Custom Columns in the Fulfillment Dashboard

You can add extra columns to the Fulfillment Dashboard using two WordPress filters. This is useful for displaying order details that are not shown by default — such as payment method, item count, shipping country, or custom order metadata.

Add the code below to your child theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin. Do not add it to the parent theme — it will be overwritten on theme updates.

Filters

Filter	Arguments	Purpose
`ast_fulfillment_dashboard_custom_columns`	`$columns` (array)	Define the column headers. Key = column ID (string, unique); value = display label (string).
`ast_fulfillment_dashboard_column_content`	`$value`, `$order` (WC_Order), `$column_key` (string)	Return the cell content for each row. Must include `10, 3` as the priority and argument count.

Example 1 — Static text column

Adds a “Note” column showing “Priority Order” on every row.

add_filter( 'ast_fulfillment_dashboard_custom_columns', function( $columns ) {
    $columns['my_note'] = __( 'Note', 'your-textdomain' );
    return $columns;
} );

add_filter( 'ast_fulfillment_dashboard_column_content', function( $value, $order, $column_key ) {
    if ( 'my_note' === $column_key ) {
        $value = __( 'Priority Order', 'your-textdomain' );
    }
    return $value;
}, 10, 3 );

Example 2 — Dynamic order data columns

Adds three columns — payment method, item count, and shipping country — each populated from the WC_Order object.

add_filter( 'ast_fulfillment_dashboard_custom_columns', function( $columns ) {
    $columns['payment_method']  = __( 'Payment', 'your-textdomain' );
    $columns['item_count']      = __( 'Items', 'your-textdomain' );
    $columns['shipping_country'] = __( 'Ship To', 'your-textdomain' );
    return $columns;
} );

add_filter( 'ast_fulfillment_dashboard_column_content', function( $value, $order, $column_key ) {
    switch ( $column_key ) {
        case 'payment_method':
            $value = $order->get_payment_method_title();
            break;
        case 'item_count':
            $value = $order->get_item_count();
            break;
        case 'shipping_country':
            $value = $order->get_shipping_country();
            break;
    }
    return $value;
}, 10, 3 );

Useful WC_Order methods

Method	Returns
`$order->get_id()`	Order ID
`$order->get_payment_method_title()`	Payment method label (e.g. “PayPal”)
`$order->get_item_count()`	Total quantity of items
`$order->get_shipping_country()`	Two-letter shipping country code
`$order->get_billing_email()`	Customer billing email
`$order->get_total()`	Order total (float)
`$order->get_meta( 'key' )`	Any custom order meta value

Notes

Use a unique key for each column (e.g. my_note, payment_method) — duplicate keys silently overwrite each other.
Column values are output as-is. If your value contains user-generated content, escape it with esc_html() before returning.
Columns are appended after the built-in dashboard columns in the order you add them to the $columns array. They cannot currently be reordered or inserted between existing columns.
These filters are available from AST PRO version 3.0 onwards.

Troubleshooting

Column header appears but cells are empty — the most common cause is missing the 10, 3 priority and argument count on add_filter. Without 3, $order and $column_key are not passed to the callback and $value is returned unchanged.
Fatal error on paste — the code block above uses clean ASCII quotes and standard indentation. If you copy from a rich-text source (email, PDF, Word) smart quotes or non-breaking spaces may be introduced. Paste into a plain-text editor first, then copy into functions.php.
Filter not firing — confirm the code is in an active child theme’s functions.php or a must-use plugin. Code added after the Fulfillment Dashboard has already initialised (e.g. on a late hook) will not register the columns in time.