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Documentation: Filedrop

Action Log

The Filedrop package includes an action log plugin (Filedrop - Action Log) that records transfer activity in Joomla's own User Actions Log. It gives you an audit trail of what was sent through your site and what happened to it, right next to the actions Joomla already logs (logins, content edits, and so on).

The plugin is installed and enabled automatically with the package. It has one setting of its own, described under Requirements and options below.

What is logged

  • A logged-in user sends a transfer - User jeroen created transfer report.pdf
  • A guest sends a transfer - A guest (Jan Jansen (jan@example.com)) created transfer report.pdf
  • A transfer is deleted by a user (from the admin Transfers list, or their own via My transfers) - User jeroen deleted transfer report.pdf
  • A transfer is deleted automatically (expired and cleaned up by the scheduled task, or its download limit was reached) - Transfer report.pdf was deleted automatically (expired or download limit reached). Automatic deletions are always recorded as automatic, even though they happen inside some visitor's page request: an expiry or a download limit is never attributed to whoever happened to be logged in at that moment.

Transfers are identified by their original filenames, up to five names per entry - a transfer with more is summarised as, for example, a.pdf, b.pdf, c.pdf, d.pdf, e.pdf (+12). For guest transfers, the sender's name and e-mail address appear when the upload form collected them; if those fields are hidden or were left empty, the entry just says "A guest".

Downloads are not logged here. Per-transfer download counts are already tracked and visible under Components > Filedrop.

Where to find the log

Go to Users > User Actions Log in the administrator. Filedrop entries appear under the extension name com_filedrop, mixed chronologically with all other logged actions. You can also add Joomla's "Latest Actions" module to the admin dashboard to see recent entries at a glance.

Requirements and options

The plugin itself has one setting, under System > Plugins > Filedrop - Action Log:

Log the sender e-mail address On by default. Records the e-mail address a guest uploader entered next to their name in the log message. Switch it off to keep that personal data out of the action log, which administrators can export to CSV and Joomla can mail onward - useful if your retention or privacy policy would rather not carry it. The sender's name is still logged either way, and logged-in uploaders are always identified by their account instead.

Beyond that:

  • The log only works while Joomla's own System - User Actions Log plugin is enabled. It is enabled by default on every Joomla installation; if a site deliberately switched action logging off, Filedrop respects that and logs nothing.
  • Everything is stored in your own database - nothing leaves the site.
  • The core options under Users > User Actions Log > Options apply to Filedrop entries like any others: logging IP addresses alongside each entry, and automatically deleting log entries older than a set number of days. Individual administrators can also enable e-mail notifications for logged actions in their user profile.

No entries appearing?

  1. Check that System - User Actions Log is enabled under System > Plugins - without it, no action log plugin on the site receives anything.
  2. Check that Filedrop - Action Log is enabled there too. It's enabled automatically on install, but a deliberate disable is respected and survives updates.
  3. The log only records activity from the moment the plugin was active - transfers sent before that don't appear retroactively.