WordPress 7.1 changes the order of operations in `wp_new_comment_notify_postauthor()`: the comment approval status check now runs before the `notify_post_author` filter fires, not after. This means the filter receives an accurate boolean default and its return value is now authoritative. Previously, returning `true` from the filter could not force notifications for unapproved comments, and the filter received misleading defaults. Now, returning `true` will send notifications even for unapproved, spam, or trashed comments. Sites using `__return_true` on this filter should update their callbacks to check approval status if they don't want emails for non-approved comments. Additional changes include the default always being a strict boolean and the function returning `false` immediately for invalid comment IDs without firing the filter.
