Contributors: vprat, marvinlabs
Donate link: http://www.marvinlabs.com/donate/
Tags: private files,client area,customer area,client portal,customer portal,user files,secure area,crm,project,project management,access control,files
Requires at least: 3.8
Tested up to: 4.3
Stable tag: 6.2.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
WP Customer Area is a modular all-in-one solution to manage private content with WordPress.
WP Customer Area is a modular all-in-one solution to manage private content with WordPress. Sharing files/pages with one or multiple users is one of the main feature provided by our easy-to-use plugin. Give it a try!
- Demos
- Add-ons
- Documentation
- Translations
- Support
- FAQ
- GitHub repository for contributors
- Issue tracker
Current features
- Secure customer area, accessible to logged-in users
- Private pages, that can be assigned to a particular user and will get listed in its customer area
- Private files, that can be assigned to a particular user and will get listed in its customer area
- Show private files grouped by category / by year / ungrouped in the customer area
- Comments on private files and pages: the customer/user can send some feedback/observations about it
- Customize the plugin appearance using your own themes and templates
Extensions and themes are now available!
WP Customer Area is available for free and should cover the needs of most users. If you want to encourage us to actively maintain it, or if you need a particular feature not included in the basic plugin, you can buy our premium extensions from our online shop
Special thanks
To Steve Steiner for his intensive testing on the plugin, his bug reports and support.
To the translators who send us their translations:
- Catalan by Amanda Fontana
- Dutch by Paul Willems and Peter Massar
- English by MarvinLabs
- French by MarvinLabs
- German by Benjamin Oechsler
- Hungarian by Jagri István
- Spanish by Ulises and e-rgonomy
- Brazilian Portuguese by Ricardo Silva and Marcos Meyer Hollerweger
- Italian by Andrea Starz and Antonio Cicirelli
- Swedish by Patric Liljestrand
- Turkish by Mehmet Hakan
If you translate the plugin to your language, feel free to send us the translation files, we will include them and give you the credit for it on this page.
We have a safe upgrade procedure that needs to be followed, specially if you have installed any add-ons to the main plugin: Important upgrade procedure for WP Customer Area
Version 4 introduces a brand new menu system and breaks many templates that have been there in version 3.x. Coming from that version, you will need to create the pages that are necessary to display the private content types. Before upgrading the plugin, backup your files and database. It is advised that you attempt the upgrade on a development site first.
- Nothing special, just upload the files, activate and you can then visit the settings page if you want. Like any other plugin
- You need then to create a page and insert the [customer-area] shortcode. Your customers will be able to access their private content on that page.
- Finally, you will need to create content for the users (!): you can start with a private file for instance. Just check out the WordPress menu in your administration panel, you can add new customer files just like any post. Simply upload a file (below the content box), set the owner of that file, publish, and your customer should be able to see it.
1. The customer area for logged-in customer "Gail". Files are grouped by categories. A click on the category title
expands the panel. Currently shown is the "Invoices" category.
2. The customer area for logged-in customer "Gail". Files are grouped by categories. A click on the category title
expands the panel. Currently shown is the "Product Samples" category.
4. The detail page for a private file. Same page as in the previous screenshot, except that we have scrolled down
to show that you can also comment on a private file, you can then have a discussion with your customer about that particular file
5. The private file edition page. You can have a title, description, attach a file and set the owner easily, as in any
other WordPress admin screen
9. The lost password screen when the login form add-on is enabled. Also shows the integration with the Really Simple
CAPTCHA plugin.
10. The registration screen when the login form add-on is enabled. Also shows the integration with the Really Simple
CAPTCHA plugin.
11. Send a notification to your customer when you create a new private file (see top-right box). You need to enable
the notifications add-on.
You have all the information on the plugin website:
Open a new topic on the plugin's support forum, I will consider every feature request and all ideas are welcome.
Contributions are welcome. The plugin has a GitHub repository for contributors feel free to fork the project and send us pull requests!
- New: private files attachment interface has been improved drastically with AJAX and drag'n'drop
- New: private files storage folder can now be set with a setting
- New: support for the Smart groups add-on
- New: function to test if we are currently on a given WP Customer Area page (for theme developers)
- New: the private files settings page now helps you to secure the storage and FTP folders
- New: allow tagging menu items to hide/show them #117
- Fix: updated all template functions for files to be able to pass the file index as a parameter
- Fix: permalinks to categories (private files or pages) were not correct when included as menu items
- Fix: bug in admin access restriction
- Fix: most 404 problems happening because of SSL should now be fixed #145
- Fix: log advanced filters not working properly on event type #147
Add-on changes
- New: Authentication forms - Hooks to change the form links (see code snippet)
- New: Authentication forms - Allow users to login using their email address too
- New: Enhanced Files - first add-on release
- New: Smart groups - first add-on release
- Fix: Some PHP versions did not like a method visibility change in the list table classes
- Fix: A small bug preventing to select category in the front-office publishing add-on if no content had previously been assigned to any category
- Fix: The admin bar was not hidden anymore to users who should not be able to see it
- New: important events are now logged: content viewed, file download, owner changed. Many more event types to come soon!
- New: filter the private content lists to see only the content visible by a given user
- New: hook to change the default owner type (See our corresponding code snippet)
- New: improved the administration panel. The menu has been made much clearer. Added advanced filters for private content.
- New: translation files can now be stored outside the plugin folder
- New: added a shortcode to display the navigation menu (see the shortcodes documentation)
- New: added a shortcode to list protected content (see the shortcodes documentation)
- New: hook to change the name shown in the owner selection box (see corresponding code snippet)
- Fix: pagination is now filtered if there are too many ages to show
- Fix: hide customer area pages in search results
- Fix: admin bar was shown to guests when admin restriction setting was not enabled
- Fix: PHP error in the front-end publishing module
Add-on changes
- New: Authentication forms - now plays nice with Peters' login redirect plugin for even more control
- New: Projects - project property updates are now logged (progress, dates, etc.)
- New: Protect post types - brand new add-on to protect external custom post types (from other plugins)
- New: ACF Integration - updated supported version of ACF to 4.4.1
- Fix: Front-office publishing - the "page created" message was displayed twice
- Fix: Conversations - fix PHP error in template file to list replies
- Fix: Managed groups - PHP warning in the group edition page and support for WPCA 6.1
- Fix: Additional Owner Types - support for WPCA 6.1
- Fix: Tasks - support for WPCA 6.1
- New: a setup assistant for first time installation & about page to introduce new versions features
- New: support for the new website at http://wp-customerarea.com
- New: permissions to protect the account pages (view/edit account from frontend)
- New: improved the permissions settings page
- New: new permission to restrict access to the account pages (view account details / edit account details)
- New: new permission to show/hide the WordPress admin bar from the front-end for some roles
- New: new permission to restrict access to the WordPress admin area for some roles
- Fix: bug that was showing the comments related to the last private content on the dashboard page
- Fix: the function cuar_is_customer_area_private_content was not returning true for private containers (such as projects)
- Fix: an email validation bug for additional profile fields created by code
- Fix: improved detection of main plugin errors (not installed, disabled) for add-ons.
- Fix: the widgets have been made more flexible to be able to override the output by using templates
- Fix: the term list widget was not properly printing child terms
- Fix: bug on the settings page on Windows IIS servers
- Fix: updated Dutch translations - thanks to Peter Massar
- Fix: a few minor UI adjustments
- Fix: some settings on some tabs were not saved properly
- Fix: bug preventing from saving the settings on some tabs (resulting in either error 404, 500, ...)
- Fix: some responsive adjustments to the default-v4 frontend theme
- Fix: admin styles for the Tasks add-on
- New: compatibility with the new Projects add-on (to manage projects and/or organize private content by project rather than by type)
- New: private content lists are now paginated. This speeds up page loading when users have a lot of private content.
- New: widget to show all authors of the private content you own. Can be used to see which files you have created for example.
- New: menu in the admin bar to bring you directly to the page you are looking for
- New: tool to help find & delete outdated customer pages (see Customer Area > Status > Pages)
- New: theme developers now have some tools to disable some settings if their theme supports styling and/or external libraries
- New: adding a filter to change the base storage directory for private data (files for instance): 'cuar/core/ownership/base-private-storage-directory'
- Fix: a server error 500 occuring when another plugin also uses the Easy Digital Downloads licensing system
- Fix: Changed item templates to be compatible with the updated Customer Area 4 theme (better responsiveness)
- Fix: javascript error in the private files and private pages settings
- Fix: avoid defining the wp_bootstrap_navwalker class multiple times if other themes/plugins are already using it
- Fix: normalized a lot of action and filter names (big clean-up on that side to make it more organized and try to make it more understandable)
- Fix: some improvements on the default-v4 skin (credits go to Thomas Lartaud)
- New: compatibility with the new ACF Integration add-on (to add custom fields to the user accounts and/or private content)
- New: users can now edit their account information (email, password)
- New: Add a parameter to the category widgets to hide/show empty categories
- Fix: Updated the Italian translation. Credits go to Antonio Cicirelli.
- Fix: months where not properly localized in the archive titles and widgets
- New: compatibility with the new Search add-on
- New: allow fetching templates from multiple root directories (dev. feature)
- New: added a category filter in the private page and private file administration pages.
- New: function to print the private file size (cuar_the_file_size)
- New: templates now have a version number. This will help you to detect your outdated overriden templates.
- New: slighlty improved template debug info
- New: added feature to import/export settings (see Customer Area > Status > Settings)
- New: Added the addon ID in the add-on status page (useful for developers)
- New: Added more page information in the pages status page (useful for developers)
- New: Added a hook to change the redirect URL for root pages
- Fix: Translation problem in the customer account page
- Fix: renamed the dashboard query filter
- Fix: bug in some file templates functions
- New: new template functions. See the directory "customer-area/includes/functions" for details
- New: some templates have been updated to use the new template functions
- New: add a warning when we detect that permalinks are disabled
- Fix: do not force to select a category when creating content and no category has yet been created
- Fix: the rich editor setting was not working properly for some add-ons
- Fix: refactoring typo that was affecting the "advanced owner restrictions" add-on
- Fix: another "headers already sent" bug. This one was tricky. Hopefully that's the last one...
- New: Allow filtering queries for date archive and recent content widgets
- Fix: Filter name for content queries was wrong
- New: Added a list of all hooks (actions and filters) that are available to developers in the status page.
- Fix: a strange bug that most likely happens when you hav orphan menu items in your database.
- New: setting to output debug information for developers about the templates used in a page
- New: Added some developer info in the status page for customer pages (to help findind which template to override)
- Fix: logout page bug when getting the warning "headers already sent"
- New: Add a class to the body element on customer area pages (helps to tweak CSS)
- Fix: redirect issue occuring sometimes (headers already sent)
- Fix: small issue when re-creating the customer area menu in some cases
- Fix: Some small fixes on the default-v4 theme
- New: Added a reminder to configure the plugin permissions
- Fix: normal WordPress pages could not be added to any navigation menu
THIS IS A MAJOR UPDATE - PLEASE MAKE SOME TESTS ON YOUR DEVELOPMENT AND TEST SITES BEFORE UPGRADING YOUR LIVE WEBSITE
- Completely changed the way information is displayed in the frontend. Now the plugin uses a system of pages similar to the one used by WooCommerce for example. This has allowed greater possibilities for customization (Widget areas, more templates to override, ...)
- The customer area main navigation menu now is a WordPress menu that can be customized just like any other WordPress menu (from the admin page: "Appearance" > "Menus")
- Restructured the options page. It now has less tabs and should group options in a more logical way. If you have commercial add-ons, you may need to enter their license key again. These are available by logging-in with your credentials at http://www.marvinlabs.com/shop/your-account/
- Added category column in the admin page for private files and private pages (A pending feature request from several users)
- Refactored a lot of code to make the plugin ligher and more efficient. Should also reduce the amount of duplicated code and thus the potential hidden bugs.
- Add possibility to include a function file in your Customer Area theme (See included frontend theme: default-v4). Works like WordPress' functions.php file for themes except that this file should be located in your Customer Area theme folder (not the WordPress theme's folder) and it should be named 'cuar-functions.php'
- Added lot of mime types, this should fix th "0 bytes downloads" bug on old browsers.
- Improved the interface to select private content owners. Threw in some jQuery goodness.
- Load frontend scripts only when showing the Customer Area page (not on the other pages of the website)
- Better error handling when uploading forbidden file types and files which exceed the size limit
- Fix a PHP warning message on some servers for new install (Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by ...)
- Updated Brazilian Portuguese translation
- Added a button to reset options to default values (settings > Support)
- Add page categories
- Adjust styles for new WP 3.8 admin
- Added some value to the main Customer Area admin dashboard (news / FAQ / resources / ...)
- Updated Dutch translation
- Updated Dutch translation
- Added Swedish translation
- Added some support functions to new Collaboration add-on features.
- Added a template function to show the private content owner name
- Added the setup wizard (was not showing up anymore)
- Remove a PHP warning in the new private file screen when the FTP upload folder does not exist
- Fixed a bug when setting a default owner with Collaboration add-on active and without Extended Permissions add-on active
- Optimised a lot of pages that were slow, in particular on sites with lots of users
- Allow to copy files from an FTP folder rather than directly uploading them from the browser. Handy for big files! Thanks to Pat O'Brien for his work on this feature.
- Added POT file to easy translation work
- Added some handy actions and filters
- Added compatibility with the new add-on to view another Customer Area easily
- Added a setting to adjust the number of items shown in the dashboard for each private content type
- Allow listing private files grouped by months
- Fix main menu warnings when using the collaboration add-on
- Fixed a fatal error when showing the customer area for a guest user
- Allowing to output the main menu in the single post pages (Some templates have changed in the customer page core add-on, careful if you have customized any of those)
- Fixed a typo causing a fatal error below "select the type of owner"
- Added actions and filters to allow more customisation without having to change the templates
- Added a new capability for private content to allow some role to be able to view any private content (useful for admins/moderators)
- Refined capabilities for the back-office
- Updated italian translation
- Added a way to hide the owner when only a single owner is selectable when creating private content (requested by 2 users). This is disabled by default and enabled by a checkbox in the general plugin settings.
- Fixed bug when accessing a private file/page/conversation directly: if the user follows a link directly to a private page, this presents the standard wordpress login and not the plugin login page.
- Added Italian translation by Andrea Starz
- Adjusted the styling for the add-ons page
- Made the warning message about "no customer area page detected" clearer
- A small update needed by the new Notifications add-on version
- Added a 20-second setup wizard for new installs
- Removed view link for files (not very useful and causes problems with some file types on some browsers, e.g. pdf on Chrome)
- Show more information about private files and private pages in single post views
- Fixed a problem for titles in the customer page when using the Collaborations add-on
- Updated the way the action menu is displayed (no more button, just a simple list of actions)
- Better layout for the customer area: private content is now displayed in its own content type page and the customer area only shows the most recent content (like a dashboard)
- As a consequence of the above, and for naming consistency, the templates have been renamed for private files and pages
- Added Brazilian Portuguese translation by Ricardo Silva (http://walbatroz.com)
- Add link to main Customer Area page (Dashboard) in the menu
- Added more details to the list of files and pages
- Added a way to restrict listing of private content in the administration area (if user does not have the capability to list all the content, he will only see the content he authored)
- Support for 3 new add-ons: Managed Groups, Owner Restrictions and Messenger
- Allowing to scroll the capabilities table (see http://wordpress.org/support/topic/cant-access-capabilities)
- Added German translation by Benjamin Oechsler (http://benlocal.de/)
- Added a warning if permalinks are disabled
- Fixed a bug causing warnings to show up on the Collaborations add-on page
- Fixed a bug showing the file categories to user who did not necessarily have access to it
- Fixed a few untranslatable messages
- Fixed an error on the embedded add-ons page on some servers
- Added Dutch translation by Paul Willems
- Fixed categories cannot be assigned to private files by users without admin/editor role
- Fixed file was not getting moved properly when changing an owner from an existing file
- Fixed a regression that removed the links to logout or to come back to the customer area main page
- Fixed a bug causing the collaboration add-on not to upload files properly
- Adding translation to Estonian language (Courtesy of R. Huusmann)
- Update required for the new Extended Permissions features (multiple user selection)
- Changed the permalink structure for private posts and pages to make it prettier and to avoid exposing who the owner is
- Fix corrupted file download on some servers (see http://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-image-files)
- Added spanish translation (Courtesy of http://e-rgonomy.com)
- Added some filters to change the titles of the files and pages sections (see FAQ)
- Added a FAQ entry
- New functions for the collaboration addon
- Refactored a few functions from "Post Owner" and "Private Files" core add-ons to allow re-use of code
- Added an optional action bar on top of the customer area (if any add-on wants to show actions there)
- Refined capabilities for private files and private pages (separated "delete" and "edit" capabilities)
- Fixed a few other minor bugs
- Fixed a bug in the private files settings page
- Added troubleshooting information to the settings page to help support
- Refactored all the code controlling the ownership of a post to have less crashes and more possibilities for extensions.
- This update will require you to also update all the add-ons if you bought any.
- Fixed bug: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-keep-the-submenu-opened-when-editing-a-page-or-file
- Fixed bug: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-keep-the-submenu-opened-when-editing-a-page-or-file
- Fixed bug: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp_debug-notice-for-fileperms
- Some internal code to allow add-ons to warn if you are running an incompatible version of Customer Area
- Added a new private content type: private pages
- Possibility to disable private files from the settings if that add-on is not required
- Re-organised the administration menu under a single menu item
- Added a quick link to the settings in the plugin list
- Added some version upgrade mechanism for the future
- Added an indication in the settings to give the path of private files and to say if permissions are correctly set
- Added a kind of dashboard page as the plugin entry point, that should be filled later on (feels empty right now, we are waiting for your ideas)
- Fixed a bug with permalinks (again)
- Added contextual help in the settings page
- Created an add-on tab in the settings, you can now easily know which add-ons could help you enhance your customer area
- Fixed a bug with permalinks
- Added a capability manager for the plugin
- Added setting to show/hide empty file categories
- Added setting to select the theme
- Added some hooks to customize the login page and the customer area
- Added a link to logout of the customer area
- Added download count
- Added support for comments on private files
- Added compatibility with PHP 5.2
- Added possibility to show files grouped by category / by year / ungrouped in the customer area
- Updated french translation
- Don't show register link if registration is disabled anyway
- Redirect to login page if accessing directly a private file and not logged-in
- Fixed a bug in the permalinks preventing the file downloads
- Improved settings page
- Fixed a bug in the frontend
- First plugin release
- Upload private files for your customer