Persistent Account Menu for HivePress [Custom Plugin]

[ChrisB]

Hey @everyone,

Following a great discussion in this topic, I’m pleased to properly release my latest free plugin: Persistent Account Menu for HivePress.

By default, HivePress and its extensions only show an account menu item once there’s something for the page to list. No favourited listings means no Favorites link, no bookings means no Bookings link, and so on. That keeps the menu tidy, but as @astro pointed out, it also hides features from new users entirely, and it can look like a bug when an item you saw yesterday quietly disappears.

This plugin flips that behaviour. Every role-relevant account menu item stays visible, and each empty page displays a friendly empty state instead: an icon, a short explanation of what the page is for, and a button prompting the obvious next action (for example, an “Add listing” button on an empty Listings page).

Examples:

Features

• Keeps all role-relevant account menu items visible at all times, even when empty
• Adds an icon, explanatory text and a call-to-action button to every empty account page
• Vendor aware, so vendor-only items (Calendar, Received Orders, Payouts) only appear for users with a vendor profile
• Supports HivePress core plus the Favorites, Messages, Bookings, Marketplace, Memberships, Requests and Search Alerts extensions, and WooCommerce orders and subscriptions
• Only forces items whose extension is actually active, so it adapts to your setup automatically
• Pairs “Received Orders” and “Placed Orders” for vendors, so the two order pages are never ambiguous
• Updates directly from GitHub in your WordPress dashboard, including one-click and automatic updates
• Customisable via filters, so you can add, remove or reword any item and notice
• Free and open source (GPLv3), in a single lightweight file

Download and installation

Download the latest release here, then upload it via Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin and activate.

The internals are source-verified against the current versions of HivePress and each supported extension, so everything behaves exactly like the native pages, just without the disappearing act.

Thanks to @astro for the idea and the nudge. If you run into any issues, find bugs or think of an awesome new feature, please drop a reply below!

P.S. If this extension saved you time or money, consider buying me a coffee! Sharing these tools for free takes a lot of time and resources, and your support helps me keep doing it for the community. Thank you!

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisB]

v1.3.0 - Plugin Update Notes

New

• All of the plugin’s texts - notices, button labels and admin messages - can now be translated or reworded with tools like Loco Translate.

Changed

• The button now uses the standard HivePress primary button styling (button–primary), the same prominent styling HivePress uses for the main action buttons, which themes colour with the accent colour chosen in the customiser.

Example:

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisB]

v1.4.0 - Plugin Update Notes

New

• You can now choose which account menu items are force-displayed, under HivePress → Settings → Default Menu Items. Unchecked items simply revert to the default HivePress behaviour and appear only once there’s something to show.
• Only items from your active extensions are listed, and the new settings texts are translatable.
• Until you save the settings for the first time, all items stay visible, so updating changes nothing on existing sites.

Example:

Cheers,
Chris

[astro]

Amazing work!!!

This, paired with the Menu Enhancer for Hivepress plugin is an absolute must if you want your site to look professional and complete.

[kseniia]

Hi Chris,

This is a fantastic addition to the HivePress ecosystem!

I have to say, it’s really exciting to see what you come up with next. I find myself checking in and wondering, “What’s coming today?”

Of course, no pressure at all, I just wanted to share my appreciation and say thank you for putting so much effort into creating custom solutions and contributing to the community. These kinds of contributions make the HivePress ecosystem stronger and give other users even more possibilities to build unique projects.

[astro]

Feature request/Suggestion:
Make it so that the cta buttons are customizable with the ability to change button text and its link. This will be specially useful if users have custom pages for membership plans or listings. It will also eliminate the need to use loco translate/custom snippets.

[ChrisB]

Hi @astro,

Thanks for the suggestions. Just implemented those for you now!

If you update the plugin via your WordPress dashboard, you’ll find the new options in the Default Menu Items settings tab in HivePress > Settings.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisB]

v1.5.1 - Plugin Update Notes

New

• Customizable buttons - By community request, you can now change each placeholder page’s button from HivePress → Settings → Default Menu Items: override the button’s label text, point it at any URL (or a relative path like /listings), or add a button to the Received Orders and Payouts pages by setting both fields. Blank fields keep the defaults.

• Settings page quick link - added a quick link that takes you to the plugin’s settings tab on the entry shown in the WordPress plugins page.

Update via your dashboard as usual!

Example:

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisB]

Hey @kseniia,

​Thank you for the kind words and wonderful feedback! It really makes my day to read this and to know that I’m able to contribute something useful to the community.

​Haha! There are certainly more ideas and extensions to come, and I’m eager to release them as soon as possible. However, the next ones I’m focusing on are quite complex, so they still require a bit more tweaking and testing.

​No doubt you’ll see a new topic appear soon, though!

My hope with this collection of custom extensions is to spark a bit of creativity and help everyone build something unique, rather than having sites that all end up looking pretty much the same.

​P.S. I believe Astro’s feature request was actually directed at this plugin rather than HivePress as a whole.

​Cheers,
Chris

[astro]

You absolute god gifted legend.

I just sent over 5 coffees as a thank you!

[ChrisB]

Hi @astro,

Haha, you’re very welcome, and thank you so much for the donation. That’s really kind of you!

Happy HivePress-ing!

Cheers,
Chris

[kseniia]

I’ve returned astro’s request back.

Thanks for help!

[ihor]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for sharing this, and especially for updating the extension – really appreciate the effort and contribution. It indeed improves the UI, especially when additional “call-to-actions” are needed on the website.