Using WordPress ‘comment_{$old_status}_to_{$new_status}’ PHP action

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The comment_{$old_status}_to_{$new_status} WordPress PHP action fires when the comment status is in transition from one specific status to another. The dynamic portions of the hook name, $old_status, and $new_status, refer to the old and new comment statuses, respectively.

Usage

add_action('comment_{$old_status}_to_{$new_status}', 'your_custom_function', 10, 1);

function your_custom_function($comment) {
    // your custom code here
}

Parameters

  • $comment (WP_Comment) – Comment object.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: comment_{$old_status}_to_{$new_status}

Examples

Notify admin when a comment is approved

Sends an email to the admin when a comment is approved.

add_action('comment_unapproved_to_approved', 'notify_admin_on_approved_comment', 10, 1);

function notify_admin_on_approved_comment($comment) {
    // Prepare email content
    $subject = "A comment has been approved on your website";
    $message = "A comment has been approved on your website.\n\n";
    $message .= "Author: {$comment->comment_author}\n";
    $message .= "Comment: {$comment->comment_content}\n";

    // Send email to admin
    wp_mail(get_option('admin_email'), $subject, $message);
}

Log spam comments

Logs the details of spam comments in a log file.

add_action('comment_approved_to_spam', 'log_spam_comments', 10, 1);

function log_spam_comments($comment) {
    // Prepare log content
    $log = "Spam comment detected:\n";
    $log .= "Author: {$comment->comment_author}\n";
    $log .= "Comment: {$comment->comment_content}\n";
    $log .= "-------------------------\n";

    // Write log to file
    file_put_contents('spam_comments.log', $log, FILE_APPEND);
}

Change comment author name

Changes the comment author name to “Anonymous” when the comment is marked as spam.

add_action('comment_approved_to_spam', 'change_author_name_on_spam', 10, 1);

function change_author_name_on_spam($comment) {
    $comment->comment_author = 'Anonymous';
    wp_update_comment((array) $comment);
}

Notify author when comment is approved

Sends an email to the comment author when their comment is approved.

add_action('comment_unapproved_to_approved', 'notify_author_on_approved_comment', 10, 1);

function notify_author_on_approved_comment($comment) {
    // Prepare email content
    $subject = "Your comment has been approved";
    $message = "Your comment has been approved on our website.\n\n";
    $message .= "Comment: {$comment->comment_content}\n";

    // Send email to comment author
    wp_mail($comment->comment_author_email, $subject, $message);
}

Redirect to custom page when comment is unapproved

Redirects the user to a custom page when their comment is marked as unapproved.

add_action('comment_approved_to_unapproved', 'redirect_on_unapproved_comment', 10, 1);

function redirect_on_unapproved_comment($comment) {
    $redirect_url = home_url('/unapproved-comment/');
    wp_redirect($redirect_url);
    exit;
}