Joomlacamp 2025 Essen

JoomlaCamp 2025 in Essen (Germany) was a great success once again! At this annual event, Joomla users, developers, and enthusiasts come together for an inspiring and interactive exchange of knowledge.

The Joomla Unconference

Unlike traditional conferences, JoomlaCamp is an "unconference", also known as "barcamp" and does not have a fixed schedule; participants decide on the sessions and topics on the spot. This creates dynamic discussions and valuable knowledge sharing, perfectly tailored to the current needs of the Joomla community.

The event is aimed at a wide audience, from beginners to experienced experts. The Business Day offers insights for professional Joomla users, while the Community Day is open to anyone working with Joomla. Sessions range from technical workshops on Joomla 5 and AI usage to strategies for SEO, accessibility, and website optimization. This makes JoomlaCamp a unique opportunity to learn and network in a relaxed atmosphere.

JoomlaCamp 2025

JoomlaCamp 2025 took place on Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15, 2025, at a creative and inspiring location: the Unperfekthaus in Essen, Germany. Participants could register via the official JoomlaCamp website. The entrance fee is kept deliberately low to ensure that as many people as possible can participate. Thanks to its flexible format, there is something to learn for everyone, whether you manage a Joomla site, build templates, or run a business around the CMS.

JoomlaCamp 2025 "Business Day"

We started the first day with an introduction round. Everyone was asked to say their name, three words about what brought them to the conference, and their favorite pie (mine: Quiche Lorraine). Coincidentally, it was Pi Day, namely "March 14," representing the first three digits of the mathematical symbol π: "3.14".

After this introduction round, everyone could suggest topics they wanted to talk about or learn more about. These topics were written on post-its, and participants could mark six topics by adding a tally. Based on the popularity of the topics, a schedule for the day was created.

The sessions I (Peter Martin) attended:

• JavaScript Fundamentals: David Jardin gave an interesting session on JavaScript basics.
• Custom Fields in Joomla: Peter Martin gave a session on the 16 Custom Fields that are standard in Joomla. On Monday, I will give a full presentation on this topic at the Joomla User Group Arnhem-Nijmegen.
• New Browser Feature: Marc DeChevre presented a new CSS feature: "Transitions". Hopefully, Firefox will support it soon.
• Website Accessibility: Sigrid Gramlinger talked about testing websites for accessibility.
• AI in Joomla: Ufuk Avcu led a discussion on the use of artificial intelligence in work and Joomla.
• Flexible Joomla Forms: Sigrid Gramlinger and Peter Martin discussed how they could integrate the functionality of their commercial extension "d2 Profiles" into Joomla's core, allowing website administrators to customize the admin forms themselves.

JoomlaCamp 2025 "Community Day"

The second day, Saturday, March 15, 2025, was a community day. During the introduction round, participants were asked for their name, favorite movie/TV series character, and favorite TV series. This often leads to great conversations. After that, the schedule for the day was created in the same way as on the first day.

The sessions I (Peter Martin) attended:

• Automated Testing: Heiko Lübbe explained how to use Cypress for testing Joomla and your own extensions.
• ACL in Joomla: Peter Martin gave a session on Joomla’s flexible access control (User Groups, View Access Levels, and Permissions). The presentation slides are available at: petermartin.nl 
• Security for Developers: David Jardin talked about important security measures for Joomla extension developers.
• Automatic Updates: Another interesting session by David Jardin, focused on Joomla's new automatic update feature.
• Tools for Joomla: Sigrid Gramlinger led a discussion on useful tools for Joomla.

JoomlaCamp was once again a fantastic experience this year! The atmosphere in short: a group of enthusiastic and friendly people sharing their passion for web technology and Joomla, engaging sessions, and inspiring conversations.

Besides the content-rich sessions, JoomlaCamp is the perfect place to network and directly connect with Joomla experts, developers, and fellow users. Whether you want to share knowledge, gain new ideas, or get more out of Joomla, JoomlaCamp Essen is the event to attend. Keep an eye on the JoomlaCamp website for next year: joomlacamp.de