WooCommerce: Email Admin Upon Fatal Error

WooCommerce has a nice feature when it comes to WordPress Error 500 / Fatal Error – it logs the error and all the information regarding it inside the WooCommerce Status > Logs > Fatal Errors area.

My problem is that sometimes these errors occur in the backend, so they may not trigger the WordPress built-in email that notifies the admin about the problem.

What I want to try (please test it on your development website first, and not on your live website), is a way to get an email each time WooCommerce logs an error, so that I can go in and fix it immediately. Enjoy!

PHP Snippet: Email Admin Each Time a WordPress Fatal Error Occurs

/**
 * @snippet       Email Fatal Errors to Admin
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 7
 * @community     https://businessbloomer.com/club/
 */

add_action( 'woocommerce_shutdown_error', 'bbloomer_email_fatal_errors' );

function bbloomer_email_fatal_errors( $error ) {
	$email_subject = "Critical Error On Your WooCommerce Site";
	$email_content = sprintf( __( '%1$s in %2$s on line %3$s', 'woocommerce' ), $error['message'], $error['file'], $error['line'] );
	wp_mail( get_option( 'admin_email' ), $email_subject, $email_content );
}

Where to add custom code?

You should place custom PHP in functions.php and custom CSS in style.css of your child theme: where to place WooCommerce customization?

This code still works, unless you report otherwise. To exclude conflicts, temporarily switch to the Storefront theme, disable all plugins except WooCommerce, and test the snippet again: WooCommerce troubleshooting 101

Related content

• WooCommerce: Add Second Description @ Product Category Pages
  In terms of SEO, if you’re trying to rank your product category pages, you really need to make the most of the default WooCommerce product category “description” and “thumbnail”. Most themes, if compatible with WooCommerce, will show this content right below the product category name and above products. Nothing new so far. But what if […]
• WooCommerce: Add Column to Orders Table @ WP Dashboard
  The WooCommerce Orders Table, which can be found under WP Dashboard > WooCommerce > Orders, provides us with 7 default columns: Order – Date – Status – Billing – Ship to – Total – Actions. This is used by shop managers to have an overview of all orders, before eventually clicking on a specific one. […]
• WooCommerce: Hide/Show The WP Admin Bar
  In previous WooCommerce versions, new customers could access the WP Admin black bar after purchase. Now this seems fixed. Still, what about other user roles, and what if you want to override this default behavior? Well, here’s a quick snippet for you – feel free to use it in your own WooCommerce site. Enjoy!
• WooCommerce: Display Custom Filters @ WP Dashboard > Products
  If you go to WordPress Dashboard > Products you will find default product admin filters such as “Select a category”, “Filter by product type”, “Filter by stock status”. What if you want to add more custom filters to let your shop managers find products easily? For example, you could add “Filter by product tag” (“product […]
• WooCommerce: Calculate Sales by State
  You’re filing your tax returns and need to know how much you earned in each state… but then find out WooCommerce doesn’t give you this calculation by default within its reports! Don’t worry – today I’ll share a quick snippet so that you can calculate the amount you need in a second. Feel free to […]

Rodolfo Melogli

Business Bloomer Founder

Author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker, Rodolfo has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. Rodolfo loves travelling, chasing tennis & soccer balls and, of course, wood fired oven pizza. Follow @rmelogli