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.

Meet a Joomler: Viviana Menzel

December-Viviana Meet a Joomler: Viviana Menzel

Viviana Menzel is co-organizer of JoomlaDay Germany, a member of Joomla’s CMS Maintenance team and, together with Christiane Maier-Stadtherr, team leader of the Frontend Template Working Group. Would you like to know how this Argentinian biology graduate ended up in Germany building websites for a living? Read her story below!

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Joomla becomes CVE Numbering Authority: what does this mean?

December-CVE CVE number meaning

You may have read about it in the official announcement: Joomla has been authorized as a CVE Numbering Authority. But what is this, you might wonder, why is it such a big deal, and what does it mean to the average Joomla user?

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19 common mistakes about Joomla extensions part 2

November-ExtensionsMistakes Choosing and using extensions

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself,” is a famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote. In this article series we list the most common mistakes users make when choosing and using extensions for their Joomla website(s), and how you can avoid them. 

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It’s not about the money

November-Money

Unlike other open-source CMS projects, Joomla is fully volunteer-driven. This means there’s no large company behind it and no corporate interests to take into account. We have a genuinely non-profit organisation, Open Source Matters, facilitating the project by providing financial, legal and organisational support. Every penny Joomla gets from partnerships and sponsors goes directly into the project, and no one contributing to Joomla gets paid. So why do we do it?

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Meet a Joomler: Russell Winter

JCM-Template-869x400

Beach bum meets geek! Russell Winter, who lives on Australia’s Sunshine Coast, has been involved with the Joomla! community since the early days. He worked for forum.joomla.org and helped organise the very first Joomla Day Australia.

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Forum for the Future: where are we now?

October-forum

You may have heard of it, read about it, or maybe even been there: in the beginning of 2020, Joomla’s Forum for the Future took place in Marbella, Spain. You might be wondering what happened there, what happened after, and where we are now.

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Join the Joomla Override Challenge!

Join the Joomla Override Challenge!

A different view for a core Joomla module. An event calendar based on the category blog view. A photo gallery, also based on a category blog. A directory. A product listing. These are just a few examples of the great things you can achieve by overriding Joomla’s core.

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Leadership Interview: Marianela Queme, Marketing and Communications DC

October-Marianela

Marianela Quemé has been Assistant Department Coordinator for Marketing and Communications since early 2020. When the position of Department Coordinator became vacant, she decided to go for it and got elected. Marianela is a systems engineer who enjoys learning new technologies.

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Where to find the best Joomla tutorial videos

Where to find the best Joomla tutorial videos

We all have them: those moments when you wish someone showed you how. How to install or use an extension, how to configure something within Joomla core, how to use the SEO settings, how to make a multilingual website, how to maintain your website and keep it safe, how to create overrides... The ultimate how-to is, of course, a video, so here’s a listing of the best Joomla tutorial videos.

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How to increase Joomla’s market share

How to increase Joomla's market share

Joomla is an amazing piece of software. It’s extremely powerful, super flexible and very reliable. With Joomla, you can create any kind of website. I know that. You probably know that. But the rest of the world? Not so much, which translates in Joomla’s market share dropping. The good news is: I can do something about that, and so can you.

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