Confessions of an Open Source Tester

Open Source Testing is one of the ways I give back to my current favorite open source CMS project. 
It’s not glorious, sexy or anything but it can definitely feel rewarding, like you’re helping make things move forward.

Coming for GSoC, still here for Joomla!

When I write for the Joomla Community Magazine, I usually do so with my " I'm a regular Joomla user, integrator, website builder " hat/mindset... but I also have other hats, like being a volunteer for the project in different teams, and at least one other hat, that of having the honor of being on the OSM Board as Vice-President.

Serving & Leading: An Exit Interview with Angie Radtke

Serving on any board can be quite rewarding and is often a thankless job that requires much time and probably never more so than in an all-volunteer organization like Joomla.

Episode III: The age of "Intelligent" creation, when AI meets the CMS...

To say that AI has taken a foot hold in every aspect of our daily lives is undeniable... (even if sometimes we don't even realize it's there)... but how did we get here? ... and is it positive, negative, or neutral and how will it shape CMSes in the coming years... 

FOSDEM 2026 Retrospective: Where Open Powers the 99%

FOSDEM stands for Free and Open-source Software Developers' European Meeting.
Going to FOSDEM is like travelling back in time through the ages of the digital world.

Episode II: CMSs in the Low-Code/No-Code era!

As previously mentioned, the world of CMS is being moved, and shaken in some subtle and not so subtle ways… one big positive (at least in my mind) such impact is the Low-Code/No-Code transformational movement 🚀.

Episode I: CMSs in the WYSIWYG and AI age - setting the stage

A new year is upon us and with a new year means new possibilities… and it seems perfect timing to start this series…

Looking into the Future: 2026 greetings!

2025 is behind us, and 2026 has peeked through with its brisk air, hopeful tone and snow covered roads or gorgeous weeks of sunshine depending from where you hail...

A Message from our Friends at the Open Website Alliance

In a world of competitive everything, it is so nice to find that in certain areas collaboration is king... And one such area is the open-source world, not only because we all depend on each other (and not just for code dependencies 😉) but also because often a contributor to a project isn't just contributing to one open-source project but a few... And in talking about collaborations, while Joomla has a few ongoing endeavors, we have a particularly interesting one in the Open Web Alliance which Joomla helped co-found back in early 2024.

How to make your clients think Joomla?

Spending the last 3 days at VivaTech 2025 with AI at almost every booth and in most conversations, one could forget there is anything else today. With thousands of AI tools showcased - from oncology to climate solutions - it’s easy to assume traditional systems like CMSes are unnecessary or possibly even obsolete. Yet this assumption misses a critical point: AI and CMSes like Joomla (celebrating its 20th year in 2025) serve complementary roles, and the latter remains indispensable!

1st and lasting experiences at in-person JoomlaDay event...

The world post-Covid has made us so used to video conferences, livestreams and podcasts that we could almost forget the value and the benefits of in-person face-to-face events.

Everything your parents told you about cookies is a lie!

In case you haven't looked at your calendar lately, we made it to 2025... 🎆 and that's exciting not only because Joomla will enjoy its 20 year anniversary 🎂 soon, but because the World Wide Web is definitely a bit more interesting than when it first started...

An insight into a Joomler: Robin Clapp

If you spend some time around the web, social media and Joomla, you will most likely at some point hunt around a couple of Facebook Groups in/around the topic of Joomla! and if you do, inevitably (or at least for your sake I hope so) you will come across a group called: Website Design Company Owners - using Joomla! or possibly a mention of the Small Business JUG (more on that later)... that is how I came across the kind, humble and always seen smiling Joomler that is Robin Clapp.

Interview with the all-rounder Tuan Pham Ngoc!

There have been many people involved in Joomla over the past 20 years; some build websites for clients, some help for a time by promoting Joomla, some others contribute their time to a Joomla! Team, some build an extension, and others write code to fix, or improve a functionality in Joomla!... and then, some are all-rounders: they do most if not all of the above...

An insight into a Joomler: JoeJoomla

Having been around the JoomlaSphere in some capacity or another for years, what keeps me around and coming back are the wonderful and super helpful people that I have encountered over the years... some stay, some go, some comeback and some don't but they are collectively the pillars of the Joomla! project no matter in what way they participate, or contribute...

Completing the Journey to a Top Performing Site

We arrive at our last 3 chapters! In this edition, we will cover Accessibility, Eco-Friendliness, and some extra Optimization Tidbits. Let's dive right in!

Continuing on the Path to a Peak Performing Joomla Website

As we continue exploring the different aspects of optimization, the quantity of information is vast.
In this edition, we will cover Content, SEO, and User Experience... This is of course just a highlight and many more things could be said about each topic... 

A holistic approach to optimizing your Joomla 5 Website - The Series

Let's face it, building a website in 2024 on one hand is easier and easier than it has ever been ... especially with solutions like Joomla 5... but on the other, once you have built your beautiful website, it is harder than ever to get noticed, to get quality traffic and to convert visitors into customers... 

Templates and frameworks for Joomla - EPISODE V: the last 5

The Future is bright for Joomla 5 (and beyond)…

EPISODE V: T3, Extendible TM, GK, YT & Plazart Frameworks

Let's shine some light on your extension(s)...

As you might know, Joomla 5 is a great open-source CMS all by itself and it does so much in the core that you can truly build a great website with just what is built-in… too often, sadly, website developers will use either:

Templates and frameworks for Joomla EPISODE IV: UIKit, Gavern, Gantry

The Future is bright for Joomla 5 (and beyond)…

EPISODE IV: UIKit, Gavern, and Gantry Frameworks

As we have seen in the last 3 episodes in this series, you have options in building a Joomla 5.x website:

EPISODE III: Sparky, Astroid and T4 Frameworks

In this third episode of the series about templates and frameworks for Joomla, Emmanuel Lemor shows us three popular frameworks: Sparky, Astroid and T4.

Building your site in Joomla 5 - Episode II: Focus: Helix Ultimate 2.x

When it comes to building your website in Joomla 5.x, you have a few options as mentioned in Episode I, you could use the built-in template of Cassiopeia, custom fields, tags etc and opt for the great built-in option: Joomla's Built-in Content Templates Page Builder, as presented in the article by Brian Teeman or like so many of us, you could opt for one of the Template Frameworks and possibly Visual Page Builders that exist… (for a reminder on those, check out May’s Episode I where I set the groundwork for this series).

Why move to Joomla 5 now...

Joomla 5 was released back in October 2023 and after some 8 months of being out in the world, it is definitely the best version of Joomla and probably any CMS that is out there… (I can hear the pros/cons arguments already) 

Templates for Joomla - Episode 1: Templates, Frameworks & Clubs or not…

In less than 4 months, Joomla will turn 19 - and boy has it evolved into a truly powerful, very capable, yet easy to use solid and accessible young adult (and platform). Thanks to not just its vibrant community of promoters, testers, developers, documenters, marketers and helpers but also our component, module, and plugin builders that are all around - and a very appreciated part of the Joomla project. 

A first step into volunteering: Pizza , Bugs and Fun

While I have been a Joomla user, website builder and non-ending promoter since before Joomla was even called Joomla, this past Pizza, Bugs and Fun of February 24th, 2024 was the first time that I hosted a community event for and with the Joomla community.