On the 1st of September 2005, a group of software developers announced the name of their latest project - Joomla! Over the 15th, 16th and 17th of September Joomla! 1.0.0 was announced, tagged and released.
From its humble beginnings, Joomla! has expanded to become the most popular content management system on the planet. To date, there have been 44.9 million downloads of the numerous different versions, 67 accredited translations of the CMS and 2.8 million posts in 675,000 topics by 619,914 registered Forum members.
As internet use by the general population has increased exponentially, so to has Joomla's range of products and services, and the amount of people using them. There have been 6,995 extensions made for versions 2.5 and 3.x alone. And in the last year 29 international, community organised JoomlaDay events were held. 2013 also marked the advent of the first ever Joomla! World Conference.
To help celebrate this milestone anniversary and the massive year that has been 2013, Joomla! are inviting you to partake in Software Freedom Day. On this Saturday 21st of September, events are being held all over the world. Each event will be unique and different, but all share the common goal of telling the world how important free software is!
If you'd like to participate in Software Freedom Day you can check out the website and look for events happening near you.
If you want to find out more about Joomla's 8th anniversary, you can read about it here and here.
No matter which version of Joomla you're currently running, it is vital that you have your CMS updated and the latest patch installed. There have been security vulnerabilities discovered, and you must make the upgrade. We have mentioned this in previous posts, as well as in e-mail notifications, but it appears that not everyone reads their e-mails. If you are running a CMS older than 2.5.14, you will be hacked. There is no maybe about this - it will happen and you will be liable for all the costs involved to restore your site.
The same goes for people who aren't using Joomla, and are instead using other content management systems; it is imperative that you update and ensure that you have checked and fixed any security vulnerabilities in your system. Even things outside your control, such as someone uploading files that have been made in a hacked version of Adobe, can jeopardise your site.
If you have any queries about updating your CMS you can use our online help system; it's the first port of call if you need any help with your own website, or are interested in having one made for your business.
We look forward to hearing from you!