This tutorial shows you how to run custom CSV exports from WordPress & WooCommerce, so you can extract any data you want. We’ll set it up with a couple of simple exports, and it’s easy to add as many new exports as you want.
Each CSV Export will be a small PHP file that runs a WordPress query/loop, so there’s a little bit of coding here, but not much.
We’ll tie it together with a simple widget, so you can run your exports straight from the admin dashboard with a single click.
importantMake sure you’re using a WordPress child theme so you can edit your functions.php file.
Build a Simple Admin Widget
The code to create a WordPress admin widget is pretty easy, so let’s jump straight in. In your custom child theme’s folder, create a file called “custom-csv-exports.php” and also make a folder called “custom-csv-exports”. Open custom-csv-exports.php and paste the following into it.
<?php
/**
* Headwall WP Tutorials : Export CSV Data from WordPress and WooCommerce.
*
* https://wp-tutorials.tech/add-functionality/export-any-csv-data-from-wordpress-woocommerce/
*/
// Don't access this file directly.
defined('WPINC') || die();
/**
* Configure our admin dashboard widget.
*/
function custom_wp_dashboard_setup() {
wp_add_dashboard_widget(
'custom_csv_exports', // Internal name of our widget.
'Custom CSV Exports', // Title of our widget.
'custom_csv_exports_widget' // The function that outputs our widget's HTML.
);
}
add_action('wp_dashboard_setup', 'custom_wp_dashboard_setup');
/**
* Output the HTML for the admin dashboard widget.
*/
function custom_csv_exports_widget() {
$base_uri = get_stylesheet_directory_uri();
// Report One - Post Properties
printf(
'<a href="%s" class="button widefat">Export Post Properties</a>',
esc_url($base_uri . '/custom-csv-exports/report-one.php')
);
// More buttons, text, and other goodies for your
// admin widget can go here...
// ...
}Now open your custom child theme’s main functions.php file and paste the following into it.
// Custom CSV Exports require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/custom-csv-exports.php';
Save your changes and then go to the admin area of your site. You should see your shiny new admin widget. That was easy 😎
If you look in custom_csv_exports_widget() you’ll see that all we’ve done is output an <a> element with the href set to “/custom-csv-exports/report-one.php” inside our child theme. So… what we need to do next is create report-one.php.
The Report Logic – The PHP Bit
The PHP files that drive our exports will use a straightforward logic flow, like this:
- The file (PHP) is being called directly, so we need to call wp-load.php to instantiate WordPress.
- Abort if the user is not logged-in as an administrator.
- Output some HTTP headers to tell the browser to expect a CSV file (instead of an HTML document).
- Print a comma-separated list of column names.
- Create an array of arguments that define our query.
- Create an array of WordPress post objects (or WooCommerce order objects).
- For each object (row)…
- Print a comma-separated list of values.
exit()
Export your Posts as CSV Data
In your custom child theme, go into the custom-csv-exports folder and create a new file called report-one.php. Then paste the following into it:
<?php
/**
* Load WordPress. This should work in most cases, but you might need to
* adjust it if your WordPress installation is unusual.
*/
require_once dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(__FILE__))))) . '/wp-load.php';
// Fail if not logged-in as administrator.
if (!current_user_can('administrator')) {
// 'Not Authorised';
nocache_headers();
wp_safe_redirect(site_url());
exit();
} else {
$download_file_name = 'report-one.csv';
// Tell the web browser to expect a CSV file download instead
// of an HTML document.
header("Content-Type: application/force-download");
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Type: application/download");
header('Content-Type: text/x-csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=' . $download_file_name);
// This lets us use the fputcsv() function.
$output = fopen('php://output', 'w');
$field_names = array(
'post_id',
'post_status',
'post_title',
'post_author_id',
'post_author_name',
'post_author_email',
);
$row_values = array();
// Print the headers.
fputcsv($output, $field_names);
// Extract the WP_Post objects
$query_args = array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'post_status' => 'publish', // Only published posts.
'numberposts' => -1, // get all posts, not just the most recent 10.
);
$posts = get_posts($query_args);
// Loop through the $posts array and print each CSV row.
foreach ($posts as $post) {
// Each $post is a WP_Post object.
// https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_post/
$post_id = $post->ID;
$author_id = get_post_field('post_author', $post->ID);
$author = get_user_by('ID', $author_id);
// Reset all the values for this row.
foreach ($field_names as $field_name) {
$row_values[$field_name] = '';
}
// Set all the values for this row.
$row_values['post_id'] = $post->ID;
$row_values['post_status'] = get_post_status($post->ID);
$row_values['post_title'] = get_the_title($post);
$row_values['post_author_id'] = $author_id;
if (!empty($author)) {
$row_values['post_author_name'] = $author->display_name;
$row_values['post_author_email'] = $author->user_email;
}
// Print this CSV row.
fputcsv($output, $row_values);
}
}You can now export all your posts in a CSV file. Not bad!
If you want to add more fields, just add them into the $field_names array (keep the field names unique) and then set $row_values['my_new_field'] = "..." in the main loop.
Export WooCommerce Orders as CSV Data
The code to export WooCommerce orders is very similar to what we’ve just written. Let’s create Report Two. Open custom-csv-exports.php and add the following into custom_csv_exports_widget().
// Report Two - Export orders.
printf(
'<a href="%s" class="button widefat">Export All Orders</a>',
esc_url($base_uri . '/custom-csv-exports/report-two.php')
);Now go into custom-csv-exports, create a file called report-two.php and paste this lot into it.
<?php
require_once dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(__FILE__))))) . '/wp-load.php';
if (!current_user_can('administrator')) {
// 'Not Authorised';
nocache_headers();
wp_safe_redirect(site_url());
exit();
} else {
$download_file_name = 'report-two.csv';
header("Content-Type: application/force-download");
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Type: application/download");
header('Content-Type: text/x-csv');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=' . $download_file_name);
$output = fopen('php://output', 'w');
$field_names = array(
'order_id',
'shipping_country',
'currency',
'order_total',
'customer_id',
'customer_name',
'customer_email',
);
$row_values = array();
fputcsv($output, $field_names);
// First date is one month ago. Info for creating date intervals is here:
// https://www.php.net/manual/en/dateinterval.construct.php
$first_date = new DateTime('now', wp_timezone());
$first_date->sub(new DateInterval('P1D'));
$first_date_string = $first_date->format('Y-m-d');
// Last date is today.
$last_date = new DateTime('now', wp_timezone());
$last_date_string = $last_date->format('Y-m-d');
// wc_get_orders() is really useful..
// Lots of good examples for $query_args on Stack Overflow.
$query_args = array(
'limit' => -1, // Get all orders, not just the first 10.
'type' => 'shop_order',
'status' => array('wc-completed', 'wc-processing'),
'date_created' => $first_date_string . '...' . $last_date_string,
'orderby' => 'date_created',
'order' => 'ASC',
);
$orders = wc_get_orders($query_args);
foreach ($orders as $order) {
// Each $order is a WC_Order object.
// https://woocommerce.github.io/code-reference/classes/WC-Order.html
$order_id = $order->get_id();
$customer_id = $order->get_user_id();
$customer = get_user_by('ID', $customer_id);
// Reset all the values for this row.
foreach ($field_names as $field_name) {
$row_values[$field_name] = '';
}
// Set all the values for this row.
$row_values['order_id'] = $order_id;
$row_values['shipping_country'] = $order->get_shipping_country();
$row_values['currency'] = $order->get_currency();
$row_values['order_total'] = $order->get_total();
$row_values['customer_id'] = $customer_id;
if (!empty($customer)) {
$row_values['customer_name'] = $customer->display_name;
$row_values['customer_email'] = $customer->user_email;
}
fputcsv($output, $row_values);
}
}The structure is very similar to report-one. The main difference is we’re trying to extract an array of WC_Order objects using wc_get_orders(), instead of an array of WP_Post objects using get_posts().
You can now run the CSV export by clicking on Export All Orders in the dashboard widget.
Keep On Going…
Keeping each report in its own PHP file is a nice way of enabling you to put custom logic in there. If you try to do an export using a single MySQL SELECT/JOIN database query, you’ll quite quickly find it difficult to do quirky things.
There are loads of juicy data you can get out of WooCommerce. There’s a nice piece on S|tack Overflow that shows how you can use get_items() to loop through the products in an order. You can also analyse tax breakdowns, discount coupon use, and more… All without needing to install yet more plugins. Win! 😎 👍
