Send an Email When a WordPress Post Changes Status

A post moving to "Pending Review" is the moment an editor needs to know about it — and "Published" isn't the only status transition worth watching on a site with an editorial workflow. Zapify does this with the A post changes status trigger and the Send an email action — both free.

This is the general-purpose version of an email when a WordPress post is published: that trigger covers the one transition most sites care about with no setup, while this one lets you pick any from and to status.

What this automation does

The automation is one trigger plus one action:

• Trigger: A post changes status (WP_POST_STATUS_CHANGED, WordPress)
• Action: Send an email (WP_SEND_EMAIL, WordPress)

When a post of the type you choose moves from the From status you set to the To status you set, Zapify fills the email's tokens and sends it.

Zapify only fires this on a genuine transition — a post being re-saved without its status changing does not fire it again, and post revisions are excluded.

Before you start

• Both the trigger and the action are free.
• If you're building an editorial workflow, decide which transition matters — "draft to pending", "pending to published", or any change at all.

How to build the automation

Step 1: Create a new automation

1. In the WordPress admin, go to Zapify → Automations.
2. Click Add New to open the builder.
3. Name it clearly, such as Notify editor on pending review.

Step 2: Add the "A post changes status" trigger

1. Click Add Trigger.

2. Choose WordPress as the app.

3. Select the trigger A post changes status.

4. Configure the fields:

Field	Required	What it does
Post type	Yes	The post type to watch, or Any post type.
From status	No	The starting status — Draft, Pending Review, etc. — or Any status.
To status	Yes	The status the post must move into.

For an editorial alert, set From status to Draft and To status to Pending Review.

Step 3: Add the "Send an email" action

1. Click Add Action.

2. Choose WordPress as the app.

3. Select Send an email.

Step 4: Configure the email

For example:

• To: editors@example.com
• Subject: Ready for review: {{trigger:POST_TITLE}}
• Body: {{trigger:POST_URL}} moved from {{trigger:OLD_STATUS}} to {{trigger:NEW_STATUS}}.

Step 5: Set the steps Live and save

1. Set both the trigger and the action to Live.
2. Click Save.

Tokens you can use

Token	What it holds
New status	The status the post moved into.
Previous status	The status it moved from.
Post tokens (Post title, Post URL, etc.)	The post that changed.
User tokens	The post's author.

How to test it

1. Move a test post through the transition you configured — for example, submit a draft for review.
2. Check the recipient inbox for the email.
3. If nothing arrives, open Zapify → Logs — a mismatched From status or Post type is the usual reason a run doesn't fire.

Conclusion

With the A post changes status trigger and the Send an email action, Zapify covers any editorial transition WordPress supports — not just publishing. Next, watch for a taxonomy change instead with an email when a term is added to a post, or see the simpler, no-setup version in an email when a post is published.

FAQs

What's the difference between this and "a post is published"?

"A post is published" is a dedicated trigger for the one transition most people want, with nothing to configure. This trigger is the general form — you pick both the starting and ending status, so it also covers "draft to pending", "published to trash", or any other combination.

Can I watch any status change, regardless of direction?

Yes. Leave From status on Any status and set only the To status you care about.

Does this include custom statuses from another plugin?

Yes, if the plugin registers them as proper WordPress post statuses — they appear in the From status and To status dropdowns alongside the built-in ones.

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.