Enhancing your WooCommerce store with custom features allows you to better tailor it to your business needs. This tutorial will show you how to set up a custom order status and link it with personalized email notifications. With a few easy steps, you can fully integrate this new status into your store’s workflow.  

Step 1: Define Your Custom Order Status

Begin by registering a new status using register_post_status. Add the code below to your theme’s functions.php or within a custom plugin:

// Register a custom order status
function add_custom_order_status() {
    register_post_status( 'wc-custom-status', array(
        'label'                     => _x( 'Custom Status', 'Order status', 'your-text-domain' ),
        'public'                    => true,
        'exclude_from_search'       => false,
        'show_in_admin_all_list'    => true,
        'show_in_admin_status_list' => true,
        'label_count'               => _n_noop( 'Custom Status (%s)', 'Custom Status (%s)', 'your-text-domain' )
    ) );
}
add_action( 'init', 'add_custom_order_status' );

Step 2: Display Status in Admin Orders List

Ensure your new status appears in the order filter dropdown with the wc_order_statuses filter:

// Add to admin order status filter
function add_custom_order_status_to_filter( $order_statuses ) {
    $order_statuses['wc-custom-status'] = _x( 'Custom Status', 'Order status', 'your-text-domain' );
    return $order_statuses;
}
add_filter( 'wc_order_statuses', 'add_custom_order_status_to_filter' );

Step 3: Register Email Trigger for Custom Status

Use woocommerce_email_actions to add a custom trigger:

// Email trigger for custom status
function add_custom_email_action( $email_actions ) {
    $email_actions[] = 'woocommerce_order_status_wc-custom-status';
    return $email_actions;
}
add_filter( 'woocommerce_email_actions', 'add_custom_email_action' );

Step 4: Create a Custom Email Handler Class

Next, build a class extending WC_Email. Save it as custom-new-order-email.php:

// custom-new-order-email.php
class Custom_New_Order_Email extends WC_Email {
    public function __construct() {
        $this->id             = 'custom_new_order';
        $this->title          = __( 'Custom New Order', 'your-text-domain' );
        $this->description    = __( 'Triggered when an order changes to your custom status.', 'your-text-domain' );
        $this->heading        = __( 'Custom New Order', 'your-text-domain' );
        $this->subject        = __( 'New Order: #{order_number}', 'your-text-domain' );
        $this->template_html  = 'emails/custom-new-order.php';
        $this->template_plain = 'emails/plain/custom-new-order.php';
        $this->template_base  = plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ );
        $this->placeholders   = array(
            '{order_number}' => '',
        );

        parent::__construct();
    }

    public function trigger( $order_id ) {
        $this->object = wc_get_order( $order_id );
        $this->recipient = $this->object->get_billing_email();
        $this->placeholders['{order_number}'] = $this->object->get_order_number();
        $this->heading = apply_filters( 'woocommerce_email_heading_' . $this->id, $this->heading, $this->object );
        $this->subject = apply_filters( 'woocommerce_email_subject_' . $this->id, $this->subject, $this->object );

        parent::trigger( $order_id );
    }
}

Step 5: Attach Custom Email to WooCommerce

Finally, register your email class via the woocommerce_email_classes filter:

// Add custom email class
function add_custom_email_class( $email_classes ) {
    require_once 'path/to/custom-new-order-email.php';
    $email_classes['Custom_New_Order_Email'] = new Custom_New_Order_Email();
    return $email_classes;
}
add_filter( 'woocommerce_email_classes', 'add_custom_email_class' );

Final Thoughts

You’ve now successfully added a custom order status in WooCommerce along with a dedicated email template. This approach helps improve communication with customers and streamline your workflow. Pro Tip: Always make changes using a child theme or a custom plugin. Test thoroughly before applying on your live store. Need more help? Check the official WooCommerce Email Customization Guide.