this new version adds many important features, lays a new architectural foundation for future releases, and starts us down a new path of time based release cycles. Joomla! 1.6 marks the beginning of a new era for our project. Here is a story about how our community worked together to announce this new era to the world...