Add an admin page, but don't show it on the admin menu
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26-04-2021 - |
Question
I have a custom plugin 'Charts' that has it's own menu. In that menu are links to the 3 pages for the plugin - 'Charts', 'Add Chart' and 'Edit Chart'. However, I don't want to display the link to 'Edit Chart'.
Here is how I add the page in question -
$this->pagehook = add_submenu_page('charts', __('Edit Chart'), __('Edit Chart'), 'edit_charts', 'edit-chart', array(&$this, 'on_show_page'));
I've scoured the internet, and cannot find a way to do this (that works). It's possible to remove whole top level menus (not what I need), and you can remove individual entries from the $submenu
global (but doing that also removes the registered capability), so no one can access the page -
global $submenu;
if(!empty($submenu['charts'])) : foreach($submenu['charts'] as $key => $page) :
if($page[0] === 'Edit Chart') :
/** Removes all permissions to access the page */
//unset($submenu['charts'][$key]);
/** Removes the title, but the menu entry still exists, so it looks odd */
$submenu['charts'][$key][0] = '';
endif;
endforeach;
endif;
I've looked in to hiding it via CSS, but can't see a way to do that through the HTML that Wordpress generates -
<li><a href="admin.php?page=edit-chart" tabindex="1">Edit Chart</a></li>
I've also considered jQuery, but that has similar limitations to the CSS route, plus I refust to believe that I am the only one that has ever wished to do this - there must be a way, I just can't find it!
Any hints and tips appriciated.
Thanks.
Solution
Use a submenu page as parent slug. The admin menu has just two levels, so the imaginary third level will be hidden.
Sample code, tested:
add_action( 'admin_menu', 'wpse_73622_register_hidden_page' );
function wpse_73622_register_hidden_page()
{
add_submenu_page(
'options-writing.php',
'Hidden!',
'Hidden!',
'exists',
'wpse_73622',
'wpse_73622_render_hidden_page'
);
# /wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpse_73622
}
function wpse_73622_render_hidden_page()
{
echo '<p>hello world</p>';
}
OTHER TIPS
From the docs on add_submenu_page()
, you see that you can hide your submenu link from a top level menu item to which it belongs be setting the slug
(1st argument) to null
:
add_action( 'admin_menu', 'register_my_custom_submenu_page' );
function register_my_custom_submenu_page() {
add_submenu_page(
null,
'My Custom Submenu Page',
'My Custom Submenu Page',
'manage_options',
'my-custom-submenu-page',
'my_custom_submenu_page_callback',
);
}
To highlight the desired menu item (e.g. 'all charts' when accessing the hidden 'edit chart' page), you can do the following:
add_filter( 'submenu_file', function($submenu_file){
$screen = get_current_screen();
if($screen->id === 'id-of-page-to-hide'){
$submenu_file = 'id-of-page-to-higlight';
}
return $submenu_file;
});
You could use CSS, and you will be able to access it through the URL in the href tag:
#adminmenu a[href="admin.php?page=edit-chart"] {
display: none;
}
There are no extra paddings or spacings for the parent LI element, so you don't need to hide it. You will also still be able to access the submenu.