wp_transition_post_status( string $new_status, string $old_status, WP_Post $post )

Fires actions related to the transitioning of a post’s status.

Description

When a post is saved, the post status is "transitioned" from one status to another, though this does not always mean the status has actually changed before and after the save. This function fires a number of action hooks related to that transition: the generic ‘transition_post_status’ action, as well as the dynamic hooks ‘$old_status_to_$new_status’ and ‘$new_status_$post->post_type’. Note that the function does not transition the post object in the database.

For instance: When publishing a post for the first time, the post status may transition from ‘draft’ – or some other status – to ‘publish’. However, if a post is already published and is simply being updated, the "old" and "new" statuses may both be ‘publish’ before and after the transition.

Parameters

$new_statusstringrequired
Transition to this post status.
$old_statusstringrequired
Previous post status.
$postWP_Postrequired
Post data.

More Information

  • This function contains do_action() calls for post status transition action hooks. The order of the words in the function name might be confusing – it does not change the status of posts, it only calls actions that can be hooked into by plugin developers. Although this function is already called where needed by core functions, it may be useful when a plugin updates a post by directly interacting with the database, thereby bypassing the usual post status transition actions. For the actions to be effective, the new status, old status and post object must be passed.
  • To transition the status of a post, rather than perform actions when a post status is transitioned, use wp_update_post() or wp_publish_post() .
  • This function is already called where needed in core functions. You do not need to call this function when changing a post’s status with wp_update_post() , for example. You do need to call this function in your plugin or theme when manually updating the status of a post.

Source

function wp_transition_post_status( $new_status, $old_status, $post ) {
	/**
	 * Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.
	 *
	 * @since 2.3.0
	 *
	 * @param string  $new_status New post status.
	 * @param string  $old_status Old post status.
	 * @param WP_Post $post       Post object.
	 */
	do_action( 'transition_post_status', $new_status, $old_status, $post );

	/**
	 * Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.
	 *
	 * The dynamic portions of the hook name, `$new_status` and `$old_status`,
	 * refer to the old and new post statuses, respectively.
	 *
	 * Possible hook names include:
	 *
	 *  - `draft_to_publish`
	 *  - `publish_to_trash`
	 *  - `pending_to_draft`
	 *
	 * @since 2.3.0
	 *
	 * @param WP_Post $post Post object.
	 */
	do_action( "{$old_status}_to_{$new_status}", $post );

	/**
	 * Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.
	 *
	 * The dynamic portions of the hook name, `$new_status` and `$post->post_type`,
	 * refer to the new post status and post type, respectively.
	 *
	 * Possible hook names include:
	 *
	 *  - `draft_post`
	 *  - `future_post`
	 *  - `pending_post`
	 *  - `private_post`
	 *  - `publish_post`
	 *  - `trash_post`
	 *  - `draft_page`
	 *  - `future_page`
	 *  - `pending_page`
	 *  - `private_page`
	 *  - `publish_page`
	 *  - `trash_page`
	 *  - `publish_attachment`
	 *  - `trash_attachment`
	 *
	 * Please note: When this action is hooked using a particular post status (like
	 * 'publish', as `publish_{$post->post_type}`), it will fire both when a post is
	 * first transitioned to that status from something else, as well as upon
	 * subsequent post updates (old and new status are both the same).
	 *
	 * Therefore, if you are looking to only fire a callback when a post is first
	 * transitioned to a status, use the 'transition_post_status' hook instead.
	 *
	 * @since 2.3.0
	 * @since 5.9.0 Added `$old_status` parameter.
	 *
	 * @param int     $post_id    Post ID.
	 * @param WP_Post $post       Post object.
	 * @param string  $old_status Old post status.
	 */
	do_action( "{$new_status}_{$post->post_type}", $post->ID, $post, $old_status );
}

Hooks

do_action( ‘transition_post_status’, string $new_status, string $old_status, WP_Post $post )

Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.

do_action( “{$new_status}_{$post->post_type}”, int $post_id, WP_Post $post, string $old_status )

Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.

do_action( “{$old_status}_to_{$new_status}”, WP_Post $post )

Fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another.

Changelog

VersionDescription
2.3.0Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 2 content

    Basic Example

    The following example is based on wp_publish_post() .

    global $wpdb;
    
    if ( ! $post = get_post( $post ) ) return;
    
    if ( 'publish' == $post->post_status ) return;
    	
    $wpdb->update( $wpdb->posts, array( 'post_status' => 'publish' ), array( 'ID' => $post->ID ) );
    
    clean_post_cache( $post->ID );
    	
    $old_status = $post->post_status;
    $post->post_status = 'publish';
    wp_transition_post_status( 'publish', $old_status, $post );

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