Node reference

Create Article for Joomla

Creates a Joomla article from flow data — title, intro/full text, category, images, tags, and publishing options. This is the write step in most Joomla automation that starts fr…

Overview

Creates a Joomla article from flow data — title, intro/full text, category, images, tags, and publishing options. This is the write step in most Joomla automation that starts from a webhook or schedule.

When the flow reaches this step, JOrchestrator executes Create Article against your linked site or an external integration, using the field values you set on General and Design. Downstream steps can read the output payload fields defined for this node.

Why use this node

Create Article is a action step in the Articles group. Action steps run in the middle or end of a flow. They perform work on your CMS, call external services, or transform data for the next step.

Typical reasons teams add Create Article to a flow:

Open a Joomla article from a form, PIM, or webhook payload
Let AI draft copy, then write the article on the linked site
Schedule daily or campaign articles without logging into the admin

Example workflows

Common patterns on the canvas:

Trigger or Webhook → upstream steps → Create Article → Send Email or CMS update
Scheduled trigger → Create Article → Debug (while testing) → production action

How to set it up

General tab — title, category, state, tags, and metadata. Design tab — intro/full HTML, intro and full article images (path, URL, base64, or {{upload.path}}).

Good to know

Image fields accept media paths under /images or placeholders from upstream AI/upload nodes.

Properties panel

The designer shows these tabs for this node:

Tab	Purpose
Info	Plain-language description and output payload fields for downstream steps
General	Canvas label and read-only node ID
AI	Optional assistant to help draft settings from plain language
Design	Node-specific configuration fields

System (automatic — not edited by the user)

These fields are managed by the designer or runtime — you do not type into them directly:

Property key	Label	Type	Required	Visible when	Notes
`_nodeId`	Node ID	`node-id`	No	—	—
`_payloadFields`	Available Fields	`payload-panel`	No	—	—

User-configured — General tab

Property key	Label	Type	Required	Visible when	Notes
`label`	Label	`text`	No	—	Node label
`title`	Article Title	`payload-text`	Yes	—	Title or drag a payload field here
`state`	State	`select` (`published` \| `unpublished` \| `archived`)	No	—	—

| tagLabels | Tag labels from payload (optional) | payload-text | No | — | ["News","Fashion"] or {{node_id.tags}} Optional JSON array of tag titles after resolving {{placeholders}}, e.g. ["News","Fashion"] or {{node_id.tags}}.

If a title does not exist in Joomla Tags, it is created when the flow runs (same defaults as Create Tag: under root, published). Requires permission to create tags. Values are merged with Tags (existing) above and deduplicated. Leave both empty to leave article tags unchanged on update. |

`alias`	Alias (optional)	`payload-text`	No	—	URL segment; auto from title if empty
`access`	Access	`select` (`1` \| `2` \| `3` \| `4` \| `5` \| `6` \| `7` \| `8`; default: `1`)	No	—	—
`featured`	Featured	`toggle` (default: `false`)	No	—	—
`note`	Note (optional)	`text`	No	—	Internal note
`publish_up`	Start publishing	`datetime`	No	—	Optional
`publish_down`	Finish publishing	`datetime`	No	—	Optional
`createdByAlias`	Author alias (optional)	`text`	No	—	Displayed author name override
`metadesc`	Meta description	`textarea`	No	—	SEO description (optional)
`metakey`	Meta keywords	`payload-text`	No	—	Comma-separated keywords (optional)

User-configured — Design tab

Property key	Label	Type	Required	Visible when	Notes
`introtext`	Intro Text	`wysiwyg`	No	—	Article intro
`fulltext`	Full Text	`wysiwyg`	No	—	Article content
`imageIntro`	Intro image	`article-image-source`	No	—	{{ai_node.image}} or images/… or data:image/png;base64,… Drag {{node.image}}, {{node.path}}, or {{node.url}} from a prior step, paste data:image/…;base64,…, pick from Joomla media below, or enter images/… path. When the resolved value is image bytes (data URI, raw base64, or https URL), it is saved under /images using the save options below (same rules as Upload Media).
`imageIntroUseRandomName`	Intro image: random file name when saving bytes	`toggle` (default: `true`)	No	—	On: auto name under folder. Off: use path below as full images/… path.
`imageIntroFolder`	Intro image: folder under /images	`payload-text`	No	—	e.g. articles/2025 — optional when saving bytes from {{placeholders}}
`imageIntroSavePath`	Intro image: path under folder	`payload-text`	No	—	Random name ON: subfolders only (e.g. hero). OFF: full path + filename (e.g. hero/cover.jpg).
`imageIntroRandomSalt`	Intro image: name prefix (optional)	`random-name-salt`	No	`imageIntroUseRandomName === true`	—
`imageIntroAlt`	Intro image alt text	`payload-text`	No	—	Optional
`imageIntroCaption`	Intro image caption	`payload-text`	No	—	Optional
`imageFulltext`	Full article image	`article-image-source`	No	—	{{ai_node.image}} or images/… or data:image/png;base64,… Drag {{node.image}}, {{node.path}}, or {{node.url}} from a prior step, paste data:image/…;base64,…, pick from Joomla media below, or enter images/… path. When the resolved value is image bytes (data URI, raw base64, or https URL), it is saved under /images using the save options below (same rules as Upload Media).
`imageFulltextUseRandomName`	Full article image: random file name when saving bytes	`toggle` (default: `true`)	No	—	On: auto name under folder. Off: use path below as full images/… path.
`imageFulltextFolder`	Full article image: folder under /images	`payload-text`	No	—	e.g. articles/2025 — optional when saving bytes from {{placeholders}}
`imageFulltextSavePath`	Full article image: path under folder	`payload-text`	No	—	Random name ON: subfolders only (e.g. hero). OFF: full path + filename (e.g. hero/cover.jpg).
`imageFulltextRandomSalt`	Full article image: name prefix (optional)	`random-name-salt`	No	`imageFulltextUseRandomName === true`	—
`imageFulltextAlt`	Full article image alt text	`payload-text`	No	—	Optional
`imageFulltextCaption`	Full article image caption	`payload-text`	No	—	Optional

CMS-backed or hybrid (loaded from the linked site at design time)

These fields can pull live options or values from the Joomla/WordPress site linked to the flow:

Property key	Label	Type	Required	Visible when	Notes
`createdBy`	Author	`email-recipient`	No	—	User ID, {{placeholder}}, or select Joomla user… Value kind: `userId`

CMS-backed (options from the linked site)

Property key	Label	Type	Required	Visible when	Notes
`catid`	Category	`category-select`	Yes	—	Select category
`tagIds`	Tags (existing)	`tags-multi`	No	—	Select one or more Joomla tags
`language`	Language	`content-language-select`	No	—	Select language (* = all)

CMS site configuration (not on this node's properties panel)

Credentials, API keys, mailers, SMTP, and integration defaults are configured in the CMS plugin under Node Configuration, not per step on this node. Link the flow to a domain before testing CMS-backed fields.

Output payload fields

After this step runs, later nodes can reference these fields using placeholders such as {{create_article.id}}.

Field key	Type	Description
`id`	string	Primary record identifier.
`title`	string	Title text for the created or updated record.
`url`	string	Public HTTP URL to a resource on the site.
`link`	string	Canonical link URL for the record.
`alias`	string	URL-safe alias / slug.
`catid`	string	Category ID.
`state`	number	Published state (0 = unpublished, 1 = published).
`created_by`	number	Numeric value from this node's output.
`introtext`	string	Article introduction / teaser HTML.
`fulltext`	string	Article main body HTML.
`imageIntro`	string	Intro image URL on the article.
`imageFulltext`	string	Fulltext image URL on the article.
`tag_ids`	object	Tag IDs attached to the article.

Validation rules

Article Title (title) must be filled before the flow can be saved.