Joomill.com through the years

In this article, we are going to take a look at ourselves. It is always nice to see how a website has evolved. I dived into my backup archive and that is quite a job to get older Joomla versions running with the all sorts of different system requirements etc. But I succeeded and have listed the complete history of this website.

I built my first Joomla website in 2006 and this started as a hobby. When I first encountered "real customers" in 2009, I registered my own domain name and built website. The older versions of this site are not always something I can be proud of in hindsight, but in the end, it has made it successful these days. So I'm happy to share them with you.

2009

Version: Joomla 1.5
Template: Joomlabamboo Strata
Joomill.nl was used as a place where I offered my own extensions. I even had a veritable Hyves tip module :) Translations of other extensions could also be found on this site.

2010

Version: Joomla 1.5
Template: Icetheme Headlines
Collaboration with an advertising agency meant that the focus shifted more to web development. The Homepage largely consisted of 1 slider showing the latest projects. You no longer needed to scroll. The extensions moved more into the background.

2011

Version: Joomla 1.5
Template: Yootheme Air
The slider on the homepage was replaced by a single image. The services were reinstated below. The website also became multilingual due to the popularity of extensions. The contact form was split into 1 small form for contact and 1 extended form for quote requests.

2012 / 2013

Version: Joomla 2.5
Template: Yootheme Balance
The blog was moved to the homepage. The extensions moved to their own subdomain and later to https://www.joomill-extensions.com

2014

Version: Joomla 3
Template: Rockettheme Paradigm
Until now, I was mostly experimenting with different designs and the place of content on my website. In 2014, the foundations were laid for the current website. This version was also responsive and thus viewable on different devices. In terms of design, it would largely remain the same from now on.

2015 / 2016

Version: Joomla 3
Template: Yootheme Venice
In 2016, I attended the "Online Sales Success XL" training by Aartjan van Erkel and was able to learn a lot from it. I had already largely implemented the tips he gave me regarding content in the website. For instance, the services were broken down over different pages. And these are directly visible in the main menu. At the top right, I created a submenu for the pages that do not directly apply to my services.

2017 to 2021

Version: Joomla 3
Template: Joomill Maestro

Joomill Maestro is my own developed template and is based on Bootrap3 with FontAwesome5 PRO icons. The template has the module positions as I was used to with Yootheme and without all the unnecessary sliders, etc to ensure a fast website. You can read more about the 2017 changes in the article: The big clean-up.

2021 to 2025

Version: Joomla 4 and 5
Template: YOOtheme PRO version 2,3,4

After years of relying on my own 'Maestro' template, a new era was dawning. The switch to Joomla 4 (and now already Joomla 5) was the perfect time to give the frontend a serious makeover as well. Although the base from 2014 was still there, the modern web user demanded more speed and an even sleeker experience.

I opted to switch to YOOtheme PRO. Whereas before I was manually optimising everything in the code, this pagebuilder gave me the freedom to iterate faster without compromising on performance. The website became even 'cleaner': less noise, more focus on the message.

During this period, I also saw the shift in technology under the bonnet. Thanks to the native compatibility of Joomla 5 and the departure from outdated libraries like jQuery, the site is now faster than ever. The structure I put in place in 2016 after Aartjan's training is still the foundation, but in a modern look that is ready for the future. It's great proof that a good foundation can last for years, as long as you keep refreshing the technology around it!

2026 and beyond

Version: Joomla 6
Template: YOOtheme PRO version 5

Standing still is going backwards, and that certainly applies to web development. With the arrival of the new styling on joomill.com, I have visually pulled the website back to the now: spacious, modern and with a focus on conversion. In this, the switch to YOOtheme PRO 5 offers even more sophistication in design and speed.

The biggest change under the bonnet is the switch to fully native translations. Whereas before I sometimes needed translation plugins, I now use the power of the built-in multilingualism of Joomla itself. No more extra ballast from external extensions, but a lighter and more stable website that does exactly what it needs to do.