Joomla in Faces. Jeison Ferreira (developer)

Jeison Ferreira is a developer and Joomla specialist from Brazil with a focus on e-commerce solutions, particularly VirtueMart. He is deeply involved in the Joomla ecosystem, specifically through custom extension development, VirtueMart customization, and community collaboration.

My name is Jeison Ferreira, and I am a developer at CETT/UFG, which is a research, extension, and technological development project of the Federal University of Goiás (UFG).

In addition, I run a development agency where we create plugins and integrations for CMS' such as Joomla and LMS Moodle, focusing on dynamic and customized solutions for different contexts.

My first contact with Joomla was right after graduating from college, when I started working as a webmaster (that was the term used back then).

The company website I worked for was entirely in HTML and needed to become more dynamic — that’s when I discovered Joomla 1.5, which had just split from Mambo.

From there, I began developing projects and facing new challenges, especially with system integrations, APIs, and payment gateways. I contributed to the development of the Mundipagg plugin for VirtueMart, which allowed payments with two credit cards in the same order, boleto + card, or partial payments, and I also developed the PagHiper integration plugin for VirtueMart, among others, expanding the payment options available to the Joomla community in Brazil.

Later, I was hired as director of an online school, where we created unique integrations between Joomla and Moodle, offering new possibilities for integrated digital learning.

Yes. Besides Joomla, I also worked a bit with Drupal. At that time, I wasn’t very interested in WordPress, perhaps due to some resistance to its community.

Today, however, I also develop plugins and integrations for WordPress, which allows me to make a practical comparison between platforms — reinforcing my appreciation for Joomla’s organization and robustness.

I maintain a blog where I share extensions and projects I develop, and I’m gradually migrating these contributions to GitHub. I’ve also given talks and courses about Joomla and plugin development.

Currently, through UFG, I’m contributing via the JLowcode project, which is a Joomla-based package focused on low-code development. This package uses Fabrik as its core component but includes enhanced plugins, new features, and improvements designed to extend Fabrik’s capabilities.

What motivates me is seeing how an open-source project can impact so many people and institutions, bringing together developers and users around a shared purpose — building real and accessible solutions.

With the support of UFG and the JLowcode project, I can contribute to the growth of the community and bring Joomla to new contexts, such as education, research, and public technology.

The Joomla community in Brazil is made up of experienced and passionate professionals who have kept the CMS alive for decades.

A name of great importance is Kazuo Gomi Filho, who has been one of the main leaders of Joomla Brazil since the early Joomla 1.5 days. He manages community groups, promotes Joomla, and organizes Joomla Day Brazil, being a key figure in strengthening the national community.

Currently, the Brazilian community is going through a phase of reduced participation, but Kazuo and several other members continue to work tirelessly to keep Joomla active and relevant, organizing events, knowledge exchanges, and new engagement initiatives.

The e-commerce market in Brazil is one of the strongest in Latin America and continues to expand. The most popular online payment systems are PagSeguro, Mercado Pago, Asaas, Iugu, and PagHiper.

However, since VirtueMart has become less widely used in recent years, most of these platforms no longer offer official integrations. That’s why the few available integrations were developed by us, keeping Joomla and VirtueMart updated with the most widely used payment solutions in the country.

The main advantages of Joomla are:

• Modular and flexible structure, allowing advanced customizations.
• Security and stability, with excellent access control and permissions.
• Well-defined MVC architecture, which makes extension development easier.
• High integration capability with other platforms and systems.
• Strong technical community, keeping the project active and evolving.

Reaching 20 years is an extraordinary milestone. Joomla has evolved, modernized, and maintained its collaborative and open spirit.

I’m proud to be part of this history, especially now contributing through the JLowcode project, which expands Joomla’s reach and applicability in innovation, education, and research environments.

Seeing Joomla remain relevant, sustainable, and driven by dedicated people like Kazuo Gomi is inspiring and reinforces the strength of its community.