With the release of Joomla 5.3.0, the Joomla 5.2 series has come to an end. That also means my job as Release Manager for Joomla 5.2 is now done. A new team took over for the Joomla 5.3 version and will continue building and maintaining the releases of Joomla CMS.

Looking back, this journey was a busy, sometimes challenging, but also a great learning experience.

Plenty of plans, too few people

It all began in February 2024, when I started this role together with Marc DeChèvre. From the beginning, we had lots of ideas: improving the backend, fixing small issues, and making Joomla easier and more consistent to use. That’s why we called Joomla 5.2 “uthabiti” behind the scenes, that’s a Swahili word which means "consistency".

But like in many open source projects, the real challenge was finding people. There were many great ideas, but not enough volunteers to help turn them into reality. That’s often the hardest part. So the real work began: guiding the process, helping the team stay on track, and keeping everyone motivated. While working on Joomla 5.2, other teams were also working on Joomla 4.4.x and 5.1.x. We had to add the improvements from those versions to Joomla 5.2 as well, something which developers call "upmerging".

Preparing the releases

In April 2024, we started releasing early test versions (alphas), then betas, and finally Release Candidates (RCs). These are important steps to make sure everything works before the final version is shared with everyone.

Together with my co-Release Manager Hannes Papenberg, we published seven releases in total — from Joomla 5.2.0 to 5.2.6 — between October 2024 and April 2025. Not everything went well all the time, but in the end, we made it. Sometimes it took longer than we hoped, but we got the job done.

No release without the community

Being a Release Manager doesn’t mean doing everything yourself. Many people in the Joomla community helped. Some found and reported bugs. Others tested updates, wrote code, or reviewed fixes. Special thanks go to my co-Release Managers Marc DeChèvre and Hannes Papenberg, it was great to work with you both! Furthermore thanks to the CMS Maintenance Team, who worked on patches and bug fixes. And to the CMS Release Team, who helped test everything before it went public. And of course, to the Security Strike Team, who worked behind the scenes to keep Joomla secure. Furthermore thanks to the many volunteers who submitted issues, submitted patches, tested patches and tested releases. Every little bit helped!

What’s next for me

This role taught me a lot. It was exciting and sometimes stressful. Especially right before a release. But it was also rewarding. Now that Joomla 5.2 is complete, my role as Release Manager ends. I’ll still be around in the Joomla project, but in different roles.

Want to help Joomla? You can!

If you’ve ever thought about helping out in Joomla: go for it! 
You don’t need to be a developer. Just testing updates or reporting bugs already makes a big difference. 
Every small contribution counts.

Thanks again to everyone who supported Joomla 5.2. It’s been a pleasure!