01 — Overview
What is Traceify?
Traceify replaces WooCommerce's plain order status lookup with a branded tracking page, and gives store owners simple tools to keep customers updated — WhatsApp messages, delivery estimates and branded emails.
Assets load only on the tracking page. The frontend uses vanilla JavaScript with no jQuery and no external requests.
🧭Branded Tracking PageVisual timeline (Placed → Processing → Shipped → Delivered), order summary, shipping address and customer notes.
💬One-Click WhatsAppA WhatsApp column on the orders list and a meta box on each order. Uses free wa.me links — no Business API.
📅Estimated DeliveryAuto-calculated date range from processing and shipping days, with optional weekend exclusion.
✉️Branded EmailsHTML status emails with per-status toggles and custom subject lines. Shipped is on by default.
✅
Order lookup requires both the order number and the billing email, which prevents order enumeration.
02 — Requirements
Requirements
| Requirement | Minimum | Tested up to |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 6.0 | 7.1 |
| WooCommerce | 7.0 | 9.9 |
| PHP | 7.4 | — |
⚠️
WooCommerce must be active first. If it is missing, Traceify refuses to activate and shows an error.
03 — Getting Started
Installation
1
Upload the plugin
Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose
traceify-for-woocommerce.zip and click Install Now.2
Activate
On activation, Traceify creates a Track Your Order page containing the
[traceify_tracker] shortcode and saves default settings.3
Open settings
Go to WooCommerce → Traceify. A red dot shows on the menu until you first open it.
4
Brand it
On the General tab set your store name, brand color and logo URL.
5
Add your WhatsApp number
On the WhatsApp tab enter the number with country code, digits only (for example
8801712345678), then save.04 — Reference
File Structure
traceify-for-woocommerce/
├── traceify-for-woocommerce.php ← Main file (headers, constants, boot)
├── uninstall.php ← Removes all data on delete
├── readme.txt
├── admin/
│ ├── class-trcfy-admin.php ← Menu, settings, orders column, meta box
│ └── views/settings-page.php
├── includes/
│ ├── class-trcfy-core.php ← Loader
│ ├── class-trcfy-installer.php ← Activation, defaults, uninstall
│ ├── class-trcfy-order-tracker.php ← Lookup & timeline
│ ├── class-trcfy-whatsapp.php ← wa.me links & placeholders
│ ├── class-trcfy-delivery-estimator.php
│ └── class-trcfy-email-notifier.php
├── public/
│ ├── class-trcfy-public.php ← Shortcode & assets
│ └── views/tracking-page.php
├── templates/email-notification.php
└── assets/ css/admin.css · css/public.css · js/admin.js · js/public.js
05 — Features
Tracking Page
Customers enter their order number and billing email. If both match, they see the order's status timeline, estimated delivery, items with thumbnails, totals, shipping method, shipping address and any customer notes you added.
Timeline mapping
| WooCommerce status | Timeline step |
|---|---|
pending · on-hold | 1 — Order Placed |
processing | 2 — Processing |
shipped | 3 — Shipped |
completed | 4 — Delivered |
cancelled · refunded · failed | Single special step |
💡
WooCommerce has no built-in
shipped status. The Shipped step and Shipped email work when a shipping plugin (or your own code) registers a status with that slug.06 — Features
WhatsApp Updates
Traceify builds free wa.me links with a pre-filled message. Clicking opens WhatsApp on your device; you tap Send. Nothing is sent automatically.
- Orders list — a 💬 column with a 📲 button per order.
- Order detail — a WhatsApp Update meta box with the customer phone and message preview.
- Tracking page — an optional customer button to chat with your store.
Message placeholders
| Placeholder | Replaced with |
|---|---|
| {customer_name} | Billing first name |
| {order_number} | Order number |
| {order_status} | Status label |
| {order_total} | Formatted total (plain text) |
| {store_name} | Store display name from settings |
| {tracking_url} | Permalink of the tracking page |
✅
Templates exist for Pending, Processing, On Hold, Shipped, Completed and Cancelled. If a status has no template, the Processing template is used.
07 — Features
Estimated Delivery
When an order moves to Processing (or is created already in Processing), Traceify stores a delivery date range on the order. The dates are calculated from the order date:
// min date order date + processing days + min shipping days
// max date order date + processing days + max shipping days
// weekends are skipped when "Exclude weekends" is on
The range shows on the tracking page with a countdown such as “3 days remaining”, and in emails. Dates already stored on an order are never overwritten.
08 — Features
Email Notifications
Branded HTML emails are sent on status change at priority 20, after WooCommerce's own emails. They use your brand color and logo, list the items, and link to the tracking page.
| Status | Default | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Shipped | on | WooCommerce has no default email for it |
| Processing · Completed · On Hold · Cancelled | off | WooCommerce already sends these |
Subjects accept the same placeholders as WhatsApp messages. Leave a subject blank to use the built-in default.
09 — Developer
Shortcode
Place the tracking form on any page or post. It takes no attributes.
[traceify_tracker]
Stylesheet and script load only on the assigned tracking page or on any page whose content contains the shortcode. In a theme template use echo do_shortcode( '[traceify_tracker]' );.
10 — Reference
All Settings
Each setting is a separate WordPress option prefixed trcfy_. Read one with get_option( 'trcfy_edd_processing_days', 1 ).
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| trcfy_brand_color | #7C3AED | Brand color for the page and emails |
| trcfy_store_name | site name | Name shown in messages and emails |
| trcfy_brand_logo_url | "" | Logo for the tracking page and emails |
| trcfy_tracking_page_id | auto | Page holding the shortcode |
| trcfy_wa_number | "" | Your WhatsApp number, digits only with country code |
| trcfy_wa_show_customer_btn | yes | Show the chat button on the tracking page |
| trcfy_wa_customer_btn_label | Chat with us on WhatsApp | Button label |
| trcfy_wa_msg_{status} | preset | Template per status: pending processing on-hold shipped completed cancelled |
| trcfy_edd_enabled | yes | Enable delivery estimates |
| trcfy_edd_processing_days | 1 | Preparation days (0–30) |
| trcfy_edd_min_ship_days | 2 | Minimum transit days (1–60) |
| trcfy_edd_max_ship_days | 5 | Maximum transit days (1–60) |
| trcfy_edd_exclude_weekends | yes | Skip Saturday and Sunday |
| trcfy_email_enabled | yes | Master email toggle |
| trcfy_email_enabled_{status} | shipped: yes | Per-status toggle for processing on-hold shipped completed cancelled |
| trcfy_email_subject_{status} | "" | Custom subject; blank uses the default |
11 — Developer
Hooks & Data
Traceify 1.0.0 does not add its own action or filter hooks and has no AJAX endpoints. The tracking form is a plain GET request protected by a nonce, and all other actions happen through WooCommerce hooks.
WooCommerce hooks Traceify uses
| Hook | Used for |
|---|---|
| woocommerce_order_status_processing | Calculate and store the delivery estimate |
| woocommerce_checkout_order_created | Estimate for orders created already in Processing |
| woocommerce_order_status_{status} | Send branded emails (priority 20) |
| before_woocommerce_init | Declare HPOS and Cart/Checkout Blocks compatibility |
Order meta
| Meta key | Value |
|---|---|
| _trcfy_edd_min | Earliest delivery date, Y-m-d |
| _trcfy_edd_max | Latest delivery date, Y-m-d |
⚠️
Caching plugins should not cache the tracking page. The form nonce is generated per page load, and a cached copy can trigger “Security check failed”.
12 — FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it need the WhatsApp Business API?
No. Traceify uses the free
wa.me deep link. You tap Send in your own WhatsApp, so there is no API key, approval or cost.Is it HPOS compatible?
Yes. Traceify reads orders through WooCommerce CRUD and declares compatibility with High-Performance Order Storage and Cart/Checkout Blocks.
Can I use the shortcode on another page?
Yes. Add
[traceify_tracker] to any page, then select that page under Tracking Page in the settings so emails and messages link to it.Will emails duplicate WooCommerce's emails?
No. Only Shipped is on by default. Enable the others only if you prefer Traceify's template over WooCommerce's.
How is the delivery date calculated?
Order date plus processing days plus your minimum and maximum shipping days. Weekends are skipped when the option is enabled.
Is customer data safe?
Lookups need the order number and matching billing email. Inputs are sanitized, output is escaped, the form is nonce-protected and settings require the
manage_woocommerce capability.What happens when I delete the plugin?
All Traceify options and the auto-created tracking page are removed. Order meta for delivery dates stays on your orders.
Is it translation ready?
Yes. Strings use the text domain
traceify.13 — Changelog
Changelog
v1.0.1October 21, 2026Feature Update
- New: Shipment tracking — courier and tracking number per order, with a “Track shipment” link
- New: Built-in couriers — DHL, FedEx, UPS, USPS and Steadfast, plus one custom courier with your own tracking URL
- New: Tracking details — shown on the customer tracking page and in branded emails
- New: WhatsApp placeholders —
{tracking_number},{tracking_link}and{courier_name} - New: Auto-mark as Shipped — optional; moves a Processing order to Shipped when a tracking number is first added
- New: Built-in Shipped status — registered by Traceify, unless another plugin already provides
wc-shipped - New:
trcfy_couriersfilter — add or change couriers in code - Changed: Tracking form — the lookup no longer uses a nonce, so it works on cached pages. It still needs the order number and the matching billing email
- Changed: Requirements — WooCommerce is now declared as a required plugin
- Fixed: Text domain — now matches the plugin slug,
traceify-for-woocommerce - Fixed: Fatal error — on the front end when WooCommerce was not active
- Fixed: Asset loading — tracking page CSS and JS loaded on every page when no tracking page was selected
v1.0.0September 5, 2026Initial Release
- Branded tracking page — visual timeline, order summary and customer notes
- WhatsApp updates — orders list column, order meta box and per-status templates
- Estimated delivery — auto-calculated with business-day support
- Email notifications — branded HTML emails with per-status toggles and subjects
- HPOS and Blocks compatible
- Clean uninstall — removes options and the tracking page