Using WordPress ‘added_existing_user’ PHP action

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The added_existing_user WordPress PHP action fires immediately after an existing user is added to a site.

Usage

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

function your_custom_function($user_id, $result) {
  // Your custom code here
}

Parameters

  • $user_id (int): User ID.
  • $result (true|WP_Error): True on success or a WP_Error object if the user doesn’t exist or could not be added.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: added_existing_user

Examples

Send a welcome email to the user

Send a welcome email to the user after they’ve been added to the site.

add_action('added_existing_user', 'send_welcome_email', 10, 2);

function send_welcome_email($user_id, $result) {
  if (true === $result) {
    // Get user data
    $user_info = get_userdata($user_id);

    // Compose welcome email
    $subject = 'Welcome to Our Site!';
    $message = 'Hi ' . $user_info->display_name . ",\n\nWelcome to our site! We're glad to have you on board.";

    // Send email
    wp_mail($user_info->user_email, $subject, $message);
  }
}

Log user addition

Log the addition of an existing user to a site in a custom log file.

add_action('added_existing_user', 'log_user_addition', 10, 2);

function log_user_addition($user_id, $result) {
  if (true === $result) {
    // Log message
    $log_message = 'User ' . $user_id . ' has been added to the site.';

    // Write to log file
    error_log($log_message, 3, 'user_addition.log');
  }
}

Assign a default role

Assign a default role to the user after they’ve been added to the site.

add_action('added_existing_user', 'assign_default_role', 10, 2);

function assign_default_role($user_id, $result) {
  if (true === $result) {
    // Set default role
    $default_role = 'subscriber';

    // Assign role to user
    $user = new WP_User($user_id);
    $user->set_role($default_role);
  }
}

Notify admin

Notify the admin via email when a new user is added to the site.

add_action('added_existing_user', 'notify_admin_of_user_addition', 10, 2);

function notify_admin_of_user_addition($user_id, $result) {
  if (true === $result) {
    // Get admin email
    $admin_email = get_option('admin_email');

    // Compose notification email
    $subject = 'New User Added to the Site';
    $message = 'A new user (ID: ' . $user_id . ') has been added to the site.';

    // Send email
    wp_mail($admin_email, $subject, $message);
  }
}

Add user meta

Add custom user meta to the user after they’ve been added to the site.

add_action('added_existing_user', 'add_custom_user_meta', 10, 2);

function add_custom_user_meta($user_id, $result) {
    if (true === $result) {
        // Define custom user meta
        $custom_meta = array(
            'user_bio' => 'This is a custom user bio.',
            'user_social_links' => array(
                'twitter' => 'https://twitter.com/username',
                'linkedin' => 'https://linkedin.com/in/username'
            )
        );
        // Add custom user meta
        foreach ($custom_meta as $meta_key => $meta_value) {
            update_user_meta($user_id, $meta_key, $meta_value);
        }
    }
}