Email students when you reply to their comment

How the reply email works

Alva Courses fires Course instructor reply posted each time you reply to a student's comment on a lesson. The trigger's customer is the student you replied to, not you. The workflow then runs Send marketing email for that student, using an email you design in Shopify Messaging.

The trigger fires once per reply, and only when the comment you answered was written by a student. It carries the course and lesson titles and links, plus Reply text, your reply cut to 2,000 characters. The triggers reference lists every field.

Build the workflow

1. Create a workflow

In your Shopify admin, open Apps → Flow and click Create workflow. Then click Select a trigger.

2. Choose Course instructor reply posted

Choose Alva Courses, then Course instructor reply posted. Every step after it acts for the student whose comment you answered.

3. Add Send marketing email

Add an action, search for Send marketing email and choose it. Flow sends it to the trigger's customer, and Shopify Messaging walks you through creating the email it sends.

4. Write a short alert

Use the subject Your instructor replied to your comment and a message such as Your instructor has answered your question. Sign in to your course to read the reply and carry on where you left off. Add a button to your store's courses page.

5. Name it and turn it on

Name the workflow Email students when you reply to their comment and click Turn on workflow. Replies you posted before turning it on send nothing.

6. Test it with a subscribed customer

Sign in to your storefront as a test customer whose email marketing status is Subscribed and comment on a lesson. In Alva Courses, open the course, select the Comments tab and reply. The email should arrive within a few minutes.

7. Check the run

Open the workflow's recent runs in Flow to see each run and any failed step. On the Shopify Flow settings page in Alva Courses, Flow activity → Triggers sent lists each reply event Alva Courses sent.

Why only subscribed students get the email

Shopify Flow has no transactional email for customers. Its Send internal email action can't be addressed to the workflow's customer, so Shopify reserves it for staff and sends customer email through marketing automations instead. Send marketing email is that route, and Shopify sends it only to customers subscribed to email marketing.

Students who haven't subscribed don't get the email, but your reply still waits for them under the lesson. The email is built in Shopify Messaging from the customer's record, so it can't include workflow values such as Reply text: keep it a short alert that brings the student back to the course.

Ways to adapt it

The same trigger can serve a single course, copy your team in, or hand the reply to the email platform you already use.

One course only. Before the email, add a condition that Course ID is equal to the course's Flow ID, such as 42, and point the email's button straight at that course.
A copy for your team. On the same trigger, add Send internal email to your support inbox. Internal emails can include workflow values, so put Lesson title, Reply text and Lesson URL in the message.
Every student, without the reply. Alva Courses' Resend course access email action reaches students whether or not they subscribed, but it resends your enrolment email, so it doesn't mention the reply. See the actions reference.
Another email platform. If you email students from Klaviyo, send the trigger there instead; Send course completions to Klaviyo shows the pattern.
The email step in detail. Send a Shopify Email when a student completes a course covers the same email step for completions.

Frequently asked questions

Does Alva Courses email students when I reply to their comment?

Not by itself. Alva Courses emails you about new student comments, but sends the student nothing when you reply. The Course instructor reply posted trigger lets a Shopify Flow workflow email them instead.

Why didn't a student receive the reply email?

Send marketing email only reaches customers subscribed to email marketing. Check the student's email marketing status on their customer page in Shopify, then check the workflow's recent runs in Flow and Flow activity in Alva Courses.

Can the email include the text of my reply?

Not with Send marketing email, which builds its email from the customer's record rather than from workflow values. Send internal email can include Reply text, but only to addresses you type in, such as your own team.

Does the trigger fire when I reply to my own comment?

No. Course instructor reply posted fires only when the comment you replied to was posted by a student, and its customer is always that student. It fires once per reply.

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Last updated 2026-10-01