Dashboard Recent Activity widget - new filters to manipulate output

[Jonnyauk]

It is currently not possible to manipulate the recent post activity dashboard widget. Output is built using wp_dashboard_recent_posts(). 2 filters could be introduced for the parameters for future and recent posts.

This would allow easy interaction with the parameters array, for instance increasing the amount of posts shown, changing order, post status, CSS ID etc - would definitely make it more useful!

I realise that there is a filter dashboard_recent_posts_query_args inside thewp_dashboard_recent_posts() function (used to build the queries, useful for switching post type etc), but there is currently no way to interact with the calls to this function.

[Jonnyauk]

New filters for Dashboard Recent Activity widget future and recent posts.

[desrosj]

Hi @Jonnyauk,

My apologies that this took so long to receive a response!

Instead of adding new filters, what if the $id passed to wp_dashboard_recent_posts() were also passed to the filter as an additional parameter? Then the preexisting dashboard_recent_posts_query_args filter could be used for this in any context by providing a bit more control.

[pmbaldha]

Added a patch using the existing 'dashboard_recent_posts_query_args' filter with support for passing the $id to wp_dashboard_recent_posts() for better control.

[pmbaldha]

PHPDoc Comment update.

[SirLouen]

@pmbaldha
For this filters, please provide ​an use-case for testing.

[pmbaldha]

@SirLouen

Usecases:

1. If you want to show 10 posts instead of the default 5:

⁠

add_filter( 'dashboard_recent_posts_query_args', 'increase_dashboard_post_count', 10, 2 );
function increase_dashboard_post_count( $args, $id ) {
    $args['max'] = 10;
    return $args;
}

2.⁠ ⁠Show Only Posts from a Specific Category in "Recently Published"
If your site has multiple categories and you want the widget to only show posts from the "Announcements" category:

⁠

add_filter( 'dashboard_recent_posts_query_args', 'dashboard_recent_posts_announcements_only', 10, 2 );
function dashboard_recent_posts_announcements_only( $args, $id ) {
    if ( 'published-posts' === $id ) {
        $args['cat'] = get_cat_ID( 'Announcements' );
    }

    return $args;
} ⁠

[SirLouen]

Replying to pmbaldha:

Usecases:

Did you check JD comment on a possible alternative?

Adding new hooks is the worst thing possible when there is an alternative. They should always be the last resort.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37578

[rockschtar]

Patch Testing Report

Patch tested: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/9026

Environment

• WordPress: 7.1-beta3 (trunk, c213aec5a6)
• PHP: 8.3.30
• Server: Apache
• Database: MySQL 8.0.40
• OS: Fedora Linux (Docker)
• Browser: n/a (verified server-side via WP-CLI)
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.5
• MU Plugins: none
• Plugins: none

Steps taken

1. Registered a callback on dashboard_recent_posts_query_args with accepted_args = 2, logging the second parameter.
2. Triggered both calls made by wp_dashboard_site_activity() (status future / id future-posts and status publish / id published-posts) via wp eval-file.
3. Without the patch, the callback receives no second argument.
4. ✅ Patch is solving the problem: with the PR applied, the callback receives 'future-posts' and 'published-posts' respectively, so the two Activity widget queries can now be distinguished.

Expected result

• The existing dashboard_recent_posts_query_args filter receives the widget id as a second parameter, as suggested by @desrosj, instead of introducing new filters.

Additional Notes

• The PR is based on 6.9-alpha but cherry-picks cleanly onto current trunk (7.1-beta3) and works there as well.
• The @since 6.9.0 annotation needs to be bumped to the next release open for enhancements.

Support Content

<?php
require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php';

add_filter( 'dashboard_recent_posts_query_args', function ( $query_args, ...$extra ) {
    printf( "Filter received 2nd param: %s\n", $extra ? var_export( $extra[0], true ) : '(none)' );
    return $query_args;
}, 10, 2 );

ob_start();
wp_dashboard_recent_posts( array( 'max' => 5, 'status' => 'future', 'order' => 'ASC', 'title' => 'Publishing Soon', 'id' => 'future-posts' ) );
wp_dashboard_recent_posts( array( 'max' => 5, 'status' => 'puitle' => 'Recently Published', 'id' => 'published-posts' ) );
ob_end_clean();

Opened from the WordPress Contributor Toolkit.