WordPress Automations
Send an Email When a Comment Is Approved on Your WordPress Site
WordPress emails you about a new comment, but it never tells the commenter their comment actually went live. Zapify closes that gap with the A comment is approved trigger and the Send an email action — both free.
What this automation does
The automation is one trigger plus one action:
- Trigger: A comment is approved (
WP_COMMENT_APPROVED, WordPress) - Action: Send an email (
WP_SEND_EMAIL, WordPress)
When a comment moves from pending (or spam) into the approved state, Zapify fills the email's tokens with the comment's details and sends it.
Zapify listens on the status transition, not the state — editing a comment that's already approved doesn't fire it again, only the moment it first goes live.
Before you start
- Comments must be enabled on your site, and moderation should hold at least some comments for approval — if every comment auto-approves, "approved" and "posted" happen at the same moment.
- Both the trigger and the action are free.
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 commenter when live.
Step 2: Add the "A comment is approved" trigger
- Click Add Trigger.
- Choose WordPress as the app.
- Select the trigger A comment is approved.
This trigger has no fields to configure — it fires for any comment, on any post.
Step 3: Add the "Send an email" action
- Click Add Action.
- Choose WordPress as the app.
- Select Send an email.
Step 4: Configure the email
For example:
- To:
{{trigger:COMMENT_AUTHOR_EMAIL}} - Subject:
Your comment on {{trigger:POST_TITLE}} is live - Body:
Thanks for the comment — you can see it here: {{trigger:COMMENT_URL}}
Only for commenters who left an email
Every visitor who comments provides an email address, whether or not they have a WordPress account, so {{trigger:COMMENT_AUTHOR_EMAIL}} is available regardless. If a commenter is logged in, the trigger also resolves the standard user tokens for their account.
Step 5: Set the steps Live and save
- Set both the trigger and the action to Live.
- Click Save.
Tokens you can use
| Token | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Comment ID | The numeric ID of the comment. |
| Comment content | The text of the comment. |
| Comment author | The name the commenter entered. |
| Comment author email | The email address the commenter entered. |
| Comment URL | A link straight to the comment on the post. |
| Post tokens (Post title, Post URL, etc.) | The post the comment was left on. |
| User tokens (User email, User display name, etc.) | The commenter's WordPress account, if they were logged in — otherwise empty. |
How to test it
- Leave a test comment that your moderation settings will hold for approval, then approve it from Comments in the admin.
- Check the recipient inbox for the email.
- If nothing arrives, open Zapify → Logs to see whether the run fired.
Conclusion
With the A comment is approved trigger and the Send an email action, Zapify closes the loop with commenters automatically. Next, catch a comment the moment it's submitted — before moderation — with an email when a comment is posted, or see the full picture in triggers and actions.
FAQs
Does this fire for comments that don't need moderation?
Yes, in effect — the trigger fires whenever a comment's status transitions into "approved", whether that happens instantly (auto-approval) or after a moderator acts.
Can I limit this to comments on one post?
Not with this trigger alone — it has no fields. Add a filter in Conditions using the Post ID token if you need to narrow it (PRO — see Filters and conditions).
Is this feature free?
Yes. Both the trigger and the Send an email action are free.
Do I need to write any code?
No. Everything is configured in the Zapify visual builder.