OrbitalWP sends email notifications when tasks are assigned, updated, or approaching their deadlines. Users control which notifications they receive through their notification preferences.
Quick Start
- Enable notifications: Go to Orbital → Settings → Notifications and check “Enable Email Notifications”
- Set your preferences: Go to Orbital → Notifications in the admin menu
- Choose notification types: Check the boxes for events you want to be notified about
- Test your setup (Optional): Click “Send Test Email” to verify emails are working
OrbitalWP uses Action Scheduler for Notifications
OrbitalWP uses Action Scheduler and WP-Cron to send scheduled notifications. Unlike a server’s cron system which runs on a fixed schedule, WP-Cron only executes when someone visits your site. On low-traffic sites, this means some notifications may be delayed until the next page load triggers the check.
There are many solutions to ensure reliable conditional and time based notifications.
If reliable notification timing is mission critical for your organization, ask your hosting provider about setting up a real server cron job to trigger WP-Cron at regular intervals. You could also set up an N8N automation to hit your site at a certain period to trigger the schedule.
The following notifications require page views to trigger:
- due soon notification
- overdue notification
How It Works
When you enable notifications, OrbitalWP monitors task changes and sends emails to users who need to know. The system checks three things before sending: whether notifications are globally enabled, whether the user has permission to view the task, and whether the user wants that specific notification type.
Who Gets Notified
Recipients depend on the type of change. When a task is assigned to someone, only the new assignee receives an email. For other changes like status updates or field modifications, the system notifies the current assignee, the task author, and any users with explicit permission overrides on that task. You never receive notifications for changes you make yourself.
Permission Filtering
Notifications respect the permission system. If you don’t have read or edit access to a task, you won’t receive notifications about it—even if you’re the assignee or task author. This prevents information leaks when permissions are revoked.
Combined Updates
When multiple fields change at once (like status and assignee in the same save), OrbitalWP sends one email listing all changes instead of separate emails for each field. This reduces inbox clutter while keeping you informed.
Batched Notifications
When you save a task with multiple changes, OrbitalWP intelligently batches them into a single email. This works even when WordPress splits the save into multiple requests (common with the Gutenberg editor).
How Batching Works
OrbitalWP waits 5 seconds after detecting a change before sending the notification. If additional changes arrive during that window, they’re merged into the same email. This means:
- Changing status AND priority in one save = 1 email with both changes
- Rapid successive edits within 5 seconds = 1 combined email
- Edits to different tasks = separate emails (one per task)
The 5-second delay is intentional and ensures you receive one comprehensive update instead of multiple partial notifications.
Technical Note
Batching uses Action Scheduler (or WP-Cron as fallback) to delay email delivery. The pending changes are stored temporarily and automatically cleaned up after sending.
Notification Types
Task Assigned
Sent when the assignee field changes to a new user. Only the new assignee receives this notification. The email identifies who assigned the task and includes a link to view it.
Task Status Changed
Sent when a task’s post status changes (draft to published, published to pending, etc). The assignee and task author receive this notification showing the old and new status values.
Task Due Soon
Sent automatically when a task’s due date is approaching. By default, you receive a reminder 24 hours before the due date. You can adjust this window from 1 to 168 hours in your notification preferences. The system checks hourly and sends one reminder per day using WordPress transients to prevent duplicates.
Task Overdue
Sent automatically when a task passes its due date without being completed. The system checks hourly for overdue tasks and sends one notification per day. If a task remains overdue for multiple days, you receive daily reminders until the due date is updated or the task is completed.
Custom Field Changes
Sent when any custom field value changes on a task you have access to. The email shows the field label, old value, and new value. For fields with predefined options (select, radio), the system displays the option labels instead of internal values. This notification type is dynamically generated based on your custom field configuration.
Fields That Trigger Notifications
Not all task changes generate notifications. Only specific fields are monitored:
Monitored Fields
| Field | Notification Triggered |
|---|---|
| Status (draft, publish, pending) | Yes |
| Assignee | Yes |
| Priority | Yes |
| Start Date | Yes |
| Due Date | Yes |
| Approval Status | Yes |
| Percent Complete | Yes |
| Completed | Yes |
Fields That Do NOT Trigger Notifications
| Field | Reason |
|---|---|
| Title | Not monitored |
| Content/Description | Not monitored |
| Categories & Tags | Not monitored |
| Featured Image | Not monitored |
| Parent Task | Not monitored |
Global Toggles
Some notification types can be disabled globally in Settings → Notifications:
- Task Assigned – Controls assignee change notifications
- Task Status Changed – Controls status change notifications
- Notify Removed Assignee – When enabled, users removed as assignee still receive a notification about the change
- Task Due Soon – Controls upcoming deadline reminders
- Task Overdue – Controls overdue task notifications
Other field changes (priority, dates, percent complete, etc.) are always included when the master notification toggle is enabled.
User Preferences
Each user controls their own notification preferences through the Notifications page in the admin menu. Checking a notification type means you want to receive emails for that event. Unchecking it means you don’t want those emails—but you can still access the tasks normally.
The “Active Notifications” sidebar shows which notifications you currently have enabled. Your email address is displayed at the top—this is where all notifications are sent, pulled from your WordPress user profile.
Testing Email Delivery
The “Send Test Email” button sends a test message to your email address. Use this to verify your server’s email configuration is working before relying on notifications. If the test email doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder and contact your hosting provider about SMTP settings.
Important Details
Global Enable Required
Individual user preferences only work when notifications are globally enabled in Settings → Notifications. If an admin disables the global toggle, no notifications are sent regardless of user preferences. A warning banner appears on the Notifications page when the feature is disabled.
Delivery Timing
Notifications are sent approximately 5 seconds after a task is saved. This short delay allows the system to batch multiple changes from the same save operation into one email. Due soon and overdue notifications run on an hourly schedule but send as soon as the condition is detected during that hourly check.
No Notification History
Emails are sent and not stored. There is no notification center or history page. Once an email is sent, OrbitalWP doesn’t track whether it was delivered or read.
Scheduled Checks Use Action Scheduler
Due soon and overdue notifications use Action Scheduler (WordPress’s background processing system) to check tasks hourly. If Action Scheduler is unavailable, the system falls back to WordPress cron. This means notifications may be delayed if your site has low traffic and cron isn’t running regularly.
Changed By Attribution
Each notification email shows who made the change. This information is captured at save time and correctly attributed even when emails are sent via the background scheduler.
Current User Is Excluded
You never receive notifications for your own actions. If you assign a task to yourself, change its status, or update a field, you won’t get an email about it. This applies even if you have those notification types enabled.
Related Features
- Permissions – Controls who can view tasks and receive notifications
- Custom Fields – Changes to custom fields trigger notifications