Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the release of Joomla 1.0. The now immensely popular CMS was forked from Mambo, and has since come far in terms of the technology.

However, what is most brilliant about Joomla is the community. Personally, I've met so many people that I would never have met otherwise. People from far and near, people from completely different cultures and with totally different backgrounds and interests than myself. What we share is that we enjoy using Joomla and being a part of this inspiring community.

Being a part of the Joomla community has brought me to Stockholm, to Germany and the Netherlands for J and Beyond, and to Spain to speak at a Joomla event. Being part of the community has enriched my life with new friends. And it has challenged me in personal and technical ways I otherwise would not have knows.

How has being a part of the Joomla community impacted you and your life?

Share in the comments below - I'd love to hear your stories!

A while ago, the Joomla Production Leadership Team decided to split the Joomla project into two parts. One part is the CMS we all know and love. The actual system we're using every day. The other part is the layer behind the CMS, the inner workings of Joomla. Simply put, it can be defined as the contents of the /libraries/ folder in Joomla. This is now called the J!Platform.

If you're an end-user of Joomla, you probably don't care too much about this. As long as it works, it's all good, right? Still, I believe you should know why the J!Platform can be part of what will ensure the solid future of the Joomla project.

As a PHP developer, you should really take a look at the J!Platform and what it can do.

Most people don't make a concious choice to use open source software. They choose the software by looking at its functionality. Or perhaps a friend recommended that they try it. Price is also a factor, of course, and that's where open source software really shines.

Choosing to use open source software might not seem like a big thing at first - but it is!

Open source software is changing the world, and the way people interact and communicate. And you are a part of that!

The guys over at JoomStew have started an initative to help Matias Aguirre. He's the developer of the jUpgrade migration tool for Joomla 1.5 to 1.6.

He will benefit greatly if he's able to attend the J and Beyond event in The Netherlands this May. And so will you - as it will improve the way his migration component works and what it supports.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have the $2500 required for attendance and accomodation.

That's why the JoomStew people have started a fundraising initative to help him go to the event.

When Joomla 1.6 was released, one of the first questions people had was if current Joomla extensions would be compatible. It's been known for a long time that the changes in Joomla 1.6 mean that every single extension used needs an update.

For some developers, this is an easy task. For others, it's something compared to a nightmare.

I asked a group of developers to share their opinions on the Joomla 1.6 release, and what it will mean for their companies.

As I wrote in my post on the Joomla 1.6 launch - much of the success of version 1.6 will depend on the availability of extensions and templates.

To prepare for the launch of Joomla! 1.6, a group of 27 people from all over the world came together in a Skype group.

For five days, there was a constant discussion on things related to the launch. People were signing in and out depending on their schedule and time-zone. The discussion was lively, but extremely productive.

Using Google documents, people were working though the weekend to get everything in place. It was incredible to see the community come together like this to produce something for the common good.

The Joomla Bug Squad has been instrumental in getting to where we are today. These people have relentlessly hunted for and squashed bugs in the software.

Without them, no-one knows when we would have seen the current version.

Although there are still many bugs in the software, they will be squashed in the weeks and months ahead. Again, the Bug Squad will be an important part of this process.

And so will you and I - we all need to chip in and report bugs, test the software and make sure 1.6 evolves into something as stable as the Joomla 1.5 we already know.

Great video by Jen Kramer and friends:

Original post

Joomla rocks!!

As you might know, Joomla 1.6 beta 10 was released on Tuesday. Some people wonder why it takes that many beta versions to finish Joomla 1.6.

There is a lot of activity in the project. Nonetheless, here has been some disagreements and people have left the Joomla 1.6 Bug Squad. Others have since joined, and I hope we will see more activity in the coming weeks and months towards a Release Candidate for Joomla 1.6.

In this post, I look at some of the factors involved in the bug fixing of Joomla 1.6.

This infographic shows the history of Joomla from its inception in 2005 until today and is the Spanish version of the original one I did for Joomla's fifth birthday on September 1st 2010.

The graphic also shows key figures for the project as of today.

I hope you enjoy the infographic and share with everyone you know :)

Thanks to Steve Burge, Brian Teeman and Peter van Westen for help with this project, and to Isidro Baquero from www.gnumla.com for the Spanish translation.

Esta infografía muestra la historia de Joomla! desde su concepción en 2005 hasta nuestros días, y es la versión en español de la original que creé para el 5º cumpleaños de Joomla! el 1 de Septiembre de 2010.

Además, el gráfico muestra algunos datos clave del proyecto a día de hoy.

Espero que disfrutéis de la infografía y la compartáis con todos vuestros conocidos ;).

Gracias a Seteve Burge, Brian Teeman y Peter Van Westen por su ayuda con este proyecto, y a Isidro Baquero de www.gnumla.com por la traducción al español.

This infographic shows the top 10 features which sets Joomla 1.6 apart from the current 1.5 version.

The infographic was originally created in English, and with the help of some Spanish speaking friends it's now available in Spanish as well. Thanks a lot to Anneliese Woodberry and Adrian Prado for the translation, as well as www.webempresa.com for the translation of Joomla 1.6 into Spanish. Enjoy!

Esta infografía muestra las 10 características que diferencian a Joomla 1.6 de la versión actual 1.5.

La infografía se creo originalmente en idioma inglés y con la ayuda de amigos hispanoparlantes ahora también está disponible en español. Muchísimas gracias a Anneliese Woodberry y Adrian Prado por la traducción del contenido de la infografía e igualmente a www.webempresa.com por la traducción al español de Joomla 1.6. ¡Que lo disfruten!