Admin Controller

The Admin_Controller class lets you customize the WordPress admin editor on a per-template or per-post-type basis. You can hide unwanted metaboxes (excerpt, editor, comments, etc.) and set up post-save redirects — all from a simple configuration array.

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Key Features

• Hide metaboxes: Remove unwanted UI elements from the editor screen
• Post-save redirects: Redirect to a custom URL after saving a post (static or dynamic)
• Multiple match types: Apply rules by template name, post type, post ID, or custom condition
• Dual removal strategy: Uses both remove_meta_box() and CSS injection for reliability
• Gutenberg compatible: Removes editor support early enough for Gutenberg to respect it

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Parameters

• identifier (string): The value to match against — template filename, post type slug, or post ID.
• match_type (string): How to match: 'template', 'post_type', 'post_id', or 'condition'.
• hide_elements (array): Elements to hide from the admin screen.
• redirect (string|callable): URL or callback for redirect after save.
• condition (callable): Optional custom condition that must return true for rules to apply.

Hideable Elements

Value	What it hides
excerpt	Excerpt metabox
thumbnail / featured_image	Featured image metabox
editor	The WordPress editor (classic or Gutenberg)
custom_fields	Custom fields metabox
comments	Comments metabox
slug	Slug/permalink editor
author	Author metabox
revisions	Revisions metabox
page_attributes	Page attributes (template, order)
trackbacks	Trackbacks metabox
categories	Categories metabox
tags	Tags metabox

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01. Hide Editor for a Page Template

When using only ACF Flexible Content on a page, hide the default WordPress editor:

<?php
// In functions/project/config/admin-controller_config.php

return [
    [
        'identifier'    => 'page-modules.php',
        'match_type'    => 'template',
        'hide_elements' => ['editor'],
    ],
];

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02. Redirect After Save

After saving a post of a specific type, redirect the user back to the post list:

<?php
[
    'identifier' => 'testimonial',
    'match_type' => 'post_type',
    'redirect'   => 'edit.php?post_type=testimonial',
],

Note

Relative URLs (like edit.php?post_type=testimonial) are automatically converted to full admin URLs using admin_url(). WordPress admin messages like “Post updated” are preserved.

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03. Dynamic Redirect with Callback

Redirect to different locations based on post data:

<?php
[
    'identifier' => 'resource',
    'match_type' => 'post_type',
    'redirect'   => function ($post_id, $post) {
        $type = get_the_terms($post_id, 'resource_type');
        if ($type && $type[0]->slug === 'case-study') {
            return 'edit.php?post_type=resource&resource_type=case-study';
        }
        return 'edit.php?post_type=resource';
    },
],

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04. Conditional Hiding

Apply rules only when a custom condition is met:

<?php
[
    'identifier'    => 'post',
    'match_type'    => 'post_type',
    'condition'     => function ($post_id, $post) {
        return get_post_meta($post_id, 'use_minimal_editor', true) === '1';
    },
    'hide_elements' => ['excerpt', 'comments', 'author'],
],

---

05. Combined: Hide + Redirect

<?php
[
    'identifier'    => 'page-landing.php',
    'match_type'    => 'template',
    'hide_elements' => ['editor', 'excerpt', 'comments'],
    'redirect'      => 'edit.php?post_type=page',
],

---

Configuration Details

• identifier (string): Template name (e.g., 'page-modules.php'), post type slug (e.g., 'resource'), or post ID (e.g., '42').
• match_type (string): Determines how identifier is matched:
  • template: Matches the _wp_page_template post meta
  • post_type: Matches the post’s type
  • post_id: Matches a specific post ID
  • condition: Uses only the condition callback (ignores identifier)
• hide_elements (array): List of element strings to hide.
• redirect (string|callable): Static URL string or function($post_id, $post) returning a URL.
• condition (callable): A function receiving ($post_id, $post) that must return true. Can be combined with other match types for additional filtering.