Joomla! Community Magazine™

Wait - what? A content management system changing lives? Surely that can’t be a thing? Well, turns out it is. Like every other free and open source software, Joomla makes it possible for millions of people worldwide to change their life for the better. So: free, yes, but priceless in what it brings to us. JCM asked 19 people just one simple question: how did Joomla change your life? Read their inspiring stories!

I assume we all make assumptions ?, and often there’s no harm in this at all. But when it comes to written communication, which happens a lot in our community (think GitHub and Mattermost) things can easily go pear shaped when assumptions are made. Assumptions going rogue can lead to anger, sleepless nights, teams falling apart, volunteers rage quitting, work not being done and a ruined reputation (for the volunteer(s) involved and for Joomla). How does this happen, and how can we prevent it from happening?

You’ve probably heard of Mastodon, the open source alternative to X. Mastodon consists of thousands of independent servers, all together these servers form a social network Big Tech has nothing to do with. Open Source! That’s right up our alley, so of course Joomla has its own Mastodon server, joomla.social. JCM interviews Harald Leithner, who played a big part in making this happen. 

A wise person once said: “The quality of software is measured by the quality of its documentation”. OK I just made this up, but it could very well be said by a wise person, because it makes sense. Where does Joomla stand, documentation-wise? And how can you help Joomla to get the documentation it deserves? We asked Dieter Ziller, Team Leader of Joomla's Documentation Team.

The JCM Team is proud to present you the July Issue of the Joomla! Community Magazine!

Starting a new initiative is always an adventure: will people turn up? Will it be a success? Sigrid Gramlinger, Joomla's Production Department Coordinator, started the New to Joomla sessions a couple of months ago, to welcome new people and help them find their way in the Joomla Community. How is this going, and how can you join? Read all about it!

Maybe you’re using one already, maybe you’ve heard of them: no-code automation tools like Zapier, make.com and IFTTT. These tools are a way to automate tasks without using any code: define a trigger and an action and you're good to go. Wouldn’t it be übercool if you could have that for your Joomla website - oh wait, you can: Ane Miren Alvarez created a Joomla automation for make.com. Find out all about this!

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.

Joomla's Operations Department Coordinator is responsible for the day to day operation of all the Joomla.org websites, such as the Joomla Extensions Directory, the one and only Joomla Community Magazine and the Volunteers Portal. Since a few weeks, Operations has a new coordinator: Carlos Cámara. Carlos has been volunteering for quite a while, so he's not exactly a new face in the Joomla Crowd. Find out why he stepped up for this particular board position!

If your software is free for everyone to use, does that mean it isn’t worth anything? Surely not! Three researchers from Harvard Business School and the University of Toronto have found a way to estimate the value of Open Source Software. Spoiler alert: it’s nowhere near nothing.