BuddyPress Automations
Send an Email When a BuddyPress Member Updates Their Profile
Member profiles are the heart of a BuddyPress community, and changes to them are worth knowing about — a new location, a changed job title, a freshly written bio. Zapify can tell you the moment it happens, using the A user updates their profile trigger and the Send an email action, including exactly which profile fields were changed.
What this automation does
The automation is one trigger plus one action:
- Trigger: A user updates their profile (
BP_PROFILE_UPDATED, BuddyPress) - Action: Send an email (
WP_SEND_EMAIL, WordPress)
When a member saves their profile information, Zapify sends the email you wrote with the member's details and the list of changed fields filled in.
The trigger runs when a profile is saved from the member's Edit profile screen on your site, and also when it is saved from the user's screen in the WordPress admin. If an admin edits someone else's profile, the member being edited is the person the automation is about.
Before you start
- BuddyPress must be installed and active, with the Extended Profiles component switched on in your BuddyPress settings. Zapify's BuddyPress integration is not available on sites running BuddyBoss Platform.
How to build the automation
Step 1: Create a new automation
- In the WordPress admin, go to Zapify → Automations.
- Click Add New to open the builder.
- Name it clearly, such as Notify team when a profile changes.
Step 2: Add the "A user updates their profile" trigger
- Click Add Trigger.
- Choose BuddyPress as the app.
- Select the trigger A user updates their profile.
This trigger has no settings to fill in. It runs for every profile save.
Step 3: Add the "Send an email" action
- Click Add Action.
- Choose WordPress as the app.
- Select Send an email.
Step 4: Write the email
Use the {} token button beside any field to insert details about the member and what changed.
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| To | Yes | Type your team's address to be notified. Insert the User email token instead to email the member a confirmation. |
| Subject | Yes | The subject line. Tokens are allowed. |
| Format | Yes | HTML (default) or Plain text. |
| Body | Yes | The message. Tokens are allowed. |
| Cc / Bcc | No | Extra recipients. |
| From name / From email | No | Override the sender. |
| Reply to | No | Where replies go. |
For example:
- To:
community@example.com - Subject:
Profile updated: {Display name} - Body:
{Display name} updated their profile. Fields changed: {Names of the fields that changed}.
Step 5: Set the steps Live and save
- Set both the trigger and the action to Live. A new automation starts as Draft and will not run until its steps are Live.
- Click Save.
Tokens you can use
| Token | What it holds |
|---|---|
| IDs of the fields that changed | The numeric IDs of the profile fields whose value changed, separated by commas. |
| Names of the fields that changed | The names of those fields, such as "Location" or "Bio", separated by commas. |
| Number of fields that changed | How many fields changed. |
The member whose profile was saved is available as the usual user tokens, such as User email, Display name, First name and Last name.
Saving without changing anything still counts
BuddyPress treats pressing Save changes as an update even when the member did not change a thing, so the automation runs and the email goes out. In that case Number of fields that changed is 0 and the list of names is empty. Running an automation only when something actually changed uses Conditions, a PRO feature; see Filters and conditions.
How to test it
- Log in as a test member, open Profile → Edit, change one field, and save.
- Check the recipient's inbox for the email and confirm the changed field is listed.
- If nothing arrives, open Zapify → Logs to see whether the run fired.
Conclusion
With the A user updates their profile trigger and the Send an email action, Zapify keeps you in the loop on profile changes as they happen, on the free plan. Next, see who is new with a welcome email when an account is activated, or watch what members post with send an email when a user posts to the activity stream.
FAQs
Does it run when an admin edits a member's profile?
Yes. The member being edited is the person the automation is about, so User email and the other user tokens describe that member, not the admin.
Can I find out which fields changed?
Yes. Use Names of the fields that changed in your message. It lists only the fields whose value actually differs from before.
Is this feature free?
Yes. BuddyPress is a free Zapify integration, and both the A user updates their profile trigger and the Send an email action are included in the free plan. Only running the automation conditionally, such as only when at least one field changed, needs Zapify PRO.
Why didn't the email send?
First confirm both the trigger and the action are set to Live and the automation is saved. Then check Zapify → Logs. If the run succeeded but no email arrived, the cause is usually the site's mail configuration; an SMTP plugin resolves most delivery problems.
Do I need to write any code?
No. Everything is configured in the Zapify visual builder.