What the plugin does
Your own order statuses – e.g. “In production”, “Being painted”, “Waiting for the courier” – with their own colours and automatic e-mails to the customer and to your team. Customers know what is happening with their order, and the warehouse or the accountant is notified exactly when they need to act.
What it does
Custom statuses with colours
You add any number of statuses with a name and a colour. The order list shows at a glance which stage every order is at. The statuses work like built-in ones – change them on the order screen and in bulk actions.
Result: your process (production, picking, quoting) is visible at a glance.
An e-mail to the customer on status change
For every status you write a message, e.g. “Your order is being painted right now – it takes 2 days”. The e-mail uses the WooCommerce e-mail design, shows the current status and a button to the customer’s account. You can use placeholders such as {first_name}, {order_number}, {order_details}, {product_titles}.
Result: fewer “where is my order?” questions, and customers feel looked after.
An e-mail to your team
The same status can notify your people – the store address and extra addresses (warehouse, paint shop, accountant, boss). Subject and message are set separately, and the button in the e-mail opens the order in the dashboard.
Result: everyone is told when they need to act – no retyping orders into a messenger.
Automatic statuses after checkout
You set a rule: shipping method + payment method + shipping cost (any, free, paid) → status. After checkout and after payment the plugin sets the right status itself, e.g. “Local pickup + cash → To be prepared”. A status changed by hand is never overwritten.
Renaming WooCommerce statuses
You can rename the default statuses (e.g. “Processing” → “Accepted”). Only the name changes, the status stays the same.
Editing and payment in chosen statuses
Orders in your statuses (and optionally in “Pending payment” or “On hold”) can be edited, and the customer can pay for them. The order screen shows the payment page link to send to the customer.
Good to know
- A status used by orders cannot be deleted – move the orders to another status first.
- Every e-mail sent leaves an order note.
- The subject and heading of the customer e-mail are changed in WooCommerce → Settings → Emails (“Custom Status Email”).
- The plugin is compatible with HPOS and the WooCommerce block checkout.
Installation and first settings
Before you start
You need WordPress 6.2 or newer, WooCommerce 8.0+, PHP 7.4+ and an administrator account. Back up your store before installing any new plugin – most hosting panels do it with one button.
Step 1: download the plugin and the licence key
After your order (Pro, or the free 7-day Free version) you get an e-mail with your licence key and a Download button. The key and the file are always available in My account → Licences on wpasist.eu.
- Click Download and save
custom-order-status-for-woocommerce.zipon your computer. - Do not unzip the file – WordPress installs the plugin straight from the ZIP.
Safari on a Mac may unzip downloads automatically. If you see a folder instead of a ZIP file, compress it again (right-click → Compress) or turn off opening “safe” files after downloading in Safari.
Step 2: install and activate the plugin
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard (usually
yourstore.com/wp-admin). - Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin and click Upload Plugin.
- Choose
custom-order-status-for-woocommerce.zipand click Install Now. - When you see “Plugin installed successfully”, click Activate Plugin.
Result: the left menu now has a wpAsist item with this plugin and the Licences screen.
Step 3: activate the licence
- Go to wpAsist → Licences.
- Paste the key from the e-mail next to this plugin and click Activate licence.
- The status changes to Active until … (the end date of your licence).
Without an active licence you cannot add new statuses, status e-mails are not sent and automatic status changes are paused. Existing statuses and the orders in them keep working.
The key works on one domain. If you move the store to another address, change it yourself in My account → Licences → Change domain on wpasist.eu. New versions arrive in the dashboard like any WordPress update (Dashboard → Updates) while the licence is active – your settings are kept.
Step 4: add your first status
Go to wpAsist → Order Statuses, Custom statuses tab.
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Status name | The name you and the customer see. | In production |
| Slug (without the wc- prefix) | Unique ID: lower-case letters, digits and hyphens, at most 17 characters. It cannot be changed later. | in-production |
| Status colour | Colour of the label on the order list. | orange |
| Message to the customer | Text of the customer e-mail; a “View your account” button is added automatically. | Your order is in production… |
| Send an e-mail to the customer | Whether the customer gets an e-mail when the order moves to this status. | ticked |
| Send an e-mail to the shop team | A notification for your people; below: the store address, additional recipients (comma-separated), subject and message. | warehouse@yourstore.com |
Click Add status. The status appears in Existing statuses, where you can edit or delete it.
Icons in the status table: envelope – a message or subject is set, ✓ – sending is enabled, plus – additional recipients are set.
Step 5: set automatic statuses (optional)
The Automate statuses tab shows a table of all combinations of shipping and payment methods.
- For a combination set the Shipping cost: Any, Free (0) or Paid (> 0).
- In Automatic status choose the status to set. “— no change —” means normal WooCommerce behaviour.
- Click Save changes.
Step 6: adjust names and editing (optional)
- Rename statuses tab – enter new names for the default statuses; an empty field keeps the default name.
- Order editing tab – tick Enable order editing for custom statuses and choose whether it also applies to “Pending payment” and “On hold”.
Step 7: check it on an order
- Open a test order, change the status to the new one and click Update.
- Check the customer’s and the team’s inbox – the e-mails have arrived and the order notes record the sending.
- If you set up automation, place an order with that shipping and payment method – the status is set by itself.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| The “Add status” button is disabled | Activate the licence in wpAsist → Licences. |
| The e-mail does not arrive | Check that sending is ticked for the status and that the e-mail is enabled in WooCommerce → Settings → Emails. If no store e-mails arrive at all, install an SMTP plugin. |
| I cannot delete a status | Orders are in it – move them to another status. |
| The automatic status was not set | Rules apply only to orders in “Pending payment”, “On hold” or “Processing” and never overwrite a status set by hand. Also check that the shipping, payment and cost combination is saved. |
Changelog
1.0.4 – 2026-10-25
- Compatibility release: tested with WordPress 7.1 and WooCommerce 11.2 (HPOS, block and classic checkout, WPML, Elementor) – custom statuses, status e-mails to the customer and the team, status automation and order editing; no functional changes.
1.0.3 – 2026-10-24
- Licence: the plugin sends its name when it checks the key, so a key works only in the plugins it covers (one plugin, a bundle or All Access).
- wpAsist → Licences: new “Use this key for all wpAsist plugins” – a bundle or All Access key is activated in every plugin at once; plugins the key does not cover keep their own key.
1.0.2 – 2026-10-23
- New step-by-step guide: what the plugin does, installation and first settings (readme.txt and instrukcja-pl.txt).
1.0.1 – 2026-10-20
- Updates straight from the WordPress dashboard (Dashboard → Updates) while the licence is active.
- A clear notice in the dashboard when the licence is not active.
- All wpAsist plugins and licences in one wpAsist menu.
1.0.0 – 2026-10-18
- First release: custom order statuses with colours, e-mails to the customer and the shop team, automatic statuses, renaming default statuses and order editing.
- Automation rules by shipping method, payment method and free or paid shipping; works in the block checkout.
- Reloading the thank-you page never overwrites a status changed by hand.
- Faster order processing and bulk actions.
- Statuses used by orders cannot be deleted; slug length checked (max. 17 characters).
- “Edit order” button in the team e-mail works with HPOS; order notes only when the e-mail is actually sent.
- Full Polish translation.
Customer forum
Ask before it gets annoying 🙂
A problem after installing? Something unclear in the guide? There are no silly questions here – only stores that do not work the way they should yet. We reply personally, usually the same day.
The forum is for customers only. Log in or buy the plugin to grow your store together with us, ask questions and get support.
