📦 Joomla Component Builder Has a New Home: Meet JoomEngine

[Llewellynvdm]

We’re excited to announce that Joomla Component Builder (JCB) now lives under its own dedicated GitHub organization: JoomEngine!

This move reflects the growing vision and momentum behind JCB. By consolidating the tools, extensions, and infrastructure under one organizational banner, we aim to improve visibility, streamline development, and build a stronger community around the project.

👀 A major release is coming soon — so if you’re already using JCB or planning to explore it, now is the time to watch the repository, join the conversation, and get involved.

🗣️ New Discussion Forum
We’ve launched a dedicated Discussions space here:
👉 https://github.com/orgs/joomengine/discussions
Whether you have questions, suggestions, or just want to say hi — you’re welcome to jump in!

Thank you for being part of this journey. The future of JCB just got a major upgrade.

[jsr4id]

I was wondering why the wiki and discussions are no longer available on GitHub. Can you add a link to the new page? I've been using the wiki at "https://git.vdm.dev/joomla/Component-Builder" for the past few days.

I still don't fully understand the reason for the restructuring. Can you explain it in more detail? I thought JCB was part of vdm.io.

One can only hope that JCB remains free. Because one thing you probably don't get told often enough, @Llewellynvdm and vdm: You're doing a great job. I can only imagine how much sweat, effort, hours, years, free time, support, code, etc., you've put into this project. The wiki may be a bit outdated, but it helps enormously. And it's very comprehensive.

It's almost ridiculous how little recognition JCB receives in the Joomla community, because the component is almost as large and complex as Joomla itself.

Keep it up!

[Llewellynvdm]

First off — thank you so much for the encouragement. It means more than you know. JCB has indeed been a massive undertaking over the years, and your kind words help remind us that it's making a real impact.

Just to clear things up:

🧭 JCB is still fully open source, alive, and thriving — now under the JoomEngine GitHub organization.

You mentioned that the wiki seemed to be gone — but it's actually still there! You can find the JCB wiki on GitHub at:
📚 https://github.com/joomengine/Joomla-Component-Builder/wiki

So what’s this all about?

Why the move to JoomEngine?

JoomEngine is a project under VDM — the same team that created and maintains JCB. This move is about growth, not change in ownership. It gives the community a clearer, more focused place to collaborate, and sets the stage for new tools that will make JCB even more powerful and accessible.

JCB is not being taken over — it’s being elevated. Still open source. Still owned and guided by me, its founder and lead developer.

We’ve simply outgrown the old structure and wanted to build a future that invites more people in.

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What’s coming next?

We’re preparing to launch JoomEngine as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform to make it easier for anyone to get started with JCB — especially those who’ve had difficulty setting it up locally.

This new hosted solution will:

• Deploy Joomla with JCB pre-installed
• Let you back up projects to Git with versioning
• Help newcomers test and build without friction
• Provide free trials, and eventually, paid tiers to support development

🔓 But the open source version will always remain 100% free, public, and fully featured — no closed forks, no hidden features.

This isn’t a “freemium” bait-and-switch — it’s about convenience and sustainability. The SaaS version will use the same source code as the public JCB repo. Nothing will be locked behind a paywall (regarding JCB). Like Joomla, JoomEngine a VDM project, remains steadfast in its commitment to open source.

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Why all this matters

We use JCB internally to build massive, complex Joomla projects — it’s the heart of our workflow. Whether others recognize it or not, the tool has already achieved the objectives for why we build it.

This next phase — under the JoomEngine umbrella — is about making that power more approachable for others and keeping the project sustainable.

So yes — we’re thinking long-term.
And yes — we remain fully committed to open source.

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We’d love your help testing the latest versions, sharing JCB with others, or supporting the project in any way that fits — whether that’s reporting bugs, writing docs, or contributing financially if you're using JCB in production.

Again, thank you. Your words of appreciation remind us why this work matters.

With gratitude,
Llewellyn & the JoomEngine (VDM) Team

[jsr4id]

Thanks for the clarification. That sounds great.

I looked for the Wiki and Discussion section on the old site. Nevermind.

I think it's a good feature to get directly paid support. I think this business model makes sense.
But why is JCB still so "small" in the scene? I'll never know.

Good luck.