Everybody needs to participate
An open source project like Joomla! is based on the fact that every effort will contribute to the common good. Every user across the globe will benefit from the contributions made by the people involved. It's fully possible to be a freeloader and just harvest from the work of others. However, if everybody does a small thing for Joomla, it becomes a very powerful movement. This was the mantra of the Joomla core team members I met last year. Every time someone asked about a feature or asked why this or that was not in Joomla, they answered: "Well, how can you contribute to make this happen?". It's not just up to the core team or the other members of the Joomla team to make things happen - it's up to all of us. The Joomla website even has a section about how to contribute.
Open Source is about sharing - and contribution
The developers and other Joomla team members are committed and hard-working people who really want Joomla to be the best CMS around. Some are idealists, but they also realize that if they contribute to a project, they also get access to the work of other great minds and resources. This gives us all a product which is much better than one or just a couple of developers would manage.
We should really be grateful every day for what the Joomla developers are doing for all of us. Both the core team and other Joomla teams, as well as the thousands of extension developers who create useful and money-making tools for us without any pay!
You think the wait for Joomla 1.6 is too long?
Joomla 1.5 was released in 2008 and was a huge step forward from 1.0. With 1.6, we'll get an even greater product. And even though we can wish for features and fixes and tweaks, we need to remember that some guy needs to use his spare time developing them.
So what can you do to contribute?
There are several ways you may contribute to the Joomla project. You don't need to be a developer to do that. There are several things that needs to be done in an Open Source Project, both centrally, and also locally.
Bug reports
When a new version is in the works, you can contribute by submitting bug reports to the Joomla team. This will help them launch even better stable versions of Joomla.
Participate in your local Joomla User Group
The local user groups are responsible for translation of Joomla itself and the documentation (help screens etc). They also organize local JoomlaDays and other Joomla events, moderate the localized forums at forum.joomla.org, market Joomla in their home market and much more. This is also based on volunteering, and they need your help.
Check out the list of local Joomla User Groups.
Financial support
If your company really needs a certain type of functionality in Joomla, one option could be to donate a sum of money directly towards the development of this function. This way, the developers may use even more time, and more dedicated time maybe, on developing the function. And, it will, when released, benefit not your company, but the Joomla! Community as a whole. This way of thinking is coming along, although it might be controversial to some (paying a developer directly and not the project).
Of course, you may also donate to the Joomla! project in general. There are a number of other ways both individuals and companies can contribute to the Joomla Project. To discuss these options, contact Open Source Matters, the non-profit organization that manages financial and legal issues for the Joomla Project.
Help out in the forums
The forums at forum.joomla.org are for all of us. We all get help there - and we should all participate if we can help others. As your Joomla skills progress, and you get some experience using the core, extensions etc - you can always help someone. I've experienced many times that just a small comment from someone have pointed me in the right direction, and eventually solved my problem.
Help out at an event
There are local Joomla events all over the world during the year, and they are made happen by volunteers like you and me. Help out - it's great fun!
Documentation
Joomla is quite complex, and the documentation team works on the huge task of documenting the system, creating tutorials etc. You can contribute by making help screens, writing documentation etc. The documentation is organized as a wiki, and it's very easy to contribute. You don't need to join the Documentation Working Group to help us improve the documentation. Just register on the documentation wiki and get started. Feel free to fix any errors you find; take a look in the Cookie jar; or consider helping out in one of our mini-projects...
- Joomla! Help Screens Project
- This project is responsible for maintaining the help screens for Joomla 1.5 using this wiki as a staging area before they are copied to help.joomla.org. We expect to be serving help screens for Joomla 1.6 onwards directly from the wiki.
- Joomla! 1.5 Template Tutorials Project
- This project is aimed at producing comprehensive documentation covering all aspects of Joomla 1.5 (and later) templates.
- API Reference Project
- The aim of the API Reference Project is to construct a useful reference manual on the Joomla 1.5 (and later) Framework API which will complement, rather than replace, the automatically generated material on http://api.joomla.org. The starting point for the API Reference is the Framework page which lists all of the classes in the Framework API.
Check out the Documentation wiki here
Translation
The most obvious thing to do is to contribute to the translation of the Joomla core itself through your local user group. However, there's also a great need for localized extensions out there. So, if you use an extension which has no translation, or if you have already made one, please share it! Contact the developer to learn how to publish the translation. In most cases, the translation process is very easy - you translate a .ini file and install it into your language folder with the correct file name prefix.
Marketing
If you have a website using Joomla, link til the joomla.org website and/or feature the banners which are included in the Joomla installation (Joomla shop or Open Source Matters).
Spread the word about Joomla on the web. Twitter, Facebook etc.
If you find some interesting Joomla news, tips, tutorials, discover something in your work with Joomla etc - please share it! Use Twitter, Digg, Facebook, Stumbleupon or other services to spread the word about Joomla. This way, more people can see how great Joomla is and, I hope, become users and contributors.
There are endless ways to help spread the word about Joomla - these are but some.
Any other ideas? Bring them on!
