Unable to prevent function using save_post firing twice

Question

I am using save_post for a function to send an email when a post is updated by a user. This is firing twice and I am aware this is due to the post revisions and autosaves.

I have tried to prevent this from happening by wrapping my wp_mail within a conditional statement but this still fires twice. What adjustments do I need to make to ensure this only fires once when a user updates the post?

function updated_search_notification($post_id)
{

    $post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
    if ($post_type === 'utility-search') {

        if ((wp_is_post_revision($post_id)) || (wp_is_post_autosave($post_id))) {
            // post is autosave
        } else {

            // Message Variables
            $siteurl                 = get_option('siteurl');
            $post_url                = '' . $siteurl . '/wp-admin/post.php?post=' . $post_id . '&action=edit';
            $new_search_name         = '';
            //$new_search_email = get_option( 'new_search_email' );
            $new_search_email        = '[email]';
            $utility_search_customer = '';
            $subject                 = 'Your search has been updated';

            // Message Contents
            $message = "[Message Contents]";


            // Send Email    
            wp_mail($new_search_email, $subject, $message);
        }
    }


}
add_action('save_post', 'updated_search_notification', 10, 3);

Answer 1

First, you can use this hook to target only one custom type:
https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/save_post_post-post_type/

This hook (and save_post) is called the first time when you click on "new ..." and then the hook is called with $update = FALSE.

Then to send e-mail only when the object is updated, you can test $update like this:

const UTILITY_SEARCH_POST_TYPE = "utility-search";


add_action("save_post_" . UTILITY_SEARCH_POST_TYPE, function ($post_ID, $post, $update) {

    if (wp_is_post_autosave($post_ID)) {
        return;
    }

    if (!$update) { // if new object
        return;
    }


    // preparing e-mail
    ...

    // sending e-mail
    wp_mail(...);


}, 10, 3);

Answer 2

The approved answer didn't work for me. I ended up trying several conditionals and the email would still get sent twice:

function xxx_send_mail($id, $post, $update){  

                if (defined('DOING_AUTOSAVE') && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) {
                    return;
                }

                if (wp_is_post_revision($id)) {
                    return;
                }

                if (wp_is_post_autosave($id)) {
                    return;
                }

                // if new post
                if (!$update) {
                    return;
                }

                wp_mail('[email protected]', 'The subject', 'The message');
         }
add_action( 'save_post_{the_post_type}', 'xxx_send_mail', 10, 3 );

I ended up fixing this by adding a convinient function provided by WP called did_action():

    function xxx_send_mail($id, $post, $update){  

                        if (defined('DOING_AUTOSAVE') && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) {
                            return;
                        }

                        if (wp_is_post_revision($id)) {
                            return;
                        }

                        if (wp_is_post_autosave($id)) {
                            return;
                        }

                        // if new post
                        if (!$update) {
                            return;
                        }

                $times = did_action('save_post_{the_post_type}');
                if( $times === 1){
                        wp_mail('[email protected]', 'The subject', 'The message');
                 }
    }
add_action( 'save_post_{the_post_type}', 'xxx_send_mail', 10, 3 );

Hope this helps someone

Answer 3

Already approved answers have not worked for me and comment from @Nico Pernice helped.

If conditions in my code look like these:

function reset_cpt_expire( $post_id, $post, $update ){

    // Check if it is a REST Request
    if ( defined( 'REST_REQUEST' ) && REST_REQUEST ) {
        return;
    }

    // Check if it is an autosave or a revision.
    if ( wp_is_post_autosave( $post_id ) || wp_is_post_revision( $post_id ) ) {
        return;
    }

    // Check if it is a new post
    if ( ! $update ) {
        return;
    }

    // my reseting code...

}

add_action( 'save_post_cpt', 'reset_cpt_expire', 10,3 );

Answer 4

Try this piece of code inside your function:

if ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) return;

Alternatively, you can use publish_post hook. If you just want to trigger this function when the post status is publish.

Answer 5

If you're having an issue where the publish_post hook is being triggered twice you can try using a global variable to keep track of whether the hook has already been triggered.

// Declare a global variable
global $publish_post_hook_triggered;
$publish_post_hook_triggered = false;

add_action('publish_post', 'my_publish_post_function');

function my_publish_post_function($post_id) {
    // Check if the hook has already been triggered
    global $publish_post_hook_triggered;
    if ($publish_post_hook_triggered) {
        return;
    }
    // Set the global variable to indicate that the hook has been triggered
    $publish_post_hook_triggered = true;

    // Your code to run when the hook is triggered
}