How to use author_email filter in WordPress

author_email filter

Filters the comment author’s email for display.

To use the author_email filter, first, you have to register it using add_filter. You can write this code into functions.php of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the below live example, we have defined a function weplugins_modify_author_email_defaults which takes 2 parameters and we registered using add_filter. The first parameter author_email is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_modify_author_email_defaults is the name of the function which needs to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you have to remove a registered hook so you can use remove_filter to remove author_email filter.

Parameters

Below are the 2 parameters required to use this hook:

• $author_email : (string) The comment author’s email address.
• $comment_ID : (string) The comment ID as a numeric string.

Live Example

apply_filters( 'author_email', string $author_email, string $comment_ID )

Example 1: Modify Author Email Defaults

Below is an example of how you can use this hook.

	function weplugins_modify_author_email_defaults($author_email, $comment_ID) { 
		// Update the $author_email variable according to your website requirements and return this variable. You can modify the $author_email variable conditionally too if you want.
		return $author_email; 
	}
	// add the filter
	add_filter( "author_email", "weplugins_modify_author_email_defaults", 10, 2 );

Example 2: Remove Author Email Filter

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

remove_filter( "author_email", "weplugins_modify_author_email_defaults", 10, 2 );

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.

Example 3: Conditional Author Email Modification

Here is how you can modify the author’s email conditionally.

	function weplugins_conditional_author_email($author_email, $comment_ID) {
		if ($comment_ID % 2 == 0) {
			$author_email = 'even_commenter@example.com';
		} else {
			$author_email = 'odd_commenter@example.com';
		}
		return $author_email;
	}
	// add the filter
	add_filter( "author_email", "weplugins_conditional_author_email", 10, 2 );

Contact Us

If you’re having any trouble using this hook or need customization, please Contact Us and we’d be happy to assist you.