Community Magazine

You’ve probably heard or read it more than once: Joomla needs volunteers. Without people, new releases take longer and have less exciting features, documentation remains incomplete and bugs take forever to get fixed. But who do we need, and what would they be doing? 

I first came across the term “open source” about 20 years ago and through various projects I found communities that supported and contributed to software that was freely available under various licences. Joomla is licenced as open source and it in turn sits on open source software including PHP, MySQL / MariaDB, the webserver software whether it’s Apache, NGINX and the server itself on a version of Linux (or Windows, which is not open source) All of this relies on contributors to add functionality, test changes, provide support through forums, repositories and documentation.

Exciting News for Joomla Volunteers!

The wait is over, and I am thrilled to announce that Holopin is ready to launch! If you've been contributing to the Joomla Project in 2024, your efforts are about to be recognised in a fun and meaningful way. Instructions on how to claim your digital badge will be winging their way to you ASAP.

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.

Last month we asked you to share the links to your favorite articles from the Joomla Community Magazine in 2023. And you did! Turns out you really love tutorials, and a lot of you also like the articles about leadership and communication. From the articles you submitted, we've managed to make a top 20. Let's dive into the most valued articles of 2023!

For many of us, making a promise is a strong moral engagement. For some of us, it's also linked to a musical souvenir since decades.

Maybe you’re wondering if volunteering for Joomla is your thing. You might be uncertain about your English or your knowledge, or about what would be expected in terms of commitment and time. I get that. I was really hesitant about all these things myself. But I did it anyway, I found a team that suits me, started working, and soon discovered that volunteering can be rewarding in ways I had never expected. And I’m not the only one: in this article, five Joomlers tell us what volunteering brings for them! 

We all know that volunteering is a challenging decision and time consuming. In the case of Joomla, it can also be very difficult for no tech people and for non native English speakers.

Born 18 years ago, Joomla is an open-source project supported solely by volunteers. Here are 18 ways to help Joomla if you want to support this project.

Gamification of testing is something often discussed in the threads of Joomla discussions.

Wouldn't it be a great idea if we could reward those volunteers who are doing the work hard and putting in the time with something fun and creative? Well, now we can!