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Documentation: Filedrop

Install the component

Filedrop is a self-hosted file transfer package for Joomla: visitors upload one or more files through a page on your own site, and everyone involved gets a working download link by e-mail - no third-party transfer service, no size limits beyond what you configure, and full control over where the files are actually stored.

Requirements

  • Joomla 5.1.3 or later, including Joomla 6
  • The ssh2 PHP extension, only if you plan to store files over SFTP

Before you start

  • Make a full backup of your site. Akeeba Backup is a quick way to do this.
  • Make sure Joomla itself is up to date.

Install the package

  1. In your Joomla administrator, go to System > Install > Extensions.
    Extensions: Install screen
  2. Upload the Filedrop package zip you downloaded from our website.
    Upload Package File tab

This installs the com_filedrop component, the plg_task_filedropcleanup scheduled-task plugin (enabled automatically), the plg_actionlog_filedrop action log plugin (also enabled automatically - see "Action Log"), two site modules (mod_filedrop_upload and mod_filedrop_mytransfers, installed unpublished - see "Modules"), and four Mail Templates under System > Mail Templates, ready to edit.

Create the menu items

Under Content > Site Menus, create the menu items you need:

  • Filedrop - Upload (required) - the page visitors use to send files. Without it, Filedrop still works, but download links fall back to a generic, non-SEF URL.
  • Filedrop - Download (recommended) - the landing page a download link opens. Create it once in a hidden menu (a menu without a module) and keep the item itself published; it exists purely so e-mailed links get a clean, menu-based URL.
  • Filedrop - My transfers (optional) - lets logged-in users see the transfers they've sent and received, and manage their own. Skip it if your visitors are always anonymous.

See "Menu items" for a full explanation of all three types, including the hidden-menu setup for the Download item.

Set up the cleanup schedule

Filedrop never deletes an expired transfer on its own. Go to System > Scheduled Tasks > New Task, choose Delete expired Filedrop transfers, set it to run daily (or more often under heavy use), and make sure it's enabled. Without this, expired and fully-downloaded transfers just pile up in storage.

Updating and uninstalling

Updating works the same way (System > Install > Extensions, or System > Update > Extensions): Joomla upgrades the component, plugins and modules in place, no transfers or settings lost. Uninstalling (via System > Manage > Extensions) removes the component, the plugins, the modules, and the four Mail Templates - it does not delete files already stored outside the local filedrop_storage folder, so clean up a remote FTP/SFTP target yourself if you no longer need what's there.

Next step

Configure Filedrop under Components > Filedrop > Options - see "Configuration" for what each tab does.