Article originally posted in the NorrNext Magazine, Joomla in Faces series
We're thrilled to present an interview with Dénes Székely, a dedicated professional whose work embodies the spirit of the Joomla! community. Based in Romania, Dénes wears many hats: he is a freelancer, the owner of webGóbé, and a seasoned Joomla Developer. Beyond his client work, he generously contributes his time as a volunteer in the Joomla! Extensions Directory and Community Translations teams. Actively participating in both the Romanian and Hungarian Joomla communities, Dénes offers a unique perspective on building and sustaining digital ecosystems. Join us as we explore his insights, his journey, and his passion for the Joomla! platform.
1. A few words about me
2. Your first encounter with Joomla: how did it happen?
In fact, was Mambo, back in fall of 2003. I was looking for a sustainable solution for my (multiple) multilingual sites, tired by struggling with manually coding everything, so I was looking for a CMS – preferably with multilingual capabilities. And this was the moment when I came across Mambo and the MambelFish.
3. Have you worked with other Content Management Systems besides Joomla?
4. How do you contribute to the Joomla community?
From that very first day when started to work with Mambo I started also to contribute with small bits of code (modules and plugins – mambots) and translations to both the core and the components I have using and did not have yet translated. And I am doing it still, just on a larger scale, and also as member of 2 core Joomla teams (JED and languages).
5. You are a member of both the Romanian and Hungarian Joomla communities. Could you introduce them to a global audience?
Both are pretty vibrant communities, with notable specifics. The Hungarian community has been among the first ones to provide a collaboration platform, a forum and a repository for the Hungarian community members. The Romanian community is less organized, but have more well-known businesses concentrated on the Joomla market. Just one example, I think RSJoomla! is a well-known such group. But there are more.
On photo: Dénes Székely6. Why do you do this / what motivates you / what do you get out of it?
"Joomla wise makes my professional life easier."
Dénes
First of all, as I mentioned before, I am an open-source die-hard, I have been contributed to many successful open-source project, I am a “giver” if you like. I am believing in the force of the community, and I am sure, that helping each other with sharing the outcome of our work potentially can make this world a better place. And concretely, Joomla wise makes my professional life easier. I am using the code built by others for living. So, it is a natural thing for me to give back to community, as much as I can. It is not a big thing, but I feel that my little contribution still can make the difference.
7. What is the state of the e-commerce market in Romania? Which online payment systems are the most popular?
There are couple of local payment solutions which are the most used. Donát want to endorse here anyone, the point is that luckily, we have where to choose from. Romanian eCommerce market is kind of regional leader, here the eCommerce solution has been adopted earlier and used most as the regional average.
8. What key advantages of Joomla would you highlight?
Currently I think Joomla has the most logically built, capable core. Easy to adapt to your needs, easy to extend, easy to maintain. Needs a certain level of experience and knowledge to deploy and use, but the effort to learn it worth it.
9. Joomla turns 20. What are your thoughts on this milestone?
I hope that there will be a 40th birthday too – even if is not very likely to be part of it. Joomla has all the potential to reach that milestone.
