Since version 1.1.0 of the SwiftModders WHMCS Theme Installer, the WHMCS navigation menu can be directly edited for all of our WHMCS Themes via the Menu Manager. This powerful new feature will allow you to edit the menu for non-logged-in and logged-in views. To take advantage of this functionality, please read through the following guide.
Enabling the Menu Manager
By default, the Menu Manager will be disabled, so let’s log in to your WHMCS Admin installation. Once logged in, you’ll need to navigate to “Addons”> “SwiftModders WHMCS Theme Installer.” When the Theme Installer loads, select “Configuration” in the top menu. You will see quite a few options, but the option you’ll want to focus on is “Enable Menu Manager.” Toggle the option to “On,” and that will enable the Menu Manager!
Setting the Initial Menus
The Menu Manager will not contain any menu items until you’ve scanned and installed each menu type. The two types supported:
- Guest: All non-logged-in users
- Client: All logged-in clients
To install each type, click the “Run” button under each menu type. For example, if you wish to install the “Guest” menu type, click the red “Run” button, as seen below.
Once completed, you will see a success message, and a new interface will be displayed. This interface, explained in detail below, allows you to manage each menu item. Before jumping to the next section, do not forget to install the “Client” menu. To do so, click the “Client View” and “Run” buttons. Like the “Guest” menu, you will see the complete interface we’ll walk through below.
Understanding the User Interface & Options
Guest vs. Client Menu
Separating the menus into two distinct types allows you to easily make unique changes to either menu without impacting them both. The limitation here is that you will need to make menu changes to both types if you want to impact menu items that show up in both. However, you can easily switch between the menu items by clicking on the button group above the menu interface. Just be sure to save your menu order changes before navigating away!
Menu Manager Tasks
The Menu Manager comes equipped with a few tasks you can run anytime. Here is a quick breakdown of each task and what they can do for you:
- Find New Items: Use this task to search for custom menu items created by custom WHMCS addons or via the WHMCS Navigation Hooks. To search for menu items only available to guests, leave the “Client ID” blank. To search for menu items available to a specific client or any logged-in client, input the “Client ID” before searching.
- Import Icons: Both the SwiftModders WHMCS Client Theme and Allure WHMCS Theme come with pre-defined menu icons. If you have made changes to those icons, you can use this task to import the menu icons directly into the Menu Manager. The import tool will import icons for both menu types, so you only need to run them once. You can also re-run the import tool if you make a mistake and need to reset the menu icons.
- Sync Language: The labels for your menu items are pulled directly from your Default Language set in your “Localisation” tab of General Settings. The labels will not sync correctly if you change your default language. To help with that, use this tool to run through your menu items and grab the correct label.
- Reset Current Menu: Use this task to start over from the beginning. This task will ask you to confirm as it will delete all your customizations and reset the current menu type with default WHMCS menu items. Always use this option with caution.
Menu Locations
Each menu type has pre-defined menu locations. These locations are placed explicitly within each SwiftModders WHMCS Theme and will be rendered differently.
- The “Primary” menu location houses all of the primary menu items of the theme. Depending on your theme configuration, these menu items are typically viewable in either the side or top menu styles.
- The “Secondary” menu location houses the login/account details menu items. You can add menu items to this area, but it will look different from the Primary Menu. Also, the “Secondary” menu is not meant to house many nav items, be careful. You may end up breaking the design on smaller devices.
Menu Item Options
- Edit: The pencil icon will open the edit modal window for the menu item you select.
- Delete: The trash can icon will delete the menu item you select. You cannot delete menu icons that are native to WHMCS or were imported by the finder task.
- Open/Close: The arrow up/down icons indicate if the menu item is open or closed. In addition, top-level menu items will be able to add child menu items.
Adding a Menu Item
Adding a new menu item to the selected menu type is quite easy. Each menu location will have an “Add New” button at the top. This will create a top-level menu item for the given location. Also, all top-level menu items will have an “Add New” button inside of them. Clicking on the arrow-down icon will unveil any child menu items and the “Add New” button.
Once you have selected the location for your new menu item, click the “Add New” button. A modal window will appear that offers you several menu item fields. Let’s go through what each of these fields can do:
- Identifier: This is the unique name for the menu item. No other menu item within this menu type should have the same name. If one exists, the form will return an error.
- Label: This is the display text for the menu item. By default, this field will only edit the English translation of the menu item. If you wish to translate this menu item, add a new translation variable to the language you want. The name of the translation variable should be the “Identifier” you have set (ex.
$_LANG[‘identifier’]). To learn more about translating items in WHMCS, please view the WHMCS Development Documentation Translating section. - Icon: WHMCS has built-in support for Font Awesome and Glyphicon. This field has a Font Awesome finder but will only present the free icons. If you wish to use “Pro” icons, you can. Note that WHMCS has not added support for Duotone icons.
- URL: This is the URL you wish this menu item to be directed to. If this menu item will have children, it’s best to set this to “#.” By default, WHMCS will change it to “#,” but you must have a value here, or the menu item will not be saved.
- Page: This is an experimental field for future development. More to come on that in the near future!
- Order: This will define the sort order for this menu item among its siblings. You can change the menu item sort order in this field directly or by dragging and dropping the menu item.
- Hide Menu Item: If you wish to remove a particular menu item from view, you can enable this option. It will not be rendered in the menu and effectively works the same as deleting a menu item. The benefit is that the item is still available for later use.
- Classes: If you need to add custom styles to this menu item, you can add specific CSS class selectors. Always make sure your CSS selectors are not too broad, as they could be impacted by other design elements with the same name.
- Target: If the URL for this menu item requires an opening in a new window/tab, you can set that. All menu items will open in the same window/tab by default.
Once you have added the necessary menu item information to this form, click the “Add” button. The menu manager page will refresh, and the menu item will be added to your navigation. All custom menu items created via the Menu Manager will have a trashcan icon if you wish to remove them altogether.
Editing a Menu Item
Editing any menu item is simple and can be initiated by clicking the pencil icon. Once clicked, the edit modal window will open and present pre-filled fields you can modify. All options are similar to the “Adding a Menu Item” section above. The difference is that the “Identifier” field will be grayed out and read-only. This is because specific menu items cannot have their identifier changed. If you must change the identifier of a custom menu item for some reason, you must delete the item and re-add it with the identifier you desire.
Once you have changed the menu item fields, click the “Edit” button, and your menu item will be updated.
Hiding/Deleting a Menu Item
The Menu Manager will present a few options for removing a menu item from public view. If the item is a default WHMCS menu item or has been added via the finder task, it will not have a trashcan (delete) icon available. If you wish to remove this menu item from view, you will have to edit the menu item and enable the “Hide Menu Item” option. This will effectively remove the menu item.
If the menu item you wish to remove were added via the Menu Manager, a trashcan (delete) icon would be available. Clicking the icon will remove the menu item from the Menu Manager altogether. We recommend only deleting a menu item if you are 100% sure you will not need it again. If unsure, you can enable the “Hide Menu Item” option to remove it from public view.
Hiding or deleting a menu item that is a parent will also impact the child menu items. For example, if you hide a menu item with children, the children will also be removed. If you delete a menu item with children, the children will not be removed. Instead, they will have their assigned parent removed and added as top-level menu items. It is recommended that you delete the children before deleting the parent if that is undesirable.
Reorder Menu Items
You can drag and drop the menu items from the Menu Manager interface in the preferred order. You can also move menu items in and out of various parent menu items. You can also edit the sort order for a specific menu item by directly editing the “Order” field. However, you cannot drag and drop menu items between the “Primary” and “Secondary” locations.
Remember that sorting is saved on the fly as you move items around.
Available Variables
The following variables are available for use in menu items:
{firstName}: This variable will display the logged-in client’s first name. The only recommended usage is for the client menu type. (Available in 1.1.0)
As more variables become available, this list will be updated.