Open Source Software thrives on community involvement. To make sure our favorite software continues to thrive and to set a good example for others, we are always trying to be more involved. While time is limited and we are only human, we do as much as possible. If you are involved in the community and have more suggestions than those below or need help getting momentum behind a great idea, contact us and we'll see what we can do.
Joomla! User Group
We have been members of our local Joomla! User Group (Austin Joomla!) since it began in early 2008, but we recently started to get more involved helping out. We're working to start meeting more frequently and helping other users with training sessions as well as online support. If you are in the Austin, TX area, join up and come meet us! If you aren't in the Austin, TX area, look for a Joomla! User Group near you. If all else fails and you don't have a Joomla! User Group near you, start one. You could be famous!!!
Joomla! Forums
We noticed that the Joomla! forums get a TON of posts and most of them go unanswered. To try to help out, we have been answering forum posts when the time permits. If you ever have a post on the Joomla! forums that goes unanswered, feel free to PM or email a link to wlrdq and we will try to help. We just surpassed over 1700 posts, and it feels great helping people get more out of Joomla!
Joomla! Bug Squad
After helping a few people with bugs on the forums, we decided the next logical step would be to help track, fix, and test bugs. Joomla! has a Joomla! Bug Squad team dedicated to this task. We signed up a few months ago and while we are still learning the ropes, it's been interesting and fun. If you are a developer and have some spare time, the Joomla! Bug Squad is a great way to learn and a great place to meet other Joomla! developers/users.
Unofficial Joomla! Security Group
Security is a very important topic with Open Source Software. We've always on top of the latest vulnerabilities that could affect any of our sites, but wanted to make it easier for other developers and end-users to stay on top of things as well. To make sure enough attention is being given to security in Joomla!, we've been heading up the Unofficial Joomla! Security Group. While the group is new and just getting started, we hope to help it grow and make sure it stays active going forward.
Other Ways To Help
The Joomla! site has a page with other ways to contribute. Find one that looks like fun to you and give it a try! While we're obviously pretty focused on Joomla, that doesn't mean you have to be as well. Whichever CMS is your flavor of choice, there's plenty of ways to contribute back. You don't need to be a designer or a hard-core developer either, basic feedback and reporting of issues you find are all great ways help your CMS community.
