Contact Before Save for Joomla

When it runs: Before a contact is saved in com_contact (onContentBeforeSave with context com_contact.contact).

Plugins can modify contact table data or block save.

Each run also includes who was logged in at the time and what kind of item was involved — see audit_user and audit_type in Payload Fields below.

This trigger is active for the content types listed in its context filter — use the General tab to limit which items start the flow.

When this trigger fires, JOrchestrator starts the flow and passes the incoming event or request data to the next connected step. Configure filtering, payload shape, and security on the Design tab.

Contact Before Save is a trigger in the Joomla Events › Contact Events group. Triggers start a flow. They listen for an external signal — a CMS event, inbound HTTP call, payment notification, or schedule — and pass the incoming data to the first downstream step.

Typical reasons teams add Contact Before Save to a flow:

• Automate backend work when Joomla fires ContactBeforeSave
• Notify administrators or sync external systems on this CMS lifecycle event
• Enrich or validate CMS data before it is persisted
• Audit user, content, or extension activity without custom plugins

Before a contact is saved in com_contact (onContentBeforeSave with context com_contact.contact).

Common patterns on the canvas:

1. Contact Before Save → Send Notification (admin alert)
2. Contact Before Save → Insert Row (audit log)
3. Contact Before Save → If → Send Email / Update Article

Context com_contact.contact only.

The designer shows these tabs for this node:

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

Other steps in the same area of the palette:

• Contact After Delete (event-onContactAfterDelete) — Joomla Events › Contact Events
• Contact After Save (event-onContactAfterSave) — Joomla Events › Contact Events
• Contact Before Delete (event-onContactBeforeDelete) — Joomla Events › Contact Events