Managing Client Dashboards

If it’s not clear from the name, the plugin is aimed at developers doing work for clients and managing client dashboards to prevent clients messing up the work you have done. This is a plugin From WP Codeus, who are located in Madison, WI, USA. Apart from their own client work they make three plugins, one of which is Ultimate Client Dash.

There is a free version in the WordPress repository, and a Pro version on their plugin-specific site at Ultimate Client Dash.

From the blurbs, with the free version you can do the following in client dashboards:

  • Manage & hide default WordPress widgets, and even create your own.
  • Easily create a beautiful landing page while you work on your clients website.
  • Add code snippets and easily manage all aspects of Analytics & Pixel Tracking on your website.
  • Create custom notices and messages for your clients or users when they login.

In the Pro version you can also do this in client dashboards:

  • Give your clients access to only things they need. No more accidentally broken sites.
  • Remove dashboard menu items from all roles or the role client.
  • Fly your brands colours in the dashboard. Modernise the client dashboard with our custom theme.
  • Hide WordPress notification nags & alerts from your clients.

I’m going to have to give this a try because one of the essential things this plugin needs to be able to do is to hide itself. Watch this space.

Dropbox Interface Problem

Here’s the problem: I put a folder into my local Dropbox. There is no green check mark – nothing. I looked in Dropbox in the browser online and it is there – so why no local green check mark on the local folder?

Here’s the solution (at least on a Mac) for the problem that the local folders are not syncing.

  • Click on the Dropbox icon from your Desktop and quit the application.
  • Open your Activity Monitor from your Applications folder.
  • Force quit out of the instances of the Dropbox application that are running by searching for “Dropbox” in the search bar, then clicking on the “x” force quit icon on the top left.
  • Re-start Dropbox from the Applications folder.
  • Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen.
  • Force quit and then restart Finder.

Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce

By default, you will see a Description tab in the individual product pages, If you enable product reviews in WooCommerce then you will see a second tab for Reviews. If you set up a variable product you will also see a tab for Additional information.

If you want to set up more custom tabs, there is a plugin Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce in the WordPress repository, with a pro version that gives more options. Addify make a Custom Products tab manager sold as an extension on WooCommerce.com that offers various layouts.

Email Text Customizer for WooCommerce

UPDATE

This plugin has been closed as of May 27, 2022 and is not available for download. This closure is permanent. Reason: Author Request.

This plugin was As anyone who has worked with WooCommerce knows, the text in the system emails don’t suit every circumstance of every seller. The email text customiser for WooCommerce plugin enables you to rewrite text. There are other ways, but they are more technically challenging, involving language strings and changing template files.

The WordPress repository page for the plugin says that the plugin hasn’t been updated for the past several versions of WooCommerce. The author is Maeve Lander who works at Automattic with the WordPress.com VIP team, helping clients run WordPress at enterprise scale, as you can read on her site.

Note the spelling of customizer, which I have retained because it is the actual name in the WordPress repository. In my native British English is would be spelled customiser, with an s rather than a z.

Login Plugin

The Custom Login plugin is in the WordPress repository and it is made by Ben Gillbanks, who is a core contributor. The plugin enables you to customise the login screen on a WordPress install. I like the way you can set it up with a very minimal appearance.

Restrict Shipping Destinations For Some Products Only

To restrict shipping destinations in WooCommerce specify countries you ship to. Do not set a shipping option for countries you don’t ship to.

But beware how WooCommerce behaves at checkout when you mix products that have different shipping restrictions.

Let’s suppose you sell some products to a lot of countries and some products only with your home country.

You add them to your catalogue and you set up shipping costs for for your home country. And because you are not going to ship outside your home country, you do not set up shipping costs for that item for any other countries.

You add that item to the basket and you say you are a customer in another country. The checkout will flag that it does not have a shipping option for that country. That’s expected behaviour and it’s what we would want.

But now you also add a product that you do ship to many countries to the basket. WooCommerce will override the rule about shipping destinations and charge shipping based on the products that you do ship. That is definitely not what you want.

The solution, is to use the WooCommerce Advanced Shipping Packages extension. It’s not expensive at $49 per year plus tax.