Using WordPress ‘deleted_comment’ PHP action

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The deleted_comment WordPress PHP action fires immediately after a comment is deleted from the database.

Usage

add_action('deleted_comment', 'your_custom_function', 10, 2);

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

Parameters

  • $comment_id (string) – The comment ID as a numeric string.
  • $comment (WP_Comment) – The deleted comment object.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: deleted_comment

Examples

Log comment deletion

Log the details of deleted comments to a custom log file.

add_action('deleted_comment', 'log_deleted_comment', 10, 2);

function log_deleted_comment($comment_id, $comment) {
  $log_message = "Comment ID: " . $comment_id . " - Author: " . $comment->comment_author . " - Deleted on: " . current_time('mysql') . "\n";
  error_log($log_message, 3, "/path/to/your-log-file.log");
}

Send email notification

Send an email notification to the site administrator when a comment is deleted.

add_action('deleted_comment', 'send_email_on_comment_deletion', 10, 2);

function send_email_on_comment_deletion($comment_id, $comment) {
  $admin_email = get_option('admin_email');
  $subject = 'Comment Deleted';
  $message = "A comment has been deleted.\n\nComment ID: " . $comment_id . "\nAuthor: " . $comment->comment_author;
  wp_mail($admin_email, $subject, $message);
}

Update comment count

Update the custom comment count stored in a meta field when a comment is deleted.

add_action('deleted_comment', 'update_custom_comment_count', 10, 2);

function update_custom_comment_count($comment_id, $comment) {
  $post_id = $comment->comment_post_ID;
  $comment_count = get_post_meta($post_id, 'custom_comment_count', true);
  $comment_count--;
  update_post_meta($post_id, 'custom_comment_count', $comment_count);
}

Delete user’s comments

Delete all comments by a user when one of their comments is deleted.

add_action('deleted_comment', 'delete_all_users_comments', 10, 2);

function delete_all_users_comments($comment_id, $comment) {
  $user_id = $comment->user_id;
  $args = array(
    'user_id' => $user_id,
    'status' => 'all',
  );
  $comments = get_comments($args);
  foreach ($comments as $user_comment) {
    if ($user_comment->comment_ID != $comment_id) {
      wp_delete_comment($user_comment->comment_ID, true);
    }
  }
}

Add a custom action

Run a custom action when a comment is deleted.

add_action('deleted_comment', 'run_custom_action', 10, 2);

function run_custom_action($comment_id, $comment) {
  // your custom action here
}