Before I got my current job as Coordinator Communications & Digital, I ran my own company for 25 years. The first 15 years I was a writer / editor / journalist / writing coach. 

In 2009 I started working with Joomla, not knowing anything about webdesign. I joined a JUG in 2012, two months later I was co-organizer :) (and stayed co-organizer for about five years).

I loved working with Joomla so much that I started projects, just to be able to create a website for them. That's when I thought: hey, maybe it's time for a career switch. In 2014 I decided to go pro with Joomla and switch to webdesign instead of writing. 

Volunteer work

I already mentioned the JUG. After that I did a number of other things over the years:

  • Writer: I wrote articles about Joomla in a Dutch webdesigner magazine.
  • Speaker at JUGs and JoomlaDays.
  • Member of the Dutch JoomlaDagen team for three years.
  • Member of the team that organized all three editions of Joostock (a Joomlacamp/unconference event).
  • Editor of the Dutch Joomla web agency brochure, a brochure webdesigners can use to convince their potential clients that Joomla is the right choice for them.

In 2020 I've started contributing to the Joomla Community Magazine, first as an author, and since 2022 I'm Team Leader of the wonderful Joomla Community Magazine Team. 

Why I contribute to Joomla

To many people Joomla is just a tool. But if you look a little closer, you'll notice it's much more than that. It's a living system, raised and nourished by a community of volunteers dedicating their time to make it the best CMS ever. Without volunteers, Joomla wouldn't exist. It's not 'just a product'. Everyone who uses Joomla, can do so because someone, somewhere, contributed to it. I want to give back to the community that keeps Joomla alive.

And, probably needless to say: I love being part of that community. 

Contributing to Joomla by volunteering brought me so much: valuable experience, more knowledge and a better understanding of Joomla and its community, and the opportunity to work together with a crowd of lovely people all over the world.

The April Issue

April 2025 Issue

And there it is: the April Issue of the Joomla Community Magazine. As you may expect from us, we have an interesting mix of articles for you: our new President shares her ideas for Joomla with us, we've interviewed the Release Managers of both Joomla 5.4 and Joomla 6 and much, much more. Enjoy, and if you like an article, don't forget to share it on your socials!  

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Leadership interview Maria Skampoura - President

Leadership Interview with the OSM President Maria Skampoura

Following in the footsteps of Crystal Dionysopoulos, Maria Skampoura was elected as President of Joomla last February. Her first term started on March 24. Let’s find out more about her, and about the plans she has for helping to shape the future of Joomla!

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Joomla 6 is in the making, what to expect?

Interview Phil Walton and Gary Barclay

Joomla's next generation is in the making! With every new version, our favorite CMS becomes better and better. Time for a chat with the Release Managers for Joomla 6: Gary Barclay and Philip Walton.

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The March Issue

March 2025

The JCM Team is proud to present you the March Issue of the Joomla! Community Magazine, with something in it for everyone: tutorials and how-to's, interviews and community news. Enjoy, and if you like an article, don't forget to share it on your socials!  

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Together we grow Joomla: how to blog about Joomla 

Together we grow Joomla! - How to blog about Joomla Together we grow Joomla - How to blog about Joomla

Joomla is a super powerful, flexible, fast, accessible and secure content management system that lets you create any kind of website. We all know that. And we all keep wondering why it’s not the most widely used CMS (since it is the best open source CMS there is 🙂). We can grow Joomla together, and here’s how.

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First time at Pizza, Bugs and Fun: 'It was surprisingly easy!'

Pizza, Bugs and Fun

Twice a year, you can participate in Joomla’s Pizza, Bugs and Fun, a 24 hour world wide event where everyone can contribute to Joomla in their own way: by squashing bugs, testing features and fixes, or writing or translating documentation. In Denmark, there were three people from the Danish User Group who jumped into their first PBF together. JCM interviews two of them: Ronny and Chris.

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The February Issue

February

The JCM Team is proud to present you the February Issue of the Joomla! Community Magazine, with something in it for everyone: tutorials and how-to's, interviews and community news. Enjoy, and if you like an article, don't forget to share it on your socials!  

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Joomla Academy is ready for take off - Join us!

oomla Academy - how is it going?

Students looking for an opportunity to contribute to open source development and work with the best on a great content management system: this article’s for you. People who know their way around Joomla’s code and want to share their knowledge and help shape Joomla’s future: this article is for you. Read all about the Joomla Academy coming to life!

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Thank you Luca Marzo!

January-Luca-Marzo

For years Luca Marzo has been the memory, or even the one-person encyclopedia of Joomla. He served eight times as Secretary of the Board of Open Source Matters, and during those years, Luca came to be Joomla’s very own Google equivalent for everyone, regardless of what you’d need to know: “Ask Luca”. And now this has come to an end. Time to give Luca a proper thank you!

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The January Issue

January

The JCM Team is proud to present you the January Issue of the Joomla! Community Magazine, the very first edition of 2025. Check out what this issue has to offer! 

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