Order States
Each order has a state and a status. The state is the step of the order in its life, and the store sets it. The status is the label that the admin and the customer see. Each status belongs to one state, and a state can have more than one status. The states are the same in every store. The statuses are not: in System > Order Statuses, you can add a status and assign it to a state. So to find the orders of one step, look at the state, not at the status.
The states
| State | Status in a new store | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| New | Pending | The order is placed. It has no invoice and no shipment |
| Pending Payment | Pending Payment | The customer is at the payment provider, and the payment is not confirmed |
| Processing | Processing | The order has an invoice or a shipment, and some work is still open |
| Complete | Complete | Every item is invoiced and shipped |
| Closed | Closed | The order is refunded with a credit memo |
| Canceled | Canceled | The order is canceled |
| On Hold | On Hold | An administrator stopped the order with Hold |
| Payment Review | Payment Review, Suspected Fraud | The payment provider asks for a check of the payment |
How an order moves
- A new order is in the state New, with the status Pending, unless the payment method sends the customer to a payment provider.
- An invoice or a shipment moves a New order to Processing.
- When nothing is left to invoice and nothing is left to ship, the order becomes Complete.
- A credit memo for the full amount makes the order Closed.
Which orders need a shipment
The Ship button shows on an order that has items left to ship. The order must not be canceled, on hold or in payment review, and it must have items that need a shipment: a virtual or a downloadable item needs none.
So the orders that wait for a shipment are in the state New, Pending Payment or Processing. A New order, with the status Pending, has no invoice yet: the store lets you ship it, but the payment is not recorded. A Pending Payment order waits for the payment provider: the store lets you ship it too, but the payment is not confirmed. Check the payment before you ship either of them.
To see them, go to Sales > Orders and filter the Status column. A Processing order can already have a shipment for some items: open it and check the Shipments tab.