Resources · Make integration

Joomla Make integrationAutomate Joomla with Make.

Can Make publish and tidy your Joomla site for you? Yes: the Joomla Make integration gives you 18 modules, including 2 triggers that watch articles, then 13 actions and 3 searches for articles, categories and menus. This page walks site editors through the connection and a first working scenario.

Try the Joomla integration on MakeSee the 18 modules

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What you can automate

What does the Joomla Make integration automate?

The Joomla Make integration links your Joomla site to Make, a no-code tool where you build a scenario: the automation itself, a chain of modules that each do one job. On the Joomla side, those modules read, create, update or delete articles, categories and menus, and two of them start a scenario when an article appears or changes.

Drafts that arrive already written. A content team that plans posts in another tool can send each approved item to Create an Article, after Create a Category has opened a home for a brand new topic. The text lands on the site without anyone pasting it into the Joomla backend.

A trace of every edit. Watch Updated Articles picks up articles that changed, and the next module can log them in a sheet or alert the editor in chief. For an agency looking after client sites, it is a simple way to know what moved on the site.

Menus that follow the content. List Menus and Get a Menu show what the navigation holds today, and Update a Menu or Create a Menu adjust it when a new section goes live.

What Make does not do here: neither trigger is instant, so Make only sees a new or edited article when the scenario's schedule comes round, every 15 minutes by default. For anything the listed modules skip, Make an API Call reaches other endpoints of the Joomla API with the same connection. Weighing Make against another tool? The n8n vs Make comparison lays out the differences, the Make training gets you building with confidence, and Make troubleshooting helps when a run fails.

Connect

How do you connect Joomla to Make?

  1. 01

    Copy your Joomla API token

    In the Joomla 4 Administration backend, open the User Menu at the top right, click Edit Account, then the Joomla API Token tab. Copy the token shown there. Your account needs access to the installation and the relevant permissions.

  2. 02

    Add a Joomla module in Make

    In your scenario, add any Joomla module and click Create a connection. A connection is your Joomla account linked to Make once, then reused by every Joomla module you add later.

  3. 03

    Name it and paste the credentials

    Type a label in Connection name if you manage several sites; the field is optional. Then enter the credentials you copied from Joomla, or follow the instructions Make shows on screen, and save.

First scenario

Your first scenario: turn an approved idea into a Joomla article

GoalWhen an idea is approved in the tool where you plan content, Make creates the matching article in Joomla.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    On the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the + to add the first module. Pick the app where approved ideas live, such as the planning tool or spreadsheet your team already uses.

  2. 02

    Add Create an Article

    Click the + on the right of that first module, search for Joomla and choose Create an Article. Select your Joomla connection, or create it with the three steps above.

  3. 03

    Map the data

    Fill the module fields with values from the first module: Make shows what it received, and you place each value where it belongs. Each bundle, meaning one item passed between modules, becomes one article.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once and approve a test idea in the source app. Open the bundles each module received, then look for the new article in the Joomla backend.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch on

    Open the clock on the first module to set the schedule, every 15 minutes by default, and switch the scenario on. Each module run on a bundle is an operation, the unit Make counts on your plan.

Triggers

What starts a Joomla scenario?

2 modules start a scenario when something happens in Joomla. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by Joomla as soon as it happens.

Joomla1Watch New Articles

Watch New Articles

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new ariticle is created.”

Watch New Articles hands your scenario each article that appears on the Joomla site, one bundle per article, so the steps that follow can share it, archive it or tell the team. It is a scheduled trigger: Make goes and looks, Joomla does not call it.

How it fires
scheduled. Make checks Joomla on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default, and never closer than 15 minutes apart on the Free plan.
When to use it
a newsroom or a club site where each fresh post should reach a newsletter tool or a team chat without anyone copying the link.
Watch out
an article is picked up at the next check, not the moment it is saved; Make offers no instant Joomla trigger.
Joomla2Watch Updated Articles

Watch Updated Articles

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when an article is updated.”

Watch Updated Articles catches articles that someone has edited, which makes it the starting point for anything that must stay in step with the site: a copy kept elsewhere, a review log, an alert to a colleague.

How it fires
scheduled. Make asks Joomla for changes each time the scenario's schedule comes round, rather than waiting for Joomla to tell it.
When to use it
a terms page or a pricing page that other teams mirror, where a correction on the site should reach the copy kept in a shared document.
Watch out
if a later module in the same scenario runs Update an Article, each change can wake the trigger again and the scenario feeds itself; keep writes back to Joomla in a separate scenario.
Modules

What else can Joomla do in a scenario?

Joomla gives you 16 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Joomla1

Create a Category

Action

In Make“Creates a category.”

Create a Category opens a new section on the site, so articles about a fresh topic have somewhere to live before they are even written.

When to use it
a new product line or event series gets approved, and the team wants its category ready without waiting for the webmaster.
Watch out
run twice with the same input, it can leave you with two categories; search with List Categories first when the name may already exist.
Joomla2

Create a Menu

Action

In Make“Creates a menu.”

Here the scenario adds a whole new navigation menu to the site, instead of someone building it by hand in the backend.

When to use it
you open a section for a campaign or a partner and want it to have its own menu from day one.
Watch out
menus shape how visitors move around, so try the scenario with Run once on a test site before letting it write to the live one.
Joomla3

Create an Article

Action

In Make“Creates an article.”

Create an Article turns data from anywhere in the scenario into a Joomla article: a form answer, a row approved in a sheet, a text drafted by another module.

When to use it
content is written or approved outside Joomla and you want it on the site without copy and paste.
Watch out
every bundle that reaches this module becomes its own article, so a search returning many items upstream creates many articles.
Joomla4

Delete a Category

Action

In Make“Deletes a category specified by its ID.”

Once a topic is retired, this module removes its category from the site, targeted by ID, and keeps the structure clean.

When to use it
a seasonal section or a discontinued product line should disappear after its content has been moved or archived.
Watch out
treat the deletion as final; take the ID from List Categories or Get a Category and try it on a dummy category first.
Joomla5

Delete a Menu

Action

In Make“Deletes a menu specified by its ID.”

Delete a Menu takes a menu off the site by its ID, the tidy-up counterpart of Create a Menu when a section has run its course.

When to use it
a campaign section closes and its dedicated menu has nothing left to point to.
Watch out
the ID must be exact, so feed it from List Menus or Get a Menu upstream and read the bundle during Run once before switching the scenario on.
Joomla6

Delete an Article

Action

In Make“Deletes an article specified by its ID.”

When a scenario decides that an article no longer belongs on the site, Delete an Article erases it, identified by its ID.

When to use it
an offer, a job posting or an event is closed in another tool and the matching article should go with it.
Watch out
treat it as final; check the ID in the bundles of a Run once test and keep a copy elsewhere if the text matters.
Joomla7

Get a Category

Action

In Make“Retrieves a category by its ID.”

Get a Category fetches one category by its ID and passes its details to the next modules, handy when an earlier step gave you the ID and you need the rest.

When to use it
before Update a Category, to read what the category holds now and decide whether it needs a change.
Watch out
it needs an ID; if all you have is a name, go through List Categories instead.
Joomla8

Get a Menu

Action

In Make“Retrieves a menu by its ID.”

Get a Menu reads one menu by its ID, so the modules after it can use what that menu contains.

When to use it
ahead of Update a Menu, to see what the menu contains today and let the next step decide whether to touch it.
Watch out
it returns a single menu; to go through all of them, List Menus is the module you want.
Joomla9

Get an Article

Action

In Make“Retrieves an article by its ID.”

Get an Article pulls one article by its ID so its content can travel on to the next steps: a newsletter, a social post, an archive.

When to use it
an earlier module or another tool gives you an article ID, and what follows needs the article itself.
Watch out
do not mix it up with List Articles, the search that returns several articles at once.
Joomla10

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Make an API Call is the way out when none of the listed modules does what you need: it calls any endpoint of the Joomla API through the connection you already set up.

When to use it
you want to act on a part of Joomla that has no ready-made module here, beyond articles, categories and menus.
Watch out
you describe the request yourself, so keep the Joomla API documentation open and test the call with Run once before relying on it.
Joomla11

Update a Category

Action

In Make“Updates a category specified by its ID.”

Update a Category edits an existing category, picked by its ID, so the site's structure follows decisions made elsewhere.

When to use it
a department is renamed or a topic is reframed, and the category should reflect it without anyone logging into the backend.
Watch out
the ID decides which category changes; take it from List Categories rather than typing it by hand.
Joomla12

Update a Menu

Action

In Make“Updates a menu specified by its ID.”

So that navigation keeps pace with sections that open or close, Update a Menu changes a menu already on the site, chosen by its ID.

When to use it
a section goes live or shuts, and the menu pointing to it needs adjusting in the same run.
Watch out
a menu change is visible to every visitor, so check the bundles of a Run once test before the scenario goes live.
Joomla13

Update an Article

Action

In Make“Updates an article specified by its ID.”

Update an Article rewrites an existing article, found by its ID, which keeps the site in line with a reference kept elsewhere.

When to use it
a price, a date or a disclaimer changes in your reference sheet and every related article should carry the new text.
Watch out
in a scenario started by Watch Updated Articles, this module can set the trigger off again; keep the two in separate scenarios.
Joomla14

List Articles

Search

In Make“Lists the articles in the website.”

List Articles is a search: it returns the site's articles as separate bundles, zero, one or many, which the following modules process one at a time.

When to use it
a content audit, an export to a sheet, or finding the articles a bulk correction should touch.
Watch out
every bundle it returns costs an operation in each module after it, so a large site can eat into your plan faster than expected.
Joomla15

List Categories

Search

In Make“Lists the categories in the website.”

Need an ID before a Get, Update or Delete step? List Categories gives you every category of the site, one bundle each.

When to use it
checking whether a category already exists before Create a Category adds a duplicate.
Watch out
an empty result is still a result, so decide what the scenario should do when the search finds nothing.
Joomla16

List Menus

Search

In Make“Lists the menus in the website.”

List Menus returns all the menus on the site, one bundle per menu, so a scenario can review the navigation or pick the menu to change.

When to use it
a site audit, or a scenario that must find the right menu ID before Update a Menu or Delete a Menu.
Watch out
if you need only one menu and already know its ID, Get a Menu does the job with fewer bundles.
Need help

Need help automating Joomla with Make?

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FAQ

Joomla and Make: common questions

01Is the Joomla Make integration free?
Yes. Joomla is a standard app in Make, so its 18 modules work on the Free plan. That plan allows 2 active scenarios, runs scheduled scenarios at most every 15 minutes, stops a run after 5 minutes and handles files up to 5 MB, with 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) bring the interval down to 1 minute, lift the cap on active scenarios and allow 40 minutes per run, with usage counted in credits. Your Joomla subscription is a separate matter: the Make doc points to the Joomla pricing page for it.
02What do you need to connect Joomla to Make?
Access to your Joomla installation, an account with the relevant permissions, and a Make account. The token comes from the Joomla 4 Administration backend: open the User Menu at the top right, click Edit Account, then the Joomla API Token tab, and copy it. In Make, add any Joomla module, click Create a connection, give it a name if you like, and enter the credentials or follow the on-screen instructions. That connection is then shared by every Joomla module in your scenarios.
03Does the Joomla trigger in Make react in real time?
No. Both Joomla triggers, Watch New Articles and Watch Updated Articles, are scheduled: Make asks Joomla for new or edited articles each time the scenario's schedule comes round. A new scenario checks every 15 minutes by default, which is also the shortest interval on the Free plan, while paid plans go down to 1 minute. Joomla has no instant trigger in Make, so no webhook fires the moment an article is saved. If the delay matters for your site, a shorter interval on a paid plan is the lever you have.
04What if a Joomla module is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It sends a request to any endpoint of the Joomla API through the connection you already have, so parts of Joomla beyond articles, categories and menus stay within reach. You write the request yourself, which means a look at the Joomla API documentation, and Run once lets you check the answer before you switch the scenario on. Note also that the Make doc warns its Joomla page is AI-generated from the official Joomla documentation, so verify anything important with Joomla directly.
05Should you use Make or n8n for Joomla?
It depends on how you like to build. In Make, Joomla comes with 18 ready-made modules: 2 scheduled triggers on articles, 13 actions and 3 searches covering articles, categories and menus, plus Make an API Call for the rest, all assembled in a visual editor where you test with Run once. n8n is another automation tool that often has a node for the same apps; check whether its Joomla coverage matches the steps you plan. Compare the two on the modules your scenario needs rather than on reputation.
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