Sort admin menu items

3 comments

1. It can be done sorting the global $submenu.

   The sorting that’s applied resets the key number of the sub-array $submenu['options-general.php'], which is:

   array
     'options-general.php' => 
       array
         10 => 
           array
             0 => string 'General'
             1 => string 'manage_options'
             2 => string 'options-general.php'
         15 => 
           array
             0 => string 'Writing'
             1 => string 'manage_options'
             2 => string 'options-writing.php'
         // etc
   

   and becomes:

   array
     'options-general.php' => 
       array
         0 => 
           array
             0 => string 'Discussion'
             1 => string 'manage_options'
             2 => string 'options-discussion.php'
         1 => 
           array
             0 => string 'General'
             1 => string 'manage_options'
             2 => string 'options-general.php'
         // etc
   

   Here, we are considering the length of the default items equal to six. Prior to WordPress 3.5, there were 7 items, Privacy is now gone and embedded with the Reading tab.

   Testing locally, this doesn’t produce any unexpected result and works ok. Maybe if a plugin depended on $submenu['options-general.php'][15] to position itself or something else, bugs could happen.

   Sort is being applied separately for the default items and for the rest of them. Just disable the usort of the first block and you have your desired output.

   add_action( 'admin_menu', 'sort_settings_menu_wpse_2331', 999 );
   
   function sort_settings_menu_wpse_2331() 
   {
       global $submenu;
   
       // Sort default items
       $default = array_slice( $submenu['options-general.php'], 0, 6, true );
       usort( $default, 'sort_arra_asc_so_1597736' );
   
       // Sort rest of items
       $length = count( $submenu['options-general.php'] );
       $extra = array_slice( $submenu['options-general.php'], 6, $length, true );
       usort( $extra, 'sort_arra_asc_so_1597736' );
   
       // Apply
       $submenu['options-general.php'] = array_merge( $default, $extra );
   }
   
   //http://stackoverflow.com/a/1597788/1287812
   function sort_arra_asc_so_1597736( $item1, $item2 )
   {
       if ($item1[0] == $item2[0]) return 0;
       return ( $item1[0] > $item2[0] ) ? 1 : -1;
   }
   

   

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2. I was looking for the same thing and figured I would copy code provide by Mike below which he claims is still very much in alpha since its only been him that has been using it.

   I have tested it and it seems to work well for me. I’m sure there are use-cases they do not yet handle.

   Maybe Mike will comment in here and provide additional help on how you can use his class to achieve your goals.

   You can download the file to drop in your theme’s directory here: https://gist.github.com/792b7aa5b695d1092520

   What follows below shows how you might call the functions in your theme’s functions.php file:

   <?php
   require_once('wp-admin-menu-classes.php');
   add_action('admin_menu','my_admin_menu');
   function my_admin_menu() {
     swap_admin_menu_sections('Pages','Posts');              // Swap location of Posts Section with Pages Section
     rename_admin_menu_section('Media','Photos & Video');    // Rename Media Section to "Photos & Video"
     delete_admin_menu_section('Links');                     // Get rid of Links Section
     $movie_tags_item_array = get_admin_menu_item_array('Movies','Movie Tags');  // Save off the Movie Tags Menu
     update_admin_menu_section('Movies',array(               // Rename two Movie Menu Items and Delete the Movie Tags Item
       array('rename-item','item'=>'Movies','new_title'=>'List Movies'),
       array('rename-item','item'=>'Add New','new_title'=>'Add Movie'),
       array('delete-item','item'=>'Movie Tags'),
     ));
     copy_admin_menu_item('Movies',array('Actors','Add New')); // Copy the 'Add New' over from Actors
     renamed_admin_menu_item('Movies','Add New','Add Actor');  // Rename copied Actor 'Add New' to 'Add Actor
     add_admin_menu_item('Movies',array(                       // (Another way to get a 'Add Actor' Link to a section.)
       'title' => 'Alt Add Actor ',
       'slug' => 'post-new.php?post_type=actor',
     ), array(// Add Back the Movie Tags at the end.
       'where'=>'end'
     ));
     add_admin_menu_item('Movies',$movie_tags_item_array,array(// Add Back the Movie Tags at the end.
       'where'=>'end'
     ));
     delete_admin_menu_section('Actors');                      // Finally just get rid of the actors section
   }
   

   What’s more, these functions are even under consideration (as a base) for inclusion in WordPress 3.1 so if we’re lucky these might even become standard!

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3. Thought this could be useful as another option. Here is a simple usort on the global $submenu. I use admin_init hook, because admin_menu may still have other plugins adding submenu items (in my case it did, so that was too early to do sorting). Also note the anonymous (lambda) function in the usort requires PHP 5.3+.

   <?php 
   add_action('admin_init','my_admin_init');
   function my_admin_init() {
       global $submenu;
       $submenu_key = 'my_key'; // See note below on $submenu_key
       if ( array_key_exists( $submenu_key, $submenu ) ) {
           // alphabetize submenu items
           usort( $submenu[ $submenu_key ], function ( $a, $b ) {
               // format of a submenu item is [ 'My Item', 'read', 'manage-my-items', 'My Item' ]
               return strcasecmp( $a[0], $b[0] );
           } );
       }
   }
   

   Note that $submenu_key is $parent_slug in add_submenu_page, which is the same as $menu_slug in add_menu_page.

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