How to Create and Customize Email Templates in WooCommerce

Overview

WooCommerce is a powerful plugin for WordPress that allows you to create an online store. One key feature is its email notifications, which keep customers informed about their orders. In this post, we will walk through how to create and customize email templates in WooCommerce step by step.

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Before diving into the code, ensure you have the following:

• A WordPress website with WooCommerce installed.
• Access to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin where you can add code.

Step 2: Understanding WooCommerce Email Classes

WooCommerce has several built-in email notifications, such as order confirmations and shipping notifications. Each email has a corresponding class that handles its content and layout. You can customize these classes using the add_filter function.

To add your custom email classes, use:

add_filter('woocommerce_email_classes', 'your_custom_email_classes');

Here’s an example code snippet:

// Add custom email class
add_filter('woocommerce_email_classes', 'custom_woocommerce_email_classes');

function custom_woocommerce_email_classes($email_classes) {
    // Include the custom email class file
    require_once 'path/to/your/custom-email-class.php'; // Change this path

    // Register your new email class
    $email_classes['WC_Custom_Email'] = new WC_Custom_Email();

    return $email_classes;
}

Note: Replace ‘path/to/your/custom-email-class.php’ with the actual path to your custom email class file.

Step 4: Creating Your Custom Email Class

Next, create a new PHP file (e.g., custom-email-class.php) in your theme or plugin directory. Here’s a basic template for your custom email class:

if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
    exit; // Exit if accessed directly
}

class WC_Custom_Email extends WC_Email {
    
    public function __construct() {
        // Define the email properties
        $this->id             = 'custom_email';
        $this->title          = 'Custom Email';
        $this->description    = 'This is a custom email notification.';
        $this->heading        = 'Your Custom Email Heading';
        $this->subject        = 'Custom Email Subject';
        
        // Call parent constructor
        parent::__construct();
        
        // Hook to send email
        add_action( 'woocommerce_order_status_completed', array( $this, 'trigger' ) );
    }

    public function trigger( $order_id = 0 ) {
        if ( $order_id ) {
            $this->object = wc_get_order( $order_id );
            $this->recipient = $this->object->get_billing_email();
            $this->send( $this->recipient, $this->subject, $this->get_content(), $this->headers );
        }
    }

    public function get_content() {
        ob_start();
        ?>
        <h2><?php echo $this->heading; ?></h2>
        <p>Your custom email content goes here.</p>
        <?php
        return ob_get_clean();
    }
}

Step 5: Customize Your Email Content

You can modify the get_content() method in your custom email class. This method allows you to include any content you want, such as HTML. You can also pull in order details by accessing properties of the $this->object.

Step 6: Test Your Custom Email

1. To test your custom email, follow these steps:
2. Place a test order in your WooCommerce store.
3. Change the order status to “completed” (or whatever status you’ve hooked your email to).
4. Check the recipient’s email inbox for your custom email.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created and customized an email template in WooCommerce. With a bit of coding knowledge, you can enhance your store’s communication and provide a more personalized experience for your customers.

Feel free to experiment further by adding more functionality or styles to your emails.

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