Offline Order Auto-Completion Plugin

Overview

WooCommerce sets offline payment methods (Check, Direct Bank Transfer, COD, etc.) to "On Hold" status by default. ShipStation only syncs orders with "Completed" status, which means offline orders never reach ShipStation without manual intervention.

The solution is a lightweight custom PHP plugin that hooks into the WooCommerce thank-you page and automatically transitions offline orders from "On Hold" (or "Pending"/"Processing") to "Completed" at the moment of order submission.

This pattern was first built and deployed for ^[1] B2B site in January 2026.

The Problem

Step	What Happens
Customer checks out with offline payment	WooCommerce sets order status → On Hold
ShipStation polls for new orders	Only picks up Completed orders
Result	Offline orders are invisible to ShipStation

Without intervention, Lucy (or any operator) would need to manually open each order in WooCommerce and change the status before ShipStation would see it — an unacceptable workflow at any order volume.

The Solution

A custom plugin hooks into the WooCommerce woocommerce_thankyou action (the thank-you page load, immediately after order submission). If the order's payment method is any of the configured offline types, the plugin changes the order status to Completed and logs a note.

Covered Payment Methods

cheque — Check Payments
bacs — Direct Bank Transfer
cod — Cash on Delivery

Additional payment method IDs can be added to the array as needed.

What the Plugin Does

Fires on the thank-you page after order placement
Retrieves the order object
Checks if payment_method is in the offline methods list
If yes: calls $order->update_status('completed', 'Auto-completed by offline orders plugin — [payment method] payment')
The status change triggers ShipStation's sync on its next poll cycle

Verification

After activation, a test order placed with Check Payments showed the following in WooCommerce order notes:

Order status changed from pending payment to on hold
Order status changed from on hold to completed — Auto-completed offline orders plugin, check payment

The order appeared in ShipStation on the next sync cycle (typically within a few minutes).

Deployment

The plugin was created as a standalone folder/file (not added to the theme's functions.php) and installed via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin in the WordPress admin. This keeps it isolated from theme updates and easy to deactivate or modify independently.

Plugin folder name: autocomplete-offline-orders
Activation: Standard WordPress plugin activation

Important Caveats

This marks orders "Completed" before payment is received. For offline payment workflows, this is intentional — the business collects payment on delivery or via check. The WooCommerce order record is used for fulfillment tracking, not payment confirmation.
Invoicing is a separate concern. Auto-completing the order does not generate or send an invoice. See ^[2] for the companion solution.
ShipStation sync is not instant. ShipStation polls on a schedule (typically every few minutes). A completed order will appear on the next poll, not immediately.

^[2] — Generating invoices for offline orders
^[3] — Company name field, PO field, and other B2B checkout fixes
^[1] — Client where this was first deployed