do_action( 'save_post', int $post_ID, WP_Post $post, bool $update )

Fires once a post has been saved.

Contents

Parameters

$post_ID int
Post ID.
$post WP_Post
Post object.
$update bool
Whether this is an existing post being updated.

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More Information

save_post is an action triggered whenever a post or page is created or updated, which could be from an import, post/page edit form, xmlrpc, or post by email. The data for the post is stored in $_POST, $_GET or the global $post_data, depending on how the post was edited. For example, quick edits use $_POST.

Since this action is triggered right after the post has been saved, you can easily access this post object by using get_post($post_id);.

NOTE: As of WP 3.7, an alternative action has been introduced, which is called for specific post types: save_post_{post_type}. Hooking to this action prevents your callback to be unnecessarily triggered.

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Avoiding infinite loops

If you are calling a function such as wp_update_post that includes the save_post hook, your hooked function will create an infinite loop. To avoid this, unhook your function before calling the function you need, then re-hook it afterward.

/**
  * Makes all posts in the default category private.
  *
  * @see 'save_post'
  *
  * @param int $post_id The post being saved.
  */
function set_private_categories( $post_id ) {
    // If this is a revision, get real post ID.
    $parent_id = wp_is_post_revision( $post_id );

    if ( false !== $parent_id ) {
        $post_id = $parent_id;
    }

    // Get default category ID from options.
    $defaultcat = get_option( 'default_category' );

    // Check if this post is in default category.
    if ( in_category( $defaultcat, $post_id ) ) {
        // unhook this function so it doesn't loop infinitely
        remove_action( 'save_post', 'set_private_categories' );

        // update the post, which calls save_post again.
        wp_update_post( array( 'ID' => $post_id, 'post_status' => 'private' ) );

        // re-hook this function.
        add_action( 'save_post', 'set_private_categories' );
    }
}
add_action( 'save_post', 'set_private_categories' );

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Source

File: wp-includes/post.php. View all references 

do_action( 'save_post', $post_ID, $post, $update );

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Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
1.5.0 Introduced.

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User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 1 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 11You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Jason Adams —

    When using WordPress 3.7 or later, it’s a good idea to use the save_post_{$post->post_type} hook when it makes sense to in order to reduce code and fire less hooks overall when posts are created and updated.

    Documentation can be found here: https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/save_post_post-post_type/

  2. Skip to note 2 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 6You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Aurovrata Venet —

    Force a new post of have specific category term,

    add_action( 'save_post', 'set_post_default_category', 10,3 );

function set_post_default_category( $post_id, $post, $update ) {
	// Only want to set if this is a new post!
	if ( $update ){
		return;
	}
	
	// Only set for post_type = post!
	if ( 'post' !== $post->post_type ) {
		return;
	}
	
	// Get the default term using the slug, its more portable!
	$term = get_term_by( 'slug', 'my-custom-term', 'category' );

	wp_set_post_terms( $post_id, $term->term_id, 'category', true );
}
  3. Skip to note 3 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 3You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by leogermani —

    Below is a basic example that will send an email every time a post or page is updated on your website. 

    function my_project_updated_send_email( $post_id ) {

	// If this is just a revision, don't send the email.
	if ( wp_is_post_revision( $post_id ) ) {
		return;
        }

	$post_title = get_the_title( $post_id );
	$post_url = get_permalink( $post_id );
	$subject = 'A post has been updated';

	$message = "A post has been updated on your website:\n\n";
	$message .= $post_title . ": " . $post_url;

	// Send email to admin.
	wp_mail( 'admin@example.com', $subject, $message );
}
add_action( 'save_post', 'my_project_updated_send_email' );
  4. Skip to note 4 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 1You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by camparry —

    The save_post_{post_type} hook fires BEFORE the general save_post hook, meaning that save_post will override any meta updates made with save_post_{post_type}. Many plugins like ACF and Pods use the save post action hook, so if you are trying to update a meta field and you are using one of these plugins, you must use the save_post hook instead.

    // does not work
function my_save_meta_function( $post_id, $post, $update )
{
	// fires but can be overridden by plugins, regardless of priority number
	update_post_meta( $post_id, 'address', '123 Test St' );
}
add_action( 'save_post_event', 'my_save_meta_function', 99, 3 );


// does work
function my_save_meta_function( $post_id, $post, $update )
{
	if ( get_post_type( $post_id ) !== 'event' ) return;
	update_post_meta( $post_id, 'address', '123 Test St' );
}
add_action( 'save_post', 'my_save_meta_function', 99, 3 );
  5. Skip to note 5 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 0You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Ali Akbar Reyad —

    To trigger for specific post type, assume we have a post type name ‘book’

    function wpdocs_book_meta( $post_id ) {
	// Check the logged in user has permission to edit this post
	if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
		return $post_id;
	}

	if ( isset( $_POST['website'] ) ) {
		$website = esc_url_raw( $_POST['website'] );
		update_post_meta( $post_id, 'website', $website );
	}
}
add_action( 'save_post_book', 'wpdocs_book_meta' );
  6. Skip to note 6 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 0You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Arun Basil Lal —

    The $post_ID passed to the action is the ID of the revision while updating a post. To find the ID of the parent post, use wp_get_post_parent_id.

    function my_function_on_save_post( $post_id ) {

	// Find parent post_id.
	if ( $post_parent_id = wp_get_post_parent_id( $post_id ) ) {
		$post_id = $post_parent_id;
	}

	// Do something.

}
add_action( 'save_post', 'my_function_on_save_post' );

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