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Flowpane for Joomla

Flowpane for Joomla is an extension package (a component, plugins and a dashboard module) that tells Flowpane what Joomla knows about your pages, so it can compare that with your sitemaps and the live site. Every request is signed with a key that never leaves your site, your content is never sent, and nothing changes without your approval.

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What it tells Flowpane

What your CMS knows, without your content.

Once connected, the connector reports three things by default. None of them includes a title, a line of text or an author.

01

Content changes

A signed, sequenced record of each item's ID, type, publication status and last-modified time. Gaps in the record are detected, and you can resynchronise.

02

A page report

Daily, and soon after changes: every public page with its type, publication state (published, scheduled, expired or restricted), public URL and explicit robots values, with site-wide settings such as the global robots setting, the canonical domain and sitemap hints.

03

Robots changes

A change to a robots setting is reported soon after it is made, so drift shows up before the next scheduled check.

What Flowpane shows you

Three views of every page, side by side.

The Pages view puts what your CMS says beside the sitemaps that list each URL and what the public page actually does. Where they disagree, you get a finding.

Layer 1

What your CMS says

Publication state and robots values, from the page report.

Layer 2

What your sitemaps list

Which sitemaps list the URL, and which tool produces them.

Layer 3

What the live page does

What Flowpane's own public check receives, from the status code to the robots directives.

Findings include

  • The CMS allows indexing but the live page says noindex, or the reverse.
  • Published in the CMS, but the live address returns 404 or 410.
  • More than one robots setting applies to the same page.
  • A sitemap lists a URL that is noindex, blocked, redirecting or unavailable.

Connector findings are review warnings, kept apart from the site score.

Which tool produces each file

Flowpane shows which tool produces each governance file where it can tell. From public signatures, it identifies sitemaps made by Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, RSSeo!, OSMap, JSitemap and WordPress core. Every other file is checked just the same.

What it can change

Only with your approval.

Changes are opt-in, a person approves each one, and each is made only where the platform allows.

Page directives

  • Adds noindex or nofollow to the pages you choose.
  • Never removes anyone else's noindex, and never edits your content, settings or SEO tool settings.
  • A noindex on the homepage needs a second confirmation.
  • Disconnecting stops the directives.

Flowpane's own sitemap

  • Served beside your existing sitemaps, at /flowpane-sitemap.xml where the platform allows, with up to 50,000 URLs.
  • You review a preview before each publication.
  • Other sitemaps are never changed, and nothing is submitted to Google.

robots.txt

  • Applies a revision you saved in Flowpane's editor, where the platform lets robots.txt be changed.
  • A revision that was not based on the live file is refused.

Proof and records

Every change is checked in public.

Checked after every change

Flowpane checks the public result after each change, retrying when a cache is stale. It never purges your cache.

Paused until proven

If Flowpane cannot prove a change applied, further changes pause until it can.

Revisions that stay put

Revisions are immutable. Restoring an old one creates a new revision.

A full trail

Every action appears in Flowpane's activity and audit trail.

Security and privacy

Your key never leaves your site.

The connector and Flowpane talk only through signed requests, and only the site's administrators can use it.

  • A key made on your site

    An Ed25519 key is generated on your site and sealed with the site's own secret. It is never sent, shown or logged.

  • Signed in both directions

    Every request is signed over its method, path, body digest, a single-use nonce and a short time window. Flowpane's replies are signed too.

  • What is never sent

    Titles, body text, authors, comments, users, custom fields, orders and plugin configuration.

  • Administrators only

    Only the site's administrators can use it.

How it works

How it works on Joomla

Flowpane for Joomla is an extension package (a component, plugins and a dashboard module).

Connect it

  1. 1

    Download Flowpane for Joomla from Flowpane.

  2. 2

    Install the extension package with Joomla's extension installer.

  3. 3

    Start the connection in Flowpane.

  4. 4

    Confirm it in Joomla's administrator, which shows what Flowpane may change.

Files on this platform

robots.txt
robots.txt is a file in the site root.
Sitemaps
Sitemaps usually come from an extension such as OSMap or JSitemap.
Page-level robots
Global Configuration has a site-wide robots setting, and menu items have their own robots options.

Works alongside

Keep the tools you already use.

Flowpane does not replace them. It works alongside them, shows which tool produces each file where it can tell, and checks the live result either way.

SEO extensions

  • RSSeo!
  • sh404SEF
  • 4SEO
  • JoomlArt T4

Sitemap tools

  • OSMap
  • JSitemap

External services

  • Pro Sitemaps (pro-sitemaps.com)
  • XML-Sitemaps.com
  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider sitemap export
  • Cloudflare's managed robots.txt

In detail

More about Flowpane for Joomla

  • Records article changes as they happen, with database triggers, up to 1,000 articles.
  • Reports articles, categories, menu items and SP Page Builder pages at their public menu routes, honouring access levels and publish windows.
  • Detects RSSeo!, sh404SEF, OSMap, JSitemap and JoomlArt T4.
  • Observes the local robots.txt file, including when it is missing or a symlink.
  • Let Flowpane manage robots.txt applies a saved revision from Flowpane's editor. The file is replaced in one atomic step, and a symlinked robots.txt is refused.
  • Reports a changed robots setting within about a minute.
  • Adds page directives when each page renders.
  • Works on sites that use Cloudflare or JCH Optimize.
  • Adds an admin area inside Joomla, with Overview, Artefacts, Automation, Settings and Diagnostics, and a dashboard module. It shows Flowpane's signed view with Open in Flowpane links, and nothing is edited from inside Joomla.
  • Access follows the extension's own Joomla permissions.

Requirements

  • Joomla 5.4.8 or later, or 6.1.3 or later
  • PHP 8.3 to 8.5
  • MariaDB 10.4 or later, with the trigger privilege
  • MySQL is not supported

Running, updating and removing

  • It runs as a Joomla Scheduled Task, and also wakes when Flowpane sends a signed request.
  • To update, upload the new package. The connection is kept.
  • Uninstalling removes every Flowpane table, the key and the scheduled tasks. Your content is untouched.
Does Flowpane for Joomla work with RSSeo!?

Yes. It works alongside RSSeo!, sh404SEF, 4SEO and JoomlArt T4, and never changes their settings. The extension detects RSSeo!, sh404SEF, OSMap, JSitemap and JoomlArt T4, and Flowpane identifies sitemaps made by RSSeo!, OSMap or JSitemap. Flowpane shows which tool produces each file where it can tell.

Do I have to replace RSSeo! or sh404SEF?

No. Flowpane works alongside RSSeo! or sh404SEF and shows which tool produces each file where it can tell. Keep using what you use today.

Does it change my content?

No. Flowpane for Joomla never edits your content, settings or SEO tool settings. Where Joomla allows, it can add noindex or nofollow to pages you choose, serve Flowpane's own sitemap beside yours and apply a robots.txt revision you saved in Flowpane, and a person approves each one.

Does it work with MySQL?

No. It records article changes with database triggers, so it needs MariaDB 10.4 or later with the trigger privilege. MySQL is not supported.

Does it work with Cloudflare or JCH Optimize?

Yes. It works on sites that use either. After each change, Flowpane checks the public result and retries when a cache is stale, and it never purges your cache.

What happens if I remove it?

Removing Flowpane for Joomla ends the connection, and any page directives it added stop. Uninstalling the extension removes every Flowpane table, the key and the scheduled tasks. Your content is untouched, and Flowpane carries on checking the site from the outside, as it does for any site.

Does it submit anything to Google?

No. Neither Flowpane for Joomla nor Flowpane submits anything to Google, including Flowpane's own sitemap. Search Console access, if you connect it, is read-only.

Can I use Flowpane without the extension?

Yes. Flowpane checks any site from the outside, over public HTTPS, with nothing installed. The extension adds what only Joomla knows, such as publication states and robots settings, so Flowpane can compare them with your sitemaps and the live site.

See what your sites are claiming.

Add an origin and get a score, the gaps, and the evidence behind each one. Then Flowpane keeps checking, so the answer stays current.

Join the betaRead the docs

Free during the beta. Flowpane never signs in to your site.