Send an Email When a WordPress User Role Changes

When a user's role changes on your WordPress site, they often need to be told what changed and what they can now do. Zapify does this for you: the free A user's role is changed trigger fires whenever WordPress sets a new role, and the Send an email action delivers a notification automatically. No code, and both the trigger and the action are free.

What this automation does

This automation pairs one free trigger with one free action:

• Trigger: A user's role is changed (WP_USER_ROLE_SET)
• Action: Send an email (WP_SEND_EMAIL)

Whenever WordPress assigns a user a new role — a subscriber promoted to contributor, a customer made a shop manager — Zapify sends the email you configured to the affected user.

Build the automation

You build every Zapify automation in the visual builder. The whole flow is: 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. Give the automation a clear name, such as Notify user when role changes, so you can find it later.

Step 2: Choose the trigger

The trigger tells Zapify when to run. Click Add Trigger, choose WordPress, then select A user's role is changed.

This trigger runs on WordPress's set_user_role hook, so it fires whenever a user's role is changed — for example from Subscriber to Contributor. To narrow it to one specific role, set the trigger's role 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: Address the email to the affected user

In the To field, click the {} token button and insert the User email token. Because this trigger's tokens describe the user whose role changed, the email goes to the right person on every run — you never hard-code an address.

You can enter several recipients by separating them with commas, and you can add addresses in the Cc and Bcc fields.

Step 5: Write the subject and body

Fill in the Subject and Body. Use tokens to personalize the message. For example:

• Subject: Your account role has been updated
• Body: Hi {First name}, your role on our site is now {New role}. Log in to see what changed.

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 that will not run. Set both the trigger and the Send an email action to Live, then Save. Zapify now watches for role changes.

Step 7: Test it

Change a test user's role in Users → All Users (for example Subscriber → Contributor). Zapify runs the automation and sends the email. Check the user's inbox, then open Zapify → Logs to confirm the run recorded and the email action succeeded.

Available trigger tokens

The A user's role is changed trigger exposes these tokens for the affected user, plus the role change itself:

Token	What it holds
User ID	The user's numeric ID
Username	The user's login name
User email	The user's email address
Display name	The user's display name
First name / Last name	The user's name fields
User role	The user's current primary role
User website	The user's URL
Registration date	When the user registered
New role	The role the user was just given
Previous roles	The roles the user held before

Conclusion

With the free A user's role is changed trigger and Send an email action, Zapify tells users the moment their access changes — no manual email, no code. To refine the notification further, see the triggers and actions reference, or read Zapify features: free vs PRO to understand what the paid tier adds.

FAQs

Is this automation free?

Yes. Both the A user's role is changed trigger and the Send an email action are included in the free version of Zapify. You can build, activate, and run this automation without a PRO license. Only optional refinements such as action conditions and delays require Zapify PRO.

Does the email go only to the user whose role changed?

Yes, when you use the User email token in the To field. The trigger's tokens describe the user whose role was just changed, so each run addresses the correct person automatically. If you prefer, you can hard-code a fixed address or add more recipients using commas, Cc, or Bcc.

Can I run this only for one specific role?

Yes, and it is free. The A user's role is changed trigger has a role field that limits the automation to a single role — so you can, for example, email only users promoted to Contributor. Filtering the trigger is free; adding conditions on the action itself is a PRO feature.

Does this automation change the user's role?

No. The trigger only detects that WordPress has changed a role, and the Send an email action only sends a notification. The role change must happen through WordPress or another action. If you want to assign roles automatically, use a separate action such as Add a role to a user.

Why didn't the email arrive?

First confirm the trigger and action are both set Live and the automation is saved. Then check that the To field resolves to a valid address and that the user's role actually changed. Finally, open Zapify → Logs to see the run and any error, and confirm your site can send email at all (a broken mail server affects every plugin).