Have you visited the Joomla! User Groups pages on Joomla.org lately? For a few months, Sandra Warren has been working with a small team to re-design and revive the JUG team and the JUG pages on Joomla.org. After having read many reports about how hard it has been to register a new Joomla! User Group, it's been a great pleasure to see how the new JUG team has been able to streamline the registration process, clear the backlog and redesign the JUG pages. Many new features have been added to the JUG pages and more features will be added over the coming months.

Driving forces for the community

Two of the driving forces behind the new JUG team have been working hard to revive the JUG section. Team leader, Sandra Warren, has working hard on people.joomla.org and Cristina Solana continues to work hard on the JCM, stating “being stretched thin” is what keeps her going. And stretched she will be, as we are the first to announce that Cristina will be taking over the JUG team manager position. Congratulations, Cristina!

But as with everything Joomla! it's a community effort. And the JUG team needs you. As the information on JUGs are outdated in many areas, please report to the JUG team if there are any changes, or in some cases, a listed JUG is no longer active. If you are the organizer of a JUG please go and check to see that your info is current.

The new process

To register a new Joomla! User Group, simply set up a new group on people.joomla.org and then submit your listing to the JUG Directory in your geographical location.

Setting up a site for your Joomla! User Group?

If you are setting up a separate site for your Joomla! User Group and you wish to use the name Joomla! in your URL and on your site, you need to setup your site according to these rules:

On your site, please make sure that the first prominent use of the name Joomla! has the trademark symbol (R in a circle). Also, include the following statement in the footer of your site:

“Joomla! User Your_City_Name is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Joomla! Project or Open Source Matters. The Joomla! name and logo is used under a limited license granted by Open Source Matters the trademark holder in the United States and other countries.”

Note that other logo or name use (even if it is the same as the domain name) must be approved separately. This includes extensions. If you would like to use the Joomla! name or one of our logos that is not one of our “Conditional Use Logos” you may fill out a request form found here: opensourcematters.org/logo-use-and-name-use.html

Your input and comments are valued

As always your input, ideas and comments are not only welcomed, but encouraged! You can connect with the JUG team either on the page at people.joomla.org or via the page on joomla.org or the Registered Joomla! User Groups forum on forum.joomla.org.