- Published: 09 December 2025
- Last modified: 17 December 2025
A true Joomla advocate, Ahmad Moussa's work bridges local impact and global contribution. An entrepreneur and engineer, he leads the Joomla Saudi Arabia community while also serving on a remarkable array of Joomla project teams—from the Showcase Directory to User Research. We talked to him about fostering growth in Jeddah and supporting the ecosystem worldwide.
1. Please tell us a few words about yourself
2. Your first encounter with Joomla: how did it happen?
3. Have you worked with other Content Management Systems besides Joomla?
4. Do you contribute to the Joomla community?
5. What motivates you to do this?
I strongly believe in the power of collaboration and open-source to create opportunities and drive innovation. While my main profession is IT and networking, being a webmaster is a hobby that I truly enjoy and continue to grow through.
Ahmad
The Joomla community has given me a great deal of knowledge and support, and contributing is my way of giving back. I strongly believe in the power of collaboration and open-source to create opportunities and drive innovation. While my main profession is IT and networking, being a webmaster is a hobby that I truly enjoy and continue to grow through.
6. Joomla in Saudi Arabia. Could you introduce the community, please?
Many Saudis are attracted to Joomla because it has built-in multilingual support, making it easy to create websites in Arabic and other languages. Joomla Community Saudi Arabia brings together enthusiasts, professionals, and organizations across the country to promote Joomla, support local projects, and encourage collaboration.
As part of this community, I founded JUG Jeddah, where we host meetups, workshops, and online sessions to help developers, designers, and businesses learn more about what Joomla can do. Our aim is to create a strong local network that shares knowledge and supports one another.
7. You are managing the Arabic translation. If we compare it to English, there are different regional versions like en-US, en-AU, etc. The de-facto standard is British English, and there are various regional versions of Arabic. Which language code is the most widespread, and which one do other extensions have localizations for?
ar-AA for Arabic because there is no significant difference between Arabic across regions, unlike English, which has variants like en-US and en-GB. Since Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha) is the same across all countries, most extensions and the Joomla core rely on ar-AA to provide a single, neutral Arabic translation that is understood and usable across all Arabic-speaking countries, even though regional codes like ar-SA (Saudi Arabia) or ar-EG (Egypt) exist.8. Can you tell how Joomla and the popular template and extension providers are compatible with RTL language?
Joomla has excellent support for RTL (Right-to-Left) languages, including Arabic. The Joomla core handles RTL rendering seamlessly, making it easy to build professional Arabic websites. Most popular template and extension providers offer RTL-ready designs. For example, JoomShaper templates fully support RTL, and in the past, I also used JoomlaArt templates, which similarly provide complete RTL compatibility. This ensures that creating Arabic websites is smooth and requires minimal extra customization.
9. You are the founder and organizer of JUG Jeddah. Can you tell us more about your group and what you do?
I co-founded JUG Jeddah with my colleague Ameera Khojah to bring together Joomla enthusiasts in Saudi Arabia. Our group welcomes everyone, from beginners to experienced developers, designers, and integrators.
We organize regular meetings twice a year in Jeddah for learning, knowledge sharing, and networking.
As a future plan, we aim to host JoomlaDay Jeddah, where experts and community members can explore the latest Joomla trends and share insights. Through these activities, we hope to support, inspire, and grow the Joomla community in Saudi Arabia.
10. Regarding Joomla Certification, are there plans to start certification for Arabic-speaking people?
11. Regarding web accessibility standards and the analogue of GDPR: are there similar legal requirements in Saudi Arabia?
12. What is the state of the e-commerce market in Saudi Arabia? Which online payment systems are the most popular?
13. What key advantages of Joomla would you highlight?
One of Joomla’s greatest strengths is its vibrant, supportive community—a global network of developers, designers, and enthusiasts who share knowledge, resources, and help each other grow.
Ahmad
14. What do you think needs to be improved in Joomla's infrastructure to make it even better?
15. Joomla is turning 20 this year. What are your thoughts on this milestone?
Reaching 20 years is a remarkable milestone for an open-source project. It shows Joomla’s resilience, adaptability, and the strength of its global community.
As a webmaster (not a developer), I am proud to be part of this journey and excited to see how Joomla continues to innovate and empower users worldwide. I wish I had started using it before 2013, but I hope to see Joomla reach even greater heights with a fresh vision for the future.
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