WordPress Automations
How to Automatically Update a WordPress Post When a New Post Is Created
When a new post is created on your WordPress website, you may want to automatically update another post.
For example, you may want to update an announcement, change information on a related post, or keep a specific post updated whenever new content is added to your website.
Instead of making the update manually every time, you can use Zapify to automate it.
With this automation:
When: A new WordPress post is created
Then: Zapify automatically updates a WordPress post
What can you automate?
You can create an automation like this:
A post is created → Update a post
For example:
A new post is created → Update an existing announcement post
Once the automation is active, Zapify automatically performs the configured update whenever the trigger occurs.
Why use this automation?
If you regularly update the same post when new content is added, doing it manually can become repetitive.
This automation can help you:
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Keep an announcement or information post updated
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Automatically update related content
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Reduce repetitive content-management work
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Keep important information current
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Create a consistent publishing workflow
Who can use this?
This automation can be useful for:
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Blogs
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News websites
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Magazine websites
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Content teams
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Multi-author WordPress websites
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Websites with regularly updated information
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Websites where one post needs to be updated when new content is created
Before you start
Make sure:
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Zapify is installed and activated.
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You have permission to manage WordPress posts.
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You know which post should be updated.
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You know what information should be changed.
You do not need to write any code.
Step 1: Create a new automation
Go to the Zapify section in your WordPress dashboard and create a new automation.
Give the automation a name that clearly explains what it does.
For example:
Update Announcement When Post Is Created
You can use any name that makes the automation easy to identify later.
Step 2: Choose the trigger
The trigger tells Zapify when the automation should start.
Choose:
Wordpress -> A post is created
This trigger runs whenever a new WordPress post is created.
Once the automation is active, Zapify waits for new posts and starts the automation automatically.
Step 3: Add the update post action
Next, choose what should happen after the new post is created.
Click Add Action.
Select:
Wordpress -> Update a post
Then select Update a post.
Step 4: Choose the post to update
The action needs to know which WordPress post should be updated.
Select the post that you want Zapify to update.
Depending on the available fields in your Zapify action, you can select the post using the appropriate post information or a value provided by the trigger.
Make sure the selected post is the post you actually want to modify.
Step 5: Choose what to update
Next, configure the information you want to change.
The Update a post action provides fields that can be used to update the selected post.
For example, you may update:
- Post title
- Post content
- Other available post information
Only configure the fields that you actually want to change.
You can use information from the trigger when available.
For example, you could include the title of the newly created post in the content of the post being updated.
Step 6: Use information from the new post
Zapify can use information from the trigger when configuring the update.
Click the {} token button and select the information you want to use.
For example, you may use the title of the newly created post.
This allows the updated post to contain information related to the post that triggered the automation.
For example:
New post: New Product Released
Updated announcement: Check out our latest post: New Product Released
Step 7: Save and set the automation live
Once the trigger and action are configured, save the automation.
A newly created automation is initially a Draft.
A Draft automation will not run when a new post is created.
Click Set Live at the top to activate it.
Once the automation is live, Zapify will start watching for new WordPress posts.
Step 8: Test the automation
Create a new test post on your WordPress website.
After the post is created:
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The new post triggers Zapify.
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Zapify starts the automation.
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The Update a post action runs.
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The selected WordPress post is updated.
Open the post that you configured in the action and check whether the expected information was updated.
You can also check Zapify's automation run information to confirm that the automation was executed.
Example automation
Your finished automation should look similar to:
A post is created
↓
Update a post
For example:
New post created → Update announcement post
From now on, Zapify will automatically update the selected post whenever the trigger occurs.
Common questions
Will Zapify update the post that triggered the automation?
Not necessarily.
The Update a post action updates the post selected in the action configuration.
Make sure you select the correct post before setting the automation live.
Can I use information from the newly created post?
Yes.
If the information is available from the trigger, you can use the {} token button to insert it into the update action.
Can I update the title and content?
You can update the fields provided by the Update a post action.
Configure only the fields you want to change.
Will the original post be deleted?
No.
The Update a post action changes the selected post. It does not delete the post.
Can I update a specific existing post every time a new post is created?
Yes.
Configure the action to target the post you want to keep updated.
What happens if the automation is disabled?
Zapify will not run the automation while it is disabled.
You need to set the automation live before a new post can trigger the update.
What if the post was not updated?
First check that:
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The automation is active.
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The correct post is selected in the action.
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The fields you want to update are configured correctly.
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The new post was created successfully.
You can also check Zapify's automation run information to see whether the automation was executed.
A simple example
Imagine you have an Latest Updates post on your website.
Whenever a new article is created, you want its title to be added to the Latest Updates post.
Without Zapify:
New article created → Administrator manually updates Latest Updates post
With Zapify:
New article created → Zapify → Latest Updates post is updated
This saves time and keeps the information updated automatically.
Summary
Zapify can automatically update a WordPress post whenever a new post is created.
The automation is simple:
Trigger: A post is created
Action: Update a post
Once the automation is set live, Zapify handles the configured post update automatically whenever a new post is created.