Settings → Order Statuses is where you configure the stages your orders move through. Each status has a name, a color, an optional icon and an optional tooltip description, and can carry an automatic customer email and text message.
For the full walkthrough, including how notifications behave, see the Customize Order Statuses article. This page is a reference for the controls themselves.
What Each Control Does
- Drag handle — reorders the pipeline. Nothing is stored until you select Save Order.
- Name field — renames the status. This changes the label only; the internal slug that automation uses is set when the status is created and is not rewritten by a rename.
- Color swatches and picker — sets the badge color used across the dashboard.
- Icon picker — sixteen icons: circle, clock, check circle, x circle, package, truck, home, file text, shopping cart, pause, play, ban, flag, zap, star and alert triangle.
- Tooltip Description — optional text shown on hover.
- Mail and phone buttons — open the email and SMS editors for that status.
- Star — see below. It does not do what the on-screen help claims.
- Trash icon — deletes the status, if it is allowed to be deleted.
- New status name field plus Add Status — appends a new custom status to the end of the pipeline.
- Save Order — writes every pending change on the page: order, names, colors, icons, descriptions and notification settings.
Which Statuses You Can Delete
The nine statuses your shop is created with — Quote, Pending, Approved, In Production, Ready, Shipped, Delivered, Feedback and Cancelled — are all system statuses. They show a System badge and their trash icon is disabled. You can rename, recolor, re-icon and reorder them, but you cannot delete any of them.
Statuses you add yourself can be deleted, but only while no order is assigned to them. Attempting to delete one that is in use returns an error telling you how many orders must be reassigned first.
The Star Button
The on-screen help on this page states that the starred status is automatically assigned to new orders. It is not.
nothing in Drip Merch reads the starred status. Storefront checkout always creates orders in Pending. Orders you create by hand start in Pending, or Confirmed if marked paid. Orders created from an invoice start in Confirmed. Starring a different status changes none of this.
The Reset Button
The Reset button asks you to confirm resetting all statuses to defaults, then reloads the list without changing anything. There is no reset behaviour behind it. Your statuses are safe if you press it, but it will not restore the original set.
Notification Variables
Email bodies support: {{customer_name}}, {{customer_first_name}}, {{customer_last_name}}, {{customer_email}}, {{order_number}}, {{order_total}}, {{order_date}}, {{status_name}}, {{shop_name}}, {{tracking_number}} and {{tracking_url}}.
SMS bodies support a shorter list: {{customer_name}}, {{customer_first_name}}, {{order_number}}, {{status_name}}, {{company_name}}, {{due_date}}, {{tracking_url}} and {{pickup_or_shipping_details}}. Order total and order date are not available in SMS.
a text message is only sent if SMS is enabled on the status, the customer has a phone number on file, and that customer has opted in to SMS.
Putting It Together
- Rename and reorder the statuses so the pipeline matches how your shop actually runs.
- Set colors and icons so your team can scan the orders list quickly.
- Enable email, and SMS where you have opt-ins, on the stages customers care about — usually Confirmed, In Production, Ready and Shipped.
- Select Save Order.