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Version: 5.1 (Archived)

Use of the Joomla Name

"Joomla!" is our name, and as such it deserves everyone's best efforts to protect it. It defines our brand for both our software and our community. It signifies our reputation for excellence. We have specific guidelines for when and how to properly use our trademarks in public-facing content such as marketing materials and Joomla.org web pages. Those guidelines are excessive within a controlled user-facing environment like the Joomla backend.

"Joomla!" should always be capitalised ... ALWAYS​

Our project's name is a proper name. Please always capitalise the "J" of Joomla.

When to bang your Joomla "!"​

Our registered trademark is "Joomla!" including the exclamation point. (The exclamation point is sometimes also called a "bang" from both copy editing and comic book usage.) The proper and complete use of our name is with the exclamation point. But, there are many circumstances where including punctuation that also signifies the end of a sentence makes a passage of text difficult to read or confusing. Also, punctuation is not allowed in certain contexts such as aliases and URL's. To clarify when to use the exclamation point, here are simple rules applicable only to Joomla CMS language strings.

Rule: No Bang!​

References to Joomla in language strings should not include the exclamation point unless it is at the end of a sentence that is intended to be exclamatory.

Rule of thumb​

Whenever you can substitute "your Joomla CMS" in place of "Joomla" and still make sense, then it's descriptive and no bang needed.

Exception to the Rule: Trademarks that contain Joomla​

Whenever the Joomla name is part of or nested inside another multi-word Joomla-related trademark or service mark then the exclamation point should be used even though it is mid-sentence. If the use is a proper name it should have capitalised initials, Joomla should include the exclamation point and it should be followed by a TM indicia. Examples: References to the Joomla! Extensions Directory™, the Joomla! Framework™ or Joomla! 3.4 as a product.

When to Include Trademark Indicia ( ® or ™ )​

Rule: Do not use ® in language strings​

Part of protecting a trademark, whether registered or not, is giving notice to viewers that we consider the mark to be our property. Considering the Joomla! trademark itself, since all backend users must login and will see the Joomla signature and registered trademark indicia on the login module, there is no need to include a registered mark indicia (®) anywhere else in the backend.

Rule: Always use ™ following other Joomla-related trademarks​

With other Joomla-related trademarks or service marks, such as a reference to the Joomla! Extensions Directory™, the proper indicia to use is the TM indicia (™) at the end of the entire mark. Notice the exclamation point is included and the registered indicia (®) normally used with Joomla standing alone, is removed. The ™ indicia should be used with any reference to a Joomla product or service other than a release of Joomla itself (such as Joomla! 3.4)

These other trademarks are not registered. Nevertheless, they are protectable trademarks and service marks. A superscript circle-R should NOT be used with them; instead a superscript TM should be used. Because these are unregistered trademarks, extra care is needed to use them consistently on order to emphasize and retain their trademark status. The registration and broader recognition of the main Joomla! wordmark is the reason why we have more flexibility with the Joomla name being used without the exclamation point and as a noun in descriptive context than we do with these other Joomla-related product and service marks.

Summary​

  • Refer to Joomla in general without the exclamation point.
  • Refer to a specific product release or series as "Joomla! 3" or "Joomla! 3.4" (with an exclamation point.)
  • Refer to the JED as Joomla! Extensions Directory™ (with exclamation point and TM indicia.)

HTML Codes​

For consistent display across fonts, use the html codes for copyright and trademark symbols or indicia. For proper display, wrapping with a superscript <sup> tag is necessary for positioning the ® indicia. It is not needed for the © or ™ indicia.

  • ® - for a registered trademark indicia use <sup>&reg;</sup>
  • ™ - for a trademark indicia use &trade;
  • © - for a copyright indicia use &copy;

Provenance: This page was written by Marc Antoine Thevenet and Duke Speer on behalf of the Trademark Team.