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.

Documentation: a great way to contribute to Joomla

JCM-DOCUMENTATION-ARTICLE

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.

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The July Issue

July

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

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New to the Joomla Community? Join a session to get settled in!

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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!

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Create a make.com automation with the Joomla API

2024---JCM-make.com

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!

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Finding your way in the Joomla Community

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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.

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Leadership interview: Carlos Cámara, Operations Department Coordinator

Carlos Cámara

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!

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The Value of Open Source Software

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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.

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Joomla at FOSDEM 2024: launching the Open Website Alliance

2024-02-Fosdem

Imagine a super large open source developer's conference, with thousands of attendees and over sixty conference rooms. Joomla's president Crystal Dionysopoulos was there, and for a very good reason: together with Drupal, WordPress and Typo3 we launched the Open Website Alliance.

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Joomla User Groups: the place where Joomlers meet 

2024-02-JUG

Where can I find other people working with Joomla? How can I learn more about Joomla? Who can I discuss issues with? The answer to these questions: a Joomla User Group! We have JUGs all over the world, and virtual ones, and everyone can join. There’s a Joomla Team dedicated to JUGs: coordinating, encouraging, supporting and helping JUGs. In January 2024, the second international Joomla User Group meeting took place. Laura Gordon tells us what happened there and what’s going to happen next.

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Joomla and the EU Cyber Resilience Act - the Follow Up

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Remember when we wrote about the EU preparing its Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a European law about hardware and software? We were really concerned about the way it would affect Joomla and other open source software. Well… there's news.

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