Trigger Browsersync
Integrates WordPress with Browsersync to trigger events like Reload when you edit pages and settings.
Consider an alternative
Trigger Browsersync shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 4 years ago, and scores 37/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 4 years
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Trigger Browsersync stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| automation | >100 |
| browsersync | #1 |
| dev | >100 |
| refresh | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 from 3 reviews
About Trigger Browsersync
From the official readme · v0.8.6Description
Integrates WordPress with Browsersync to trigger events like reload when you edit pages.
The plugin also only triggers a reload for now. If you have requests or ideas for other functionality, get in touch.
Since you (should) disable this plugin on production sites, the WordPress stats won’t be reliable – if you find the plugin useful I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me know with a quick email or message!
Triggers
By default the plugin will trigger a reload on these actions:
- save_post – Editing posts/pages/custom posts etc
- added_option – Changing settings
- attachment_updated – Editing media fields (caption etc)
- updated_postmeta – Covers many things, particularly regenerating media thumbnails. Some meta_fields are ignored (see
trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_keys) - activated_plugin
- deactivated_plugin
- delete_widget
you can customise this as well as other Browsersync settings using filters:
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_reload_actions', function($filters) {
// Remove a default. Bear in mind that one action you take (e.g. saving a page)
// may trigger more than one hook.
unset($filters['save_post']);
// Add your own. The key name lets other filters remove it (like the line above)
$filters['wp_logout'] = 'wp_logout';
return $filters;
});
Ignoring Meta Keys
Not all meta_key updates (triggered by updated_postmeta) have any impact on the front-end functioning of your site. You can customise which meta_key values are ignored with the trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_keys filter:
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_keys', function($filters) {
// Remove a default.
unset($filters['_edit_lock']);
// Add your own. The key name lets other filters remove it (like the line above)
$filters['_edit_lock'] = '_edit_lock';
return $filters;
});
Configuration with Filters
The default Browsersync settings will be used (http://localhost:3000) but you can use filters to change them. The filters are used every time the trigger is activated so you don’t need to set them before instanciating the class.
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_protocol', function(){ return 'https'; } );
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_host', function(){ return 'dev.server'; } );
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_port', function(){ return '4321'; } );
Or you can specify the whole URL which will cause the others to be ignored, but don’t include a trailing slash.
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_url', function(){ return 'http://localhost:3000'; } );
Environmental Configuration
Since you probably only want Browsersync on your development or staging site, the plugin will do nothing once you activate it it in WordPress.
To make it work, you’ll want to create a file to activate it. See Installation for instructions.
Logging Activity
Trigger Browsersync can log events to the WordPress log – this is especially useful for development on the plugin when you want to add or exclude a new event from triggering an action.
To enable logging add this filter to your enable-trigger-browsersync.php file (see Installation);
add_filter('trigger_browsersync_log_events', '__return_true');
Installation
This plugin sends signals to an existing and running BrowserSync setup. You need to install Browsersync and integrate it with your workflow first – how do to that is outside the scope of the plugin but you can get more information at BrowserSync.io.
Install the plugin by uploading or via the plugin option in WordPress – the same as any other plugin.
The plugin will do nothing unless you create an instance of TriggerBrowsersync somewhere.
You probably don’t want the integration on your production server, which means you don’t want the code to instanciate saved in your repo – I would recommend you create a file in mu-plugins with the code below, and then tell your version control to ignore the file.
<?php
add_action( 'plugins_loaded', function(){ // Trigger after the TriggerBrowsersync plugin has loaded
if ( class_exists( 'TriggerBrowsersync' ) ) { // Check the TriggerBrowsersync plugin loaded correctly
// Add any configuration filters you may need here.
// Activate the integration by creating an instance.
new TriggerBrowsersync();
}
} );
Step by Step Example Installation
- Create
wp-content/mu-plugins/enable-trigger-browsersync.php(you may need to create themu-pluginsdirectory) - Paste the code above in
- Edit .gitignore and add
wp-content/mu-plugins/enable-trigger-browsersync.php
All Hooks and Filters
Use filters to customise settings:
- trigger_browsersync_protocol – set the protocol for Gulp Watch (probably http or https). Defaults to http.
- trigger_browsersync_host – set the host port for Gulp Watch. Defaults to localhost
- trigger_browsersync_port – set the port for Gulp Watch. Defaults to 3000
- trigger_browsersync_url – Set the whole URL instead of the parts above (e.g. http://localhost:3000)
- trigger_browsersync_reload_actions – add/change the actions on which to trigger a reload. See source for defaults.
- trigger_browsersync_log_events – Return true to enable log output (to the standard log)
- trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_keys – Lets you ignore particular meta_keys or options
- trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_key_regex – Lets you ignore particular meta_keys or options if they match preg_match
You can also hook on to some actions if you wish:
- trigger_browsersync_before – Called just before we trigger anything
- trigger_browsersync_after – Called just before we trigger anything
- trigger_browsersync_before_reload – Called just before we trigger a reload
- trigger_browsersync_after_reload – Called just after we trigger a reload – the reload won’t yet be done
Frequently asked questions
I’ve installed the plugin, but it’s not doing anything.
Have you followed the installation instructions? The plugin will do nothing without them. If you’re not using the default Browser Sync settings, you’ll need to add filters to override them.
Changelog
0.8.6
- Tested with WordPress 6
0.8.5
- Tested with WordPress 5.3
- Fixed typo bug.
0.8.4
- Tested with WordPress 5.1
0.8.3
- Don’t trigger reload on cron updates.
- Handle logging non-string value types better.
0.8
- Fixed bug where non-string option values would throw a fatal error
0.7
- Added
trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_key_regexfilter to let us ignore meta keys or options based on a regex match. Initial value excludes any meta_key or option mame containing ‘cache’ - Fixed bug whereby options being changed were not logged properly
- Added the
trigger_browsersync_irrelevant_meta_keysto options names - Added
updated_optionto compliment existingadded_option
For developers
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Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Trigger Browsersync alternatives
All automation plugins →FAQ
Trigger Browsersync: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 1, 2026
Is Trigger Browsersync free?
Yes. Trigger Browsersync is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Trigger Browsersync safe to use in 2026?
Trigger Browsersync shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 4 years ago, and scores 37/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Trigger Browsersync?
Trigger Browsersync is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 2,242 times since it launched in April 2017. It was downloaded 78 times in the last 30 days.
When was Trigger Browsersync last updated?
The latest version, 0.8.6, was released on June 23, 2022 (4 years ago).
Who makes Trigger Browsersync?
Trigger Browsersync is developed and maintained by Patabugen.
What are the best alternatives to Trigger Browsersync?
The most popular alternatives to Trigger Browsersync are OttoKit: All-in-One Automat… (90K+ installs), Zapier for WordPress (50K+ installs) and Uncanny Automator (40K+ installs).
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