How to use admin_menu action in WordPress

admin_menu action

Fires before the administration menu loads in the admin.

To use the admin_menu action, you first have to register it using add_action. You can write this code into functions.php of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the below live example, we have defined a function execute_on_admin_menu_event which takes 1 parameter, and we registered it using add_action. The first parameter admin_menu is the name of the hook, the second parameter execute_on_admin_menu_event is the name of the function which needs to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times, and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you have to remove a registered hook, so you can use remove_action to remove the admin_menu action.

Parameters

Below the 1 parameter is required to use this hook.

• $context: (string) Empty context.

Live Example 1: Changing Media Labels

This example shows how you can change the labels in the media menu.

add_action( 'admin_menu', 'weplugins_change_media_label' );
function weplugins_change_media_label(){
  global $menu, $submenu;
  debug_msg($menu);
  $menu[10][0] = 'Photos/Videos';
  $submenu['upload.php'][5][0] = 'All Photos/Videos';
  $submenu['upload.php'][10][0] = 'Upload new';
}

Live Example 2: Custom Function on Admin Menu Load

Below is an example of how you can use this hook to execute custom functionality.

function weplugins_execute_on_admin_menu_event($context){
   //You can write code here to be executed when this action occurs in WordPress. Use the parameters received in the function arguments & implement the required additional custom functionality according to your website requirements.
}
// add the action
add_action( "admin_menu", "weplugins_execute_on_admin_menu_event" , 10, 1);

Live Example 3: Removing a Hook Callback

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

remove_action( "admin_menu", "weplugins_execute_on_admin_menu_event", 10, 1 );

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.

Contact Us

If you’re having any trouble using this hook or need customization, please contact us and we’d be happy to assist you.