# Send Notification

<!-- meta: type=send-notification; location=Messaging › Notifications; category=Step (action); platforms=Joomla and WordPress (where applicable) -->

## Overview

Sends a private message to a Joomla administrator inside the backend — like an in-app alert, not an email.

When the flow reaches this step, JOrchestrator executes **Send Notification** 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

Send Notification is a **action step** in the **Messaging › Notifications** 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 **Send Notification** to a flow:

- Ping Joomla administrators inside the backend when something needs review
- Escalate workflow approvals without sending external email
- Surface integration errors to the team that manages the site

## Example workflows

Common patterns on the canvas:

1. **Trigger or Webhook** → upstream steps → **Send Notification** → **Send Email** or CMS update
2. **Scheduled trigger** → **Send Notification** → **Debug** (while testing) → production action

## How to set it up

On the Design tab, pick who receives it from the administrator user list, then write the title and message. You can pull the title or message text from fields provided by earlier steps.

## Good to know

The recipient sees the message in Joomla’s Messages area when they log into the administrator.

## 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 |

### User-configured — Design tab

| Property key | Label | Type | Required | Visible when | Notes |
|--------------|-------|------|----------|--------------|-------|
| `title` | Title | `payload-text` | **Yes** | — | Notification title or drag payload field |
| `messageType` | Message Type | `select` (`payload` \| `bespoke`; default: `bespoke`) | No | — | — |
| `message` | Message | `wysiwyg` | No | `messageType === 'bespoke'` | Notification message |

### 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 |
|--------------|-------|------|----------|--------------|-------|
| `to` | To | `email-recipient` | **Yes** | — | Select backend user… Notifications use Joomla Private Messages and can only be sent to backend users who can log into the administrator and access Components → Messages. Choose a recipient from the list. Dropdown only (no free text) Backend administrators only |

### 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
`{{send_notification.sent}}`.

| Field key | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| `sent` | boolean | Whether the message was sent successfully. |
| `to` | string | Recipient address or user. |
| `title` | string | Title text for the created or updated record. |
| `message` | string | Human-readable status, error, or result summary. |

## Validation rules

- **Title** (`title`) must be filled before the flow can be saved.

## Related nodes

Other steps in the same area of the palette:

- **Discord Message** (`discord-message`) — Messaging › Social
- **Send Email** (`send-email`) — Messaging › Email
- **Slack Message** (`slack-message`) — Messaging › Social
- **Twilio MMS** (`twilio-mms`) — Messaging › Mobile
- **Twilio SMS** (`twilio-sms`) — Messaging › Mobile