The Joomla! project has several working groups that have been created to utilise the wealth of knowledge our community provides. Each of these groups focuses on a specific aspect of Joomla! essential to the project's growth and development.

As it is neither possible or healthy for the core team to be involved in every discussion and conversation regarding Joomla! development and growth these working groups are essential. With a leader or co-leader on the core team they have a built-in method of communication directly with the core team.

These working groups provide an essential communication channel between the community and the core team to bring concerns to light, advocate changes, and disseminate information.

They are also an opportunity for anyone interested in helping Joomla! grow.  Those who are interested are encouraged to work with or join a working group where your talents are best applied.  By taking this approach we are improving communication and interaction between the core team, third party developers, and the community.  This will help us to deliver focused results from community feedback.

Communication

Some of the methods of communication that a working group can employ:

Forum

A working group can setup a specialised forum and create sub-forums if so required. In most cases the working group will also have a private forum for internal group discussions. The creation and moderation of the groups forums is the sole responsibility of the groups leader. He can assign other moderators if he deems necessary.

Development Wiki

The working groups have access to the development wiki. Groups can use the wiki to draft information sheets, howto's and general information related to the working groups activities. Only working group members will have write access on the wiki.

Mailing lists

A working group can also create a mailing list to facilitate communication outside of the forums.  Google groups is an example of a service that can be used for this purpose.

Current Working Groups

Development

The Development Working Group is responsible for the development and maintance of the Joomla! Framework and Joomla! CMS.

Documentation

The Documentation Working Group consists of a user and developer documentation team. The working group is responsible for writing and updating official documentation and for maintaining the help site.

Sites and Infrastructure

The Sites and Infrastructure Working Group is responsible for maintaining a productive, jovial forum for efficient, open communication between everyone involved in the project.

Translation

The Translation Working Group is responsible for coordinating translation of important news and announcements, official documentation and as of Joomla! 1.5 the static text in Joomla! itself.

Foundation Working Group

The Foundation Working Group is made up of teams that fit together outside the relm of development. These include Marketing & Media, Events, Legal, OSM and Fund Raising.