“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is a line from Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare that reminds me of the Joomla! Community and the CMS that we call “Joomla!”. Its meaning can be taken as “What matters is what something is, not what it is called”.

The Joomla! CMS has undergone many changes in the last couple of years. Even though we went through the “trial and error” stages when the Joomla! 1.6 and 1.7 versions came out, our community managed to “pull things together”, and make the necessary adjustments to make the current version of Joomla! work for its users.  At times it may have been frustrating to some of the users and even a few developers, but we (as a community) managed to move forward.

No matter what number is “tagged” with the current Joomla! version, the bottom line is that we have a great piece of software to work with, and an awesome community to support it. No matter what version number is related to the current Joomla! release, everyone who has contributed to the Project should be very proud of we have accomplished working together.

We have now arrived at a great time for the Joomla! Project. For all the “pain and misery” of Joomla! 1.6/1.7, we now have a great Joomla! 2.5, and for those on the “cutting edge” we have an awesome “mobile friendly” Joomla! 3.0 CMS to create outstanding websites.

Most people after a long day (project), love to rejoice in their efforts.  Even better is when that person receives an unsolicited “thank you” from someone who uses their website/software.

Maybe it’s time to give that “thank you” to your favorite Joomla! (or Open Source) software developer/website owner the next time you see them online.  Even better, send out a tweet, or post on your favorite social media website with your “thank you”.  If you are lucky enough to meet them in person (maybe at the Joomla! World Conference this month), give your “thank you” in person.  Heck, buy them their favorite “adult beverage”, I’m sure that most of them won’t turn you down.

I have several people whom I am looking forward to meeting in person at the Joomla! World Conference, and will give my “thank you” with much appreciation.

If you see me at the Joomla! World Conference, please introduce yourself, I’d love to meet more people from our great community.

Long live Joomla!