Send an Email When a WordPress Post Is Published

When a new post goes live on your WordPress site, someone usually needs to know — an editor, an administrator, or the wider content team. Zapify sends that email for you: the free A post is published trigger fires the moment a post is published, and the Send an email action delivers the notification. No code, and both steps are free.

What this automation does

This automation pairs one free trigger with one free action:

• Trigger: A post is published (WP_POST_PUBLISHED)
• Action: Send an email (WP_SEND_EMAIL)

Whenever a post reaches the published status, Zapify sends the email you configured to the recipient you chose.

Build the automation

Every Zapify automation follows the same flow: Zapify → Automations → Add New → pick a trigger → add an action → map fields → set the steps Live → Save.

Step 1: Create a new automation

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Zapify → Automations and click Add New to open the builder. Name it something clear, such as Notify team when a post is published.

Step 2: Choose the trigger

Click Add Trigger, choose WordPress, then select A post is published.

This trigger runs whenever a post is published. To limit it to one post type, set the trigger's post type field — filtering the trigger this way is free.

Step 3: Add the Send an email action

Click Add Action, choose WordPress, then select Send an email.

Step 4: Choose who receives the email

In the To field, enter the address of the person who should be notified — for example your editor or a shared team inbox. Separate several addresses with commas, and use Cc or Bcc for extra recipients. To email the post's author instead, click the {} token button and insert the Post author email token.

Step 5: Write the subject and body

Fill in Subject and Body, using the {} token button to include post details. For example:

• Subject: New post published: {Post title}
• Body: "{Post title}" is now live at {Post URL}. Please review it when you can.

Set Format to HTML or Plain text, and optionally fill From name, From email, and Reply to.

Step 6: Set the steps Live and save

Each step has its own Live / Off / Draft switch, and a new automation starts as a Draft. Set both the trigger and the Send an email action to Live, then Save.

Step 7: Test it

Publish a test post. Zapify runs the automation and sends the email. Check the recipient's inbox, then open Zapify → Logs to confirm the run and the email action succeeded.

Available trigger tokens

The A post is published trigger exposes the published post and its author:

Token	What it holds
Post ID	The post's numeric ID
Post title	The post title
Post URL	The post's permalink
Post type	The post type (post, page, custom)
Post status	The post's status
Post content / Post excerpt	The body and excerpt
Post date	The publish date
Post author ID / Post author email	The author's ID and email
Featured image URL	The featured image, if set
User email, Display name, First name …	The post author's user fields

Conclusion

With the free A post is published trigger and Send an email action, your team hears about new content the moment it goes live — no code, no manual email. Next, see how to create a post automatically when a post is published, notify your team when a post is updated, or browse the full triggers and actions reference.

FAQs

Is there a "post is created" trigger in Zapify?

No. Zapify has no literal "a post is created" trigger. Use A post is published (WP_POST_PUBLISHED) to fire when a post first goes live, which covers most "new post" needs. If you need to react to other status transitions — such as Draft to Pending review — use A post changes status (WP_POST_STATUS_CHANGED) instead.

Is this automation free?

Yes. Both the A post is published trigger and the Send an email action are in the free version of Zapify. You can build and run this without a PRO license. Only optional extras — such as action conditions or step delays — require Zapify PRO.

Can I email the post's author automatically?

Yes. In the To field, use the {} token button and insert the Post author email token. Zapify then sends the notification to whoever wrote the post on each run. You can combine this with fixed recipients by adding comma-separated addresses or filling the Cc and Bcc fields.

Can I include the post title and link in the email?

Yes. The A post is published trigger exposes Post title, Post URL, and more as tokens. Click the {} button in the Subject or Body field and pick the token you want. Zapify replaces it with the real value when the automation runs, so each email names the exact post that triggered it.

Can I limit this to one post type?

Yes, and it is free. The A post is published trigger has a post type field that restricts the automation to a single type — for example only standard posts, not pages or custom post types. Filtering the trigger is free; adding conditions on the action is a PRO feature.