Send Gmail Notifications When WordPress Posts Are Created

Want your team to know instantly when a new post goes live on your WordPress site? This guide shows you how to set up an automatic email notification that triggers whenever a post is created or updated. Your team stays in the loop without you lifting a finger.

Perfect for content teams, editors, managers, or anyone who needs to track new content as it’s published.

What You’ll Need

Before you start, make sure you have:

• OttoKit plugin installed and activated on your WordPress site (Download from WordPress.org)
• An OttoKit account (sign up for free if you don’t have one yet)
• A Gmail account for sending notifications

Step 1: Connect OttoKit to Your WordPress Site

First, let’s establish the connection between OttoKit and your WordPress site.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to OttoKit in the sidebar.
2. Click Sign In and log in with your OttoKit account credentials.
3. This creates a connection between OttoKit and your site.

Good to know: WordPress automatically connects to OttoKit once you sign in. You won’t need to create a separate connection for WordPress; it’s ready to use right away.

Step 2: Create Your Workflow in OttoKit

Let’s build the automation that sends an email whenever a new post is created.

Create a New Workflow

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to OttoKit → Workflows.

2. Click Create Workflow.
3. From the dropdown, select Create from Scratch.
4. Enter a name for your workflow, like “New Post Email Notification” or “Team Post Alerts”.
5. Click Create.

Add the WordPress Trigger

The trigger is what starts your workflow. In this case, it’s whenever a post is created or updated.

1. Click the plus (+) button to add a trigger step.
2. In the apps search field, type WordPress and select it.
3. Choose the Post Created/Updated trigger event.
4. Click Select Connection, then choose your WordPress site from the list. (It should appear automatically since you signed in earlier.)

5. Click Continue to open the Configure tab.

Configure the Trigger

1. Post Type – Select the type of post you want to track (typically “Post”, but you can choose “Page” or any custom post type).
2. Post – Select Any One to trigger the workflow for any post, or choose a specific post if you only want to track certain content.

3. Click Continue to move to the Test Step.

Test Your Trigger

OttoKit needs sample data from an actual post to map fields correctly.

1. On the Test Step page, click Fetch Data.
2. OttoKit will pull data from a recent post on your site.
3. You’ll see the post details appear (title, author, publish date, etc.).

4. Click Save to confirm and save the trigger data.

Perfect! Your trigger is now set up and knows what information to pull from new posts.

Step 3: Add the Gmail Action

Now let’s instruct OttoKit on what to do with the post data—send an email notification via Gmail.

1. Click the plus (+) icon below your trigger step to add an action.
2. In the apps search field, type Gmail and select it.
3. Choose the Send Email action.
4. Click Select Connection, then click the Create Connection button.

Connect Your Gmail Account

1. A pop-up window will appear asking you to connect your Gmail account.
2. Follow the prompts to sign in to your Google account.
3. Review the permissions OttoKit needs (send emails on your behalf) and click Allow.
4. The pop-up will close, and your Gmail connection will appear in OttoKit.

Configure the Email

Now, let’s set up what the notification email will say.

1. To – Enter the recipient’s email address (or multiple addresses separated by commas).
2. From – This field automatically shows your connected Gmail address.
3. From Name – Enter your name or your organization’s name (e.g., “Content Team” or “WordPress Site”).
4. Subject – Write the email subject. You can include dynamic data from the post by typing @ in the field to see available data from your trigger.
   • Example: New Post Published: [Post Title]
5. Body – Compose the email message. Type @ in any field to map data from your WordPress trigger or previous steps:

Example:

Hi Team,

A new post has been published on the website!

Post Title: [Type @  to select post_title]

Author: [Type @  to select post_author]

Published Date: [Type @  to select post_date]

View Post: [Type  @ to select post_url]

Cheers,

Content Team

6. Label – Select Sent to file the email in your Gmail Sent folder.

Pro tip: Typing @ in any field brings up a dropdown of all available data from your trigger and previous workflow steps. This makes it easy to personalize your emails with real post data.

Add Optional Fields (If Needed)

Click Show Optional Fields to access additional email options:

• CC – Add any email addresses that should receive a copy.
• BCC – Add addresses for blind carbon copy.
• Reply To – Specify a different reply-to address if needed.
• Attachments – Add file attachments if you want to include documents.

Test Your Action

1. Click Continue to move to the Test Step.
2. Click Test Action.
3. OttoKit will send a test email using the configuration you just set up.
4. Check the recipient’s inbox to verify the email arrived correctly.

5. If everything appears to be in order, click Save.

Step 4: Activate Your Workflow

Your workflow is built and tested, now let’s turn it on.

1. At the top right corner of the workflow builder, click on the Publish button
2. You’ll see the status change to Update.

That’s it! Your workflow is now live and monitoring your WordPress site.

How It Works

From now on, every time a post is created or updated on your WordPress site:

1. OttoKit detects the change instantly
2. It pulls the post details (title, author, link, etc.)
3. A notification email is automatically sent to your team via Gmail

No manual work required. Your team stays informed in real-time, automatically.

Tips for Success

• Customize your email – Make the subject and body clear and actionable for your team
• Use dynamic fields – Include post title, author, and link so recipients have all the context they need
• Test with a real post – Create or update a test post to make sure the email looks exactly how you want it
• Add multiple recipients – Use the To field to notify your entire team at once, or use CC for optional recipients
• Check your spam folder – If test emails don’t arrive, check spam/junk folders and mark OttoKit emails as “Not Spam.”

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve automated post notifications, you can expand this workflow:

• Add conditional logic to only notify for specific post categories or tags
• Send notifications to different people based on the post author
• Include post featured images in the email
• Send notifications to Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other platforms
• Create separate workflows for different post types (posts, pages, custom post types)

You’ve just automated your first WordPress-to-email workflow with OttoKit. There’s so much more you can do from here.

Ready to automate something else? Head back to OttoKit → Workflows and start building your next automation.