Description
When you sell products on backorder, WooCommerce lets the stock go below zero, but it does not keep a list of what you still owe to each customer. Backorder Desk does.
Every time WooCommerce reduces the stock of an order line below zero, Backorder Desk records the units that went on backorder. Your team gets one queue with every line still waiting for goods: the order, the customer, how many units are missing and for how long.
When the goods arrive and you ship part of them, you record a partial fulfilment with its delivery note. The queue updates, and the full history of every line stays available.
What it does
- Automatic capture: backordered units are detected from WooCommerce’s own stock movements, including variations whose stock is managed on the parent product.
- One queue: waiting and partially fulfilled lines, with customer, quantities and waiting time. Search by SKU or product.
- Partial fulfilments: record how many units you shipped and a reference (delivery note, tracking number). Undo a fulfilment recorded by mistake.
- Checks when something changes: if an order is refunded, edited, cancelled or completed outside the queue, the line is closed or flagged for review instead of guessing. Quantities are never invented.
- Manual tracking: track lines of imported orders, or orders where WooCommerce did not reduce the stock.
- Order screen box: see what is still owed directly on the order.
- Complete history: every change is recorded with who, when and why. Mistakes are fixed with new entries, never by deleting history.
What it does not do
Backorder Desk never changes your stock, totals, order status or refunds. WooCommerce stays in charge of all of them; Backorder Desk only keeps track of what is still owed and how it was resolved.
Compatibility
- Works with High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) and with the classic order storage.
- Ready for translation through translate.wordpress.org.
Screenshots
Installation
- Install and activate WooCommerce.
- Upload the plugin from Plugins > Add New, or search for “Backorder Desk”, and activate it.
- Make sure stock management is enabled (WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory) and that the products you sell on backorder allow backorders.
- Open WooCommerce > Backorder Desk. New backorders appear there as soon as an order reduces the stock below zero.
Administrators and shop managers get access automatically.
FAQ
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Does it change my stock levels?
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No. The plugin reads stock movements made by WooCommerce and never writes stock, order totals, order statuses or refunds.
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What happens to orders placed before installing the plugin?
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They are not imported automatically, because the current stock cannot tell what was already shipped. You can track any line of an existing order by hand, from the queue or from the order screen.
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What happens if an order is cancelled or refunded?
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Units still waiting are closed as cancelled; units already fulfilled stay recorded. A partial refund sends the line to review, because the refund may concern goods already shipped.
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Why did a line go to “Needs review”?
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Something changed outside the queue: the order was edited or refunded, the stock was restored, or the quantity could not be measured. The review screen shows what WooCommerce reports now and lets you confirm how many units are still to ship.
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Does it send emails to customers?
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No. This version does not send any message.
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Is my data deleted when I remove the plugin?
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Only if you ask for it: enable the option in WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory before deleting the plugin. By default the data is kept, so a reinstall finds the history.
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Does it contact external services?
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No. All data stays in your WordPress database.
Reviews
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Contributors & Developers
“Backorder Desk” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Backorder Desk” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
0.1.0
- First release: automatic capture of backordered units, queue, partial fulfilments, review of changed orders, manual tracking, order screen box, ready for translation.