Every referral in RewardsWP has a status that tells you where it is in its lifecycle. This guide explains what each status means, what triggers status changes, and how you can manually update a referral’s status when needed.
Where to view referral statuses
You can view all referrals and their current statuses by navigating to RewardsWP » Referrals in your WordPress admin. This opens the referrals list table, which shows every referral along with the advocate, friend, status, and dates.
At the top of the list, filter buttons let you quickly switch between statuses to see only pending, blocked, completed, or canceled referrals.
The four referral statuses
RewardsWP uses four statuses to track the lifecycle of every referral:
Pending
A referral starts in the Pending status as soon as RewardsWP detects that a referred friend has taken the initial action (typically placing an order). At this stage, the referral has been recorded but hasn’t been fully verified yet.
Pending referrals haven’t triggered any reward issuance. Rewards are only issued when a referral moves to the Completed status.
Blocked
The Blocked status is applied manually by a store owner and prevents any reward from being issued. Use this status when you suspect fraudulent activity or want to investigate a referral before approving it.
Blocking a referral is a protective action. It doesn’t delete the referral record, so you can always review the details and change the status later if the referral turns out to be legitimate.
Completed
The Completed status means the referral has been fully verified and rewards have been issued to both the advocate and the friend. This is the final “success” status.
When a referral is completed, RewardsWP records a converted_at timestamp alongside the original created_at timestamp, giving you a clear picture of when the referral was created and when it converted.
Canceled
The Canceled status is also applied manually and indicates that the referral is no longer valid. This might happen if the associated order was refunded, the friend requested a cancellation, or you determined the referral shouldn’t be honored for any reason.
Like blocked referrals, canceled referrals remain in your records for audit purposes.
How statuses change
Most referrals follow a simple path from creation to completion:
Pending → Completed
Here’s what triggers each transition:
| From | To | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| (New) | Pending | A referred friend places an order |
| Pending | Completed | The friend’s purchase is detected and verified |
| Any status | Blocked | Store owner manually blocks the referral |
| Any status | Canceled | Store owner manually cancels the referral |
The Pending to Completed transition happens automatically. RewardsWP monitors the friend’s order and updates the referral status when the purchase qualifies. At that point, rewards are issued to both the advocate and the friend.
The Blocked and Canceled statuses are always manual. RewardsWP won’t automatically block or cancel a referral on its own.
Frequently asked questions
A referral stays in the Pending status until the friend’s purchase is fully detected and verified by RewardsWP. If the associated WooCommerce order hasn’t reached a qualifying status (like Processing or Completed), the referral will remain pending. Check the friend’s order status in WooCommerce to understand the delay.
Both are manually applied, but they communicate different intentions. Blocked suggests you’re investigating or preventing a potentially fraudulent referral. Canceled indicates a final decision that the referral won’t be honored. In practice, neither status triggers reward issuance, but the distinction helps you keep organized records.