Troubleshooting WooCommerce Product Variations and Stock Status Issues

Many WooCommerce store owners encounter a specific issue where custom stock statuses for product variations, such as "Production Time 9 to 10 weeks," do not display correctly on the frontend product page. Instead, the product may incorrectly show as "Out of stock." This guide will explain why this happens and walk you through the most common solutions.

Why This Problem Occurs

This behavior is typically not a bug in WooCommerce itself but is often related to one of three things: a theme conflict, a plugin conflict, or the need for custom code to handle custom stock statuses properly. WooCommerce's core functionality is designed to work with basic stock statuses like "In stock" and "Out of stock." When you introduce custom statuses, your theme or other plugins may not be equipped to display them without additional configuration.

Common Solutions

1. Check for Theme and Plugin Conflicts

The first and most crucial step is to perform a conflict test. This will help you identify if your current theme or another active plugin is causing the display issue.

1. Switch to a Default Theme: Temporarily switch your theme to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four or Storefront. Clear any caching you have enabled and check if the custom stock status now appears correctly. If it does, you know the issue lies with your original theme.
2. Disable Other Plugins: If the theme switch doesn't resolve it, deactivate all plugins except WooCommerce. Check if the status displays. Then, reactivate your plugins one by one, checking after each activation, to find the one causing the conflict.

2. Ensure Proper Configuration in WooCommerce

Double-check your WooCommerce settings to ensure that out-of-stock products are not being hidden, which would override any custom status.

1. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
2. Ensure the option "Hide out of stock items from the catalog" is unchecked. If this is enabled, products with any status other than "In stock" may be hidden entirely.

3. Utilize Custom Code (For Developers)

If there is no conflict, the problem may be that your theme's template files need to be updated to recognize and display custom stock statuses. This requires adding a code snippet to your site, preferably via a child theme's functions.php file or a code snippets plugin.

Example Code Snippet:

/**
 * Display custom stock status on product pages for variations.
 */
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_availability_text', 'custom_override_availability_text', 10, 2 );

function custom_override_availability_text( $availability, $product ) {
    // Get the stock status of the product
    $stock_status = $product->get_stock_status();

    // Define your custom status messages
    $custom_statuses = array(
        'production_9_10' => 'Production Time 9 to 10 weeks',
        'production_11_12' => 'Production Time 11 to 12 weeks'
        // Add more statuses and messages as needed
    );

    // Check if the current status is one of our custom ones and return the corresponding message
    if ( array_key_exists( $stock_status, $custom_statuses ) ) {
        $availability = $custom_statuses[ $stock_status ];
    }

    return $availability;
}

Important Note: This code is a basic example. The actual implementation depends on how your custom statuses are stored. You may need to adjust the $stock_status keys (e.g., production_9_10) to match exactly how they are saved in your database. It is highly recommended to consult with a developer for assistance with custom code.

When to Seek Further Help

If the conflict test and configuration check do not resolve the issue, and you are not comfortable adding custom code, your next step should be to seek help from the appropriate support communities.

• If you discovered a theme conflict, contact your theme's support team for guidance.
• For core WooCommerce functionality, you can get support from the WooCommerce support forums on WordPress.org if you are using the free plugin. If you have a paid WooCommerce.com subscription, you can create a ticket through your account.

By methodically working through these steps, you can identify the root cause of the missing stock status and get your product variations displaying the correct information to your customers.