Uncanny Automator Pro 3.1: Dev Tools & New Triggers

Hot on the heels of our huge Uncanny Automator 3.1 release, Automator Pro 3.1 adds some fantastic new triggers and actions (across 5 integrations!), a new action for developers, and some important improvements. Let’s jump right in to what Pro users can start using in this new release.

Call any custom function or method

Perhaps the centrepiece of the Pro 3.1 release, a new action is available that allows developers to call ANY custom function or method and pass arguments to it. See below for an example of how it works; the only restriction is that the function must be registered or available before Automator tries to call it. And for the variables, you can use tokens and other dynamic data from Uncanny Automator!

For developers, this is a great way to slash development time by letting Automator connect things together without having to build those custom integrations.

New Automator triggers (and another action!)

All of the new triggers in this release were added based on feedback from end users, so make sure you send in your requests!

Our WordPress Core integration gains the most triggers in the release, and here’s what’s been added:

1. A user’s specific type of post is moved to the trash
2. A user’s specific type of post is updated
3. A user’s specific type of post is set to a status
4. A user’s comment on a specific type of post receives a reply

These new triggers make it easier to monitor and announce content changes on a site. Notify administrators when posts are trashed so that there’s an audit trail, notify users when a blog post or course has been updated, start a workflow when a custom post type has been set to Approved or Completed status.

Easy Digital Downloads is up next with a new trigger for when “a product is purchased with a specific discount code”. The customer who requested this had some great use cases, where users could be added to groups and memberships based on a discount code that they used. Some clever users might notice this could almost replace our Uncanny Codes plugin in some situations. This new trigger is that powerful: link anything to an EDD coupon code redemption.

LearnDash adds a new “A user is removed from a group trigger”, and it’s a great one for elearning site users. When a user is removed from a LearnDash group, remove a CRM tag, remove a membership, reset their progress in related courses.

For Modern Events Calendar users, there’s a new trigger for “A user’s booking of an event is confirmed”.

And, to round things out, the Newsletter plugin gets a new action: Add a subscriber to a list. That will allow you to add users to a list on form submission, course completion, purchase, event attendance and more.

Lots and lots of improvements

Uncanny Automator Pro 3.1 adds several useful enhancements.

Ever wish you could make better use of featured images and media in your recipes? The WordPress Core, Modern Events Calendar and MasterStudy LMS triggers can now use feature images for posts as triggers.

WooCommerce Subscriptions triggers now have a “Next payment date” token available for actions. Want to update users on when their next billing cycle kicks in? This allows it.

In BadgeOS and GamiPress, the “user earns an achievement” trigger adds support for “any achievement”.

The WordPress core “a post is updated” trigger now displays ALL post types, not just ones that are public.

Finally, Uncanny Automator Pro 3.1 adds better support for PHP 8.0, similarly to the improved support we added to Uncanny Automator 3.1.

Questions or feedback about what’s new or improved? Let us know in the comments!

Ryan Moore Director

Ryan Moore (MA, PMP, BCom) is the Cofounder and Director of Uncanny Owl, creators of Uncanny Automator and a suite of popular add-ons for LearnDash. Since 2013, Ryan has helped thousands of companies add elearning and automation capabilities to their WordPress websites.

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