The World Wide Web keeps expanding - more than 48 million new websites have been created in the past year alone. While new technologies are constantly emerging, the majority of these websites are built using a Content Management System (CMS) - software that allows users to create and manage websites without (almost) any technical knowledge. Many of today’s leading CMS platforms are based on PHP, and without a doubt, WordPress is the most popular one out there, holding an impressive 43% market share.
There are other platforms that offer powerful features, though. Some of them are used by thousands of people, while others remain underappreciated despite their capabilities. One of these platforms is Joomla! – a widely used CMS that you have probably encountered many times while visiting websites without realizing it. In this article, we will provide a concise overview of Joomla! and share 10 curious facts about it.
- What is Joomla!?
- Is Joomla! worth using?
- 10 curious facts about Joomla!
- 1. The name comes from Swahili
- 2. Joomla! Launch Parties are a tradition
- 3. Joomla! Events are also a thing
- 4. The Joomla! logo was chosen by the community
- 5. Joomla! has inspired songs and fan art
- 6. Joomla! also had forks
- 7. Joomla! won an award only a month after it was launched!
- 8. Joomla! is a framework, not just a CMS
- 9. Joomla! uses codenames
- 10. Joomla! was ahead of its time in many ways
- Wrap-Up
What is Joomla!?
Joomla! is one of the more popular CMS platforms available today. It was launched in 2005 as a fork of the Mambo CMS – another popular platform at the time. Joomla! is open-source and completely free to use for any type of project. Currently, it powers about 2-3% of all websites worldwide (depending on the source). Its architecture is very flexible, with a clear separation between design from content.
Joomla! is supported by Open Source Matters, Inc. - a not-for-profit corporation that provides legal, financial, and organizational support for the CMS. While the corporation holds the Joomla! trademark, the platform’s development and direction are driven by its global community.
For more information, visit the official website.
Is Joomla! worth using?
Absolutely. Although Joomla!’s market share seems modest, it powers more than 2 million websites worldwide, including several Fortune 500 companies. Thousands of themes and extensions are available in the official Joomla! repository, and many more premium options are available through third-party marketplaces.
Joomla! has a lot of strengths, such as built-in multilingual support, strong user management, and structured content organization. While its learning curve is a bit steeper than that of WordPress, Joomla! is a great choice for organizations, companies, and non-profits, where security, scalability, and content architecture matter.
Our App Installer allows you to install the latest version of Joomla on your hosting account with just a few clicks!
10 curious facts about Joomla!
Joomla! has been around for two decades, and it powers millions of websites. Yet, despite its long history, there are still many lesser-known facts about the platform.
Here are ten interesting things you might not know about Joomla!.
1. The name comes from Swahili
You may have wondered what “Joomla!” means. The name comes from the Swahili word “Jumla” (spelled phonetically), which translates to “all together” or “as a whole”. It reflects the project’s core values of community and collaboration.
Originally, the team considered “Mambo Open Source” or a similar name. The reason was that Joomla! started as a fork of Mambo, which was also called Mambo CMS and even Mambo Open Source (MOS) at different times. They later dropped the idea to avoid trademark issues. They eventually settled on the name “Joomla!”, adding the extra “o” for legal safety and for easier pronunciation by the global audience. The platform’s official name is actually “Joomla!”, with an exclamation mark that conveys the energy and excitement behind the project.
2. Joomla! Launch Parties are a tradition
Parties held in different countries marked the launch of Joomla! 1.0 in September 2005. Developers and community members from all around the world celebrated the release of the open-source CMS. Since then, launch parties for major Joomla! releases have become a tradition. The events are designed to showcase new features and to celebrate the people who make Joomla! possible.
Launch parties are less formal than other Joomla! events. They can include social activities and usually last a single evening or half-day. While other software communities also hold similar parties, Joomla! really stands out for turning its Launch Parties into a lasting and unique communal tradition.
3. Joomla! Events are also a thing
You have probably heard that WordPress community members meet at WordCamps – informal meetings where developers, designers, service providers, and regular users share their experience. Joomla! users have similar, albeit less popular meetings. Depending on their format and purpose, Joomla! events take on different names - JoomlaDay, JoomlaNight, Pizza, Bugs and Fun, Joomla Festival, JoomlaCamp, etc. These events have been organized since 2006, when the first JoomlaDay was held in Amsterdam.
A Joomla! Event can range from a single-day event to a multi-day conference. Anybody interested in organizing one must submit an official request and meet certain requirements outlined in the Joomla! Event Charter. The informal Joomla! meetings are non-profit events, and speakers do not receive financial compensation. Sponsors may cover costs (venue, equipment, catering, etc.).
For details on all upcoming Joomla! events, visit the official page.
4. The Joomla! logo was chosen by the community
This is one of the best examples of the Joomla! community spirit. The CMS was created as a fully open-source project that will be managed with transparency and community participation. This is why the Joomla! logo was selected through a community contest. About 500 community members submitted logo proposals. A total of 2671 members voted, with 31% going to the logo created by Alan Urquhart, a graphic designer and a community member. The submission was named “Joomla 01” and included a total of eight color and black-and-white designs to be used for different purposes.
Over the years, the logo has been reimagined by the community, but it continues to embody the same values of openness and collaboration that define the Joomla! community.
5. Joomla! has inspired songs and fan art
The Joomla! community is known for its passion and resilience. Over the years it has overcome challenges such as market share drops, funding shortages, and more. One of the best examples of this dedication is the creative culture that has grown around Joomla!. Community members have performed songs celebrating Joomla! at various events, while others have produced fan art depicting the Joomla! community spirit. Below, you can explore some examples of community-created fan art and music inspired by Joomla!.
6. Joomla! also had forks
Joomla! started as a fork of the Mambo CMS in 2005, but it had forks of its own. The two most notable among them were named Nooku and Molajo.
Nooku was a PHP framework created in 2007 by Johan Janssens, one of Joomla!’s co-founders. It was forked from Joomla!'s codebase with the goal of accelerating web application development and simplifying website creation. Some of Nooku’s innovations, such as improved multilingual support and more organized code arhitecture, were later integrated into Joomla!. In 2014, the Nooku framework transformed into the Joomlatools framework. It is no longer maintained as a standalone project.
Molajo, launched in 2011, focused on improving the CMS by adopting cleaner, more maintainable code, and improving the developer experience. The goal was to create a platform that allowed developers to create and reuse components more efficiently. Like Nooku, the Molajo project has since become inactive.
Several other experimental / short-lived forks emerged over the years, but they were used primarily for testing and research, without long-term development.
7. Joomla! won an award only a month after it was launched!
It took just one month for Joomla! to earn its first major recognition - Best Linux / Open Source Project at the 2005 Linux & Open Source Awards in London. Around the same time, Brian Teeman, a core member, received the award for "UK Individual Contribution to Open Source Software". Since then, Joomla! has continued to receive awards almost every year (with the exception of 2013). The CMS has been recognized multiple times in the CMS Critic People's Choice Awards in the categories “Best Open Source CMS” and “Best Free CMS”.
In 2025, Joomla! received two more awards - Best Open Source CMS from the CMS Critic People's Choice Awards, and the CMS Award from the FOSS Awards. These achievements demonstrate that Joomla! doesn’t lean on old glory. Instead, it continues to evolve, innovate, and earn recognition for its active development and new features.
8. Joomla! is a framework, not just a CMS
When people talk about Joomla!, they usually refer to the Content Management System. Joomla! is much more than that, though. At its core, it is powered by the Joomla! Framework - a set of standalone, reusable PHP libraries designed to simplify the development of custom applications. In fact, the Joomla! CMS itself is built on top of the Joomla! Framework. The CMS uses these libraries and adds the additional CMS-specific layers on top - content management, menus, templates, extensions, and other features users associate with Joomla!.
The Joomla! Framework can be used independently of the CMS to develop completely different types of custom PHP applications.
9. Joomla! uses codenames
Codenames serve as temporary or internal names used to identify different versions of a software project. They may be related to the release’s goals or philosophy, although they can also be random names that simply help developers to refer to a release without confusion. The most popular examples of software projects that use codenames include macOS, WordPress, Android, and Photoshop.
Did you know that Joomla! uses codenames too? While they are for internal use and are not mentioned in the official release notes, they reveal an interesting part of the project’s history. The early Joomla! versions had solar-themed codenames such as Sunrise (1.0.0), Sunburst (1.0.1), Sunshine (1.0.9), and Daybreak (1.0.14).
The 1.5.x versions adopted codenames in Yaqui (the language of the native people of Mexico), such as Seenu, Woi, and Wahi. Later versions introduced more inspirational codenames - the 1.6.x and 1.7.x releases had names such as Hope, Onward, and Ember, Joomla! 3 was named Daraja, Joomla! 4 was called Furaha (“happiness” in Swahili), and Joomla! 5 used the codename Panta Rhei (Greek for “everything flows”). You can find a nearly complete list of Joomla!’s codenames here: https://docs.Joomla.org/Joomla!_Codenames.
10. Joomla! was ahead of its time in many ways
Over the years, Joomla! has introduced lots of features that are now standard in most content management systems. Joomla! was the first one that implemented them, long before competitors like WordPress or Drupal. Some of the platform’s more significant innovations include:
- Built-in multilingual support without the need for additional plugins.
- Granular access control lists (ACL) to manage user permissions.
- Responsive admin UI for backend management on any device.
- Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture for extensions, which separates data, design, and control.
- Early Bootstrap integration, enabling responsive design for templates.
- Two-factor authentication in the core system for better security.
- Content versioning, allowing users to track and revert changes.
There are a few examples of Joomla-first features. Although Joomla! is less popular than WordPress, these innovations highlight the community’s devotion to developing a powerful and flexible platform.
Wrap-Up
Joomla! is a feature-rich content management system that has evolved significantly over the years. It has introduced many innovations that have since been adopted by other platforms. Joomla! keeps winning awards annually, and its devoted community celebrates its success across the globe. We have shared ten lesser-known facts about Joomla!, and we hope you found them interesting. The platform truly deserves wider recognition, so maybe it’s time to give it a try on your next project.
