Sub-Menus

Add a Sub-Menu #Add a Sub-Menu

To add a new Sub-menu to WordPress Administration, use the add_submenu_page() function.

<?php
add_submenu_page(
    string $parent_slug,
    string $page_title,
    string $menu_title,
    string $capability,
    string $menu_slug,
    callable $function = ''
);

Example #Example

Lets say we want to add a Sub-menu “WPOrg Options” to the “Tools” Top-level menu.

The first step will be creating a function which will output the HTML. In this function we will perform the necessary security checks and render the options we’ve registered using the Settings API.

<?php
function wporg_options_page_html()
{
    // check user capabilities
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        return;
    }
    ?>
    <div class="wrap">
        <h1><?= esc_html(get_admin_page_title()); ?></h1>
        <form action="options.php" method="post">
            <?php
            // output security fields for the registered setting "wporg_options"
            settings_fields('wporg_options');
            // output setting sections and their fields
            // (sections are registered for "wporg", each field is registered to a specific section)
            do_settings_sections('wporg');
            // output save settings button
            submit_button('Save Settings');
            ?>
        </form>
    </div>
    <?php
}

The second step will be registering our WPOrg Options Sub-menu. The registration needs to occur during the admin_menu action hook.

<?php
function wporg_options_page()
{
    add_submenu_page(
        'tools.php',
        'WPOrg Options',
        'WPOrg Options',
        'manage_options',
        'wporg',
        'wporg_options_page_html'
    );
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'wporg_options_page');

For a list of parameters and what each do please see the add_submenu_page() in the reference.

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Predefined Sub-Menus #Predefined Sub-Menus

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had helper functions that define the $parent_slug for WordPress built-in Top-level menus and save us from manually searching it through the source code?

Below is a list of parent slugs and their helper functions:

• add_dashboard_page() – index.php
• add_posts_page() – edit.php
• add_media_page() – upload.php
• add_pages_page() – edit.php?post_type=page
• add_comments_page() – edit-comments.php
• add_theme_page() – themes.php
• add_plugins_page() – plugins.php
• add_users_page() – users.php
• add_management_page() – tools.php
• add_options_page() – options-general.php
• add_options_page() – settings.php
• add_links_page() – link-manager.php – requires a plugin since WP 3.5+
• Custom Post Type – edit.php?post_type=wporg_post_type
• Network Admin – settings.php

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Remove a Sub-Menu #Remove a Sub-Menu

The process of removing Sub-menus is exactly the same as removing Top-level menus.