Joomla! Wallpapers

Great idea Brian. I used this very same promotional tactic for 2 recent client's websites as well. Doesn't take much to whip something up, and is free brand awareness at the same time.

Even better to make a little contest out of it!

How bout a free joomla t-shirt to the one that gets the most downloads in a month as a little incentive? Just a thought!

I saw it as a great idea too, Robert, but then I got an secondhand lambasting from Elin about not posting great ideas here at ATAAW and going through official channels. If it's a great idea, the project can do with it what it likes, but without me. I'm out. I'm not going to bother carrying the torch for a bunch of bureaucrats worried that I'm encroaching on their sovereign fiefdoms. It is damn near impossible to make a volunteer contribution to the Joomla! project without someone trying to tell you that you're going about it in the wrong damn way. I'm pissed.

I'm not certain what you heard, but Joomla! does not belong to anyone. It belongs to everyone. We are members of the Joomla! community here, and in our local communities, and in the project. We should all promote Joomla! and never feel concerned or afraid that doing that is bad or wrong. People who think Joomla! should be under their control fail to see how valuable organic community efforts are - and how amazing it is to be a part of that movement.

You can't kill an organic community. And why would you want too? This is what we want to happen - this is what we have dreamed of happening. Let them lead.

OK, I talked to Sully and this is a problem.

Sully presented this idea to people in the project via Skype and he was told he should post his "official requests on the official Joomla! forums instead of ATAAW."

The rest of the conversation went from bad to worse and it certainly had the feel of bullying and unfriendliness and harsh authoritarian tones and completely inappropriate . Shameful.

I am having a difficult time writing this post, keeping my emotions under control, and maintaining a professional presence. I am so angry for how my project treated it's community member.

When community comes forward with good ideas - with excitement - wanting to do something good for our project - and they are immediately confronted with attitude that they are subordinate to someone in the project and that they are bad or wrong for being apart of the organic community effort going on here and that they must stop associating with this place if they ever want their ideas considered by the "officials" - it destroys that contributor.

We've seen the posts, complete with comparisons to other projects, all fingers pointing to a worthless community that won't do their part. No one is willing to help.

I've watched Drupal go from teeny tiny to enormously huge, friendly engaged community. Over the years, I've gotten to know several of them and talk to Dries, once in awhile, and ask him advise. I want for our community that closeness and collaboration they have.

He has told me the most important thing is transparency. All discussions and decisions are out in the open, with the exception of some of the financial talks in the foundation.

In addition to transparency, is openness and inclusion. Anyone can be a part of those discussions and can jump in and help with the work.

One of the first things I observed about their community is that they talk everywhere. In their forums, in their groups environment, from their blogs, group forums, local community sites, and they travel to each others hangouts and talk about issues. You'll find Dries visiting these sites.

We've had several ranking Drupal folks come here and talk to us. No one thought it was wrong. The Drupal folks thought it was right. How can you collaborate - if you don't know one another?

I have asked for years that we put in place a Groups environment on property. I fully believe that that resource is one of the main reasons that organic community grew from nothing to the amazing force it is today. The groups environment has 3 rules: 1. any group can be created as long as it's about Drupal. 2. you cannot create a duplicate group. If one exists, work together. Collaboration is a key value and expectation there. 3. You can't prevent anyone from participating. You have to be inclusive.

And from those three rules and that collaborative environment and from that freedom grew the Drupal community.

I can't tell you how much I want that for us. It's that kind of hope in me I can't let go. Even when I'm disappointed that others try so hard to stop it from happening.

It's been three years now since I saw this video - the power of community - on Dries's site. I've watched it a hundred times. I've read what Dries said, below, a million times.

If companies or projects would get out of their own way, and avoid standing in the way of their communities, they'd be surprised to see what happens.

Please.

The Joomla! Community Magazine was started and staffed here. We're happy to work with the project on that and make sure it's a huge success.

JandBeyond started here, too. There was a lot of fuss by these few people in the project when that was discussed, as well. It's going to be huge and very good for Joomla!.

I am certainly hopeful that if we are willing to accept code from Redmond that we will be willing to accept the new Media manager that was started here at ATAAW.

Hope it's okay if the people who help with the Bug Squad and various initiatives that we are always sharing - learned about here, first.

What organic community efforts have been launched at Joomla.org this past six months?

On the contrary, Amy, you can kill an organic community or you can at least encourage it to take its ball home from the playground. Life is short and who wants to waste time with people who are unappreciative of collaboration? Oliver Wendell Holmes said (before binary code was invented), "People can be divided into two classes: those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, 'Why wasn't it done the other way?"

wow...

just wow...

blog post coming soon...

Mmmh, yet again an idea that becomes... a good discussion > but for bad reasons?
What about simply serving first, here? Throwing the ball in the air...

and voilà