Set up your statuses and customer groups

Before you start

Open Settings›Quotes & orders›Statuses. The page separates Customers see from Staff see, with Not in a group yet last.

The row markers identify Built in, Can go on a PO and No edits. An Inactive badge identifies retired shop-created stages.

Add a status

1. 1

   Step 1: Name and describe the stage

   Click Add status. Enter Name, choose Colour, and add Description when staff need an explanation.

   For a custom color, enter a hex value and choose Use colour. The contrast preview shows whether white or dark text reads well.

   

   Descriptions can contain up to 1,000 characters. Their help explains whether customers can read the text or see the group's message instead.

2. 2

   Step 2: Choose what customers see

   Choose Group and review Visible to customers, which starts on for a new status.

   A grouped status shows the group's wording. A hidden status leaves customers seeing their previous visible stage.

   

3. 3

   Step 3: Review notifications

   In Email, check the summary and use Edit email templates to choose the email group. See Which emails go out.

   Set Also send when an order or quote is created with this status only when wanted. It sends nothing until the group has a template.

   In SMS notification, review Send SMS Notification and SMS template. Text messages explains that setup.

   

4. 4

   Step 4: Choose what the stage allows

   Under While an order is here, set Eligible for purchase orders, Waits to be placed, Restrict editing and Active.

   Click Add status. Status added confirms the save, and the status appears at the end of its group.

   Restricting edits takes effect after an order is signed, paid or placed in Shopify. It does not lock every uncommitted draft.

   A new status has no connections until you connect it on the map. Staff can pick it manually meanwhile.

Edit, reorder or retire statuses

1. 1

   Step 1: Edit an existing status

   Click the status, update its fields and click Save. The app confirms Status saved.

   Built-in names cannot change. You can change their color, description or group, but cannot deactivate or delete them.

   OrderPilot also controls Waits to be placed for built-in statuses. Add your own status when you need to choose that behavior.

2. 2

   Step 2: Reorder or regroup

   Drag a status by its handle within its group or into another group card. The change saves immediately.

   For keyboard movement, use Space, the arrow keys, then Space again. A refused move returns the status to its previous position.

   Wait for one move to save before starting another. Moving into a different group also changes the customer milestone for that status.

3. 3

   Step 3: Turn off an unused stage

   Open a shop-created status, untick Active and save. It leaves the order picker and is no longer eligible for purchase orders.

   Existing records retain their history. Decide where current orders should go before retiring a stage your team still uses.

4. 4

   Step 4: Delete an unused status

   Move every order out of the status. Remove its map connections and publish that change.

   Open the status and choose Delete status. Review Delete and the name before confirming; deletion cannot be undone.

   Built-in statuses cannot be deleted. A status with current orders or live map connections is refused until those dependencies are removed.

Set up customer groups

1. 1

   Step 1: Edit the group's wording

   On a group card, choose Edit group. Enter Name, up to 60 characters, and Customer message, up to 300.

   Click Save. Customers see that name and message while their order is in a visible status belonging to the group.

   

2. 2

   Step 2: Add and order groups

   Use Add group for a new customer milestone. Drag the intended statuses into it.

   Drag each group by its handle to arrange the customer progress track. Quote and Cancelled appear only while the order is in those groups.

   A group you create uses the portal heading Here's your order. Built-in groups retain their own headings even when renamed.

3. 3

   Step 3: Remove an empty custom group

   Move its statuses into other groups first, then delete the empty group.

   Built-in groups cannot be deleted. Rename one or leave it empty when it is not part of your customer journey.

What happens next

Staff see status names across order screens and lists. Customers see the group's name and message instead of the internal name.

Connect the stages, then test and publish the status map. Creating a status alone does not automate its movement.

Read Edit locked and ordered orders before using that exception.

If something goes wrong