Wordpress

Changing the backorder message in Woocommerce

A client walks into a bar and asks me “can I change the backorder message in woocommerce?”

I reply: “Of course! 😀”

Setup

The code in this tutorial pre-setup with wordpress & woocommerce installed. I am using a an empty child theme of storefront.

Download this repository: for a quick start bare-bones storefront child theme with minimal configuration.

prettier & prettier-php

I use prettier & prettier-php to automatically make my code prettier and its installed in the theme linked above. (Remember to run: npm install)

Adding the filter

In wordpress, a “adding a filter” is essentially adding function to an array of functions which will be performed at a specific spot of the code.

Add_filter()

Learn more about add_filter() at the official wordpress documentation.

Parameters

add_filter() takes four parameters, a name, a function to perform, a priority and its expected number of parameters.

  1. Name – The name of the action where the functions will execute
  2. Function – The name of the function we are adding to the pipeline
  3. Priority – The order in which the functions run (ASC)
  4. Number of parameters – How many parameters your function is expecting
<?php

add_filter(
  "woocommerce_get_availability_text",
  "gregbastianelli_change_backorder_message",
  10,
  2
);

So above: we are calling the ‘woocommerce_get_availability_text' action, we are adding our ‘gregbastianelli_change_backorder_message‘ function to the pipeline, setting a priority of 10 and expecting 2 parameters.

Change backorder message globally

If we visit the source code for woocommerce_get_availability_text you can see it returns two parameters in the apply_filters function.

Expected Parameters

  • $availability is the text message returned when a product shows its on backorder.
  • $this is the product in question.

Now that we know which data is being passed to us – we can setup our function.

Step-by-step

Setup up the function – write documentation and do stuff.

function gregbastianelli_change_backorder_message($text, $product)
{
  /**
   * Allows developer to change backorder message site-wide
   * @param string $text
   * @param WC_Product $product
   */

   // do stuff

}

First we want to set a backorder message.

  $backorder_message = "Will ship in January 2021";

Next we want to set a condition so our backorder message only shows on products on backorder.

...
 
 if ($product->managing_stock() && 
      $product->is_on_backorder(1)) {
    return $backorder_message;
  }

  return $text;
}

We also include a return under our condition so the work done by the previous functions in the pipeline is passed on if our condition is not met.

The end results (tl;dr)

In a hurry? Here are the end results.

How to change backorder message store wide

<?php

add_filter(
  "woocommerce_get_availability_text",
  "gregbastianelli_change_backorder_message",
  10,
  2
);

function gregbastianelli_change_backorder_message($text, $product)
{
  /**
   * Allows developer to change backorder message site-wide
   * @param string $text
   * @param WC_Product $product
   */

  $backorder_message = "Will ship in January 2021";

  if ($product->managing_stock() && 
      $product->is_on_backorder(1)) {
    return $backorder_message;
  }

  return $text;
}

How to change the backorder message for a specific product

If you want to have different messages for different products, include a check for a specific id as well.

...

  $backorder_message = "Will ship in January 2021";
  $target_id = 272; // include ID

  if (
    $target_id === $product->get_id() && // check for ID
    $product->managing_stock() &&
    $product->is_on_backorder(1)
  ) {
    return $backorder_message;
  }

  return $text;
}

You did it!

Look at you. Changing your very own backorder message in woocommerce like a DEV PRO!

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