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Joomla!'s story

Joomla began its story on August 17th, 2005 as a fork of the open-source CMS Mambo. The split was driven by a commitment among core developers to preserve open-source values. The project quickly gained widespread support, and the name “Joomla!” was announced to the community on September 1st. Joomla! is derived from the Swahili word jumla which means “all together”.

Here is a quick highlight of some important moments in Joomla's history.

2005

The first version, Joomla 1.0, was launched in September 2005, offering a stable, user-friendly, and flexible platform for building websites.

2008

Joomla! 1.5 introduced long-term support and set a standard for stability.

2011

Joomla! 1.6 brought extensive access control lists, unlimited nested categories and one-click extension updates.

2012

Joomla! 2.5 expanded database support and improved update mechanisms.

2012

Joomla! 3’s release in 2012 made the CMS responsive by default—an industry first—modernized the admin UI, and embedded technologies such as Bootstrap, which substantially enhanced usability and design flexibility.

2021

Joomla! 4 in August 2021 marked a shift toward even greater accessibility, improved SEO, and a fully modernized codebase.

2023

Joomla! 5 in October 2023 built on the foundation of Joomla 4's forward-looking technology with a focus on speed, security, and user experience.

July 2025

Joomla! 5.3.2, the latest stable version as of July 2025, offers enhanced email management, an optimized media manager (now supporting dedicated storage for non-image files), comprehensive task scheduling, and improved accessibility for all users.

October 2025

Looking forward, Joomla 6 is slated for release in October 2025. The upcoming major release aims to continue Joomla’s commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and technical excellence by modernizing the codebase even further, welcoming new features, improved compatibility, and more - for both site administrators and end users.

 
As you can see from the above, the journey has been long and impressive!
Joomla which is celebrating its 20th anniversary stands as one of the most enduring and community-oriented content management systems, empowering millions of websites worldwide.