Last updated: 5th May 2026 for Duplicate Menu (CC) version 1.0

Overview

Duplicate Menu (CC) provides a comprehensive set of WordPress actions and filters that allow developers to customise:

Menu duplication behaviour
Menu naming logic
Menu item processing
Metadata handling
Post-duplication workflows

These hooks are designed to allow deep customisation without modifying plugin core files.

Duplication context

Many hooks include a $duplicate_context parameter.

Structure

array(
	'source_menu_id' => (int) $menu_id,
	'requested_name' => (string) $requested_name,
)

Purpose

This allows you to:

Detect whether a custom name was requested
Apply conditional logic based on duplication source
Build environment-aware duplication workflows

Filters

`cc_duplicate_menu_capability`

Filters the required capability for duplicating menus.

Default

edit_theme_options

Parameters

$capability // string

Return

string

Use cases

Restrict duplication to administrators
Allow custom roles to duplicate menus

`cc_duplicate_menu_button_class`

Filters the CSS classes applied to the duplicate button.

Default

button button-secondary

Parameters

$button_class // string

Return

string

`cc_duplicate_menu_button_position`

Filters the logical insertion position used by the admin JavaScript.

Default

after-save-button

Parameters

$position // string

Return

string

`cc_duplicate_menu_show_in_header`

Controls whether duplicate controls appear in the header area.

Default

false

Parameters

$show // bool

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_show_in_footer`

Controls whether duplicate controls appear in the footer area.

Default

true

Parameters

$show // bool

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_redirect_to_new_menu`

Controls whether the user is redirected after duplication.

Default

true

Parameters

$redirect_to_new_menu // bool
$new_menu_id          // int
$menu_id              // int

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_requested_name`

Filters the final menu name when a user-supplied name is provided.

Parameters

$name           // string
$requested_name // string

Return

string

Use cases

Append environment labels
Enforce naming conventions

`cc_duplicate_menu_copy_suffix`

Filters the suffix appended when no custom name is provided.

Default

(copy)

Parameters

$suffix        // string
$original_name // string

Return

string

`cc_duplicate_menu_generated_name`

Filters the automatically generated duplicate name after uniqueness checks.

Parameters

$name          // string
$original_name // string
$base_name     // string

Return

string

`cc_duplicate_menu_final_menu_name`

Final filter before menu creation.

Parameters

$new_menu_name     // string
$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

Return

string

Use cases

Centralised naming control
Environment-aware naming

`cc_duplicate_menu_new_menu_args`

Filters arguments passed to wp_update_nav_menu_object().

Parameters

$new_menu_args     // array
$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

Return

array

`cc_duplicate_menu_items`

Filters the full set of menu items before duplication begins.

Parameters

$items             // array
$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

Return

array

Use cases

Bulk filtering items
Reordering items
Removing groups of items

`cc_duplicate_menu_skip_item`

Determines whether an individual item should be skipped.

Parameters

$skip_item         // bool
$item              // object
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$duplicate_context // array

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_pre_insert_item`

Filters the menu item object before arguments are generated.

Parameters

$item              // object
$original_item     // object
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$duplicate_context // array

Return

object

`cc_duplicate_menu_item_args`

Filters first-pass item creation arguments.

Parameters

$args              // array
$item              // object
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$duplicate_context // array

Return

array

`cc_duplicate_menu_item_update_args`

Filters second-pass item update arguments (hierarchy restoration).

Parameters

$args              // array
$item              // object
$new_parent_id     // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$duplicate_context // array

Return

array

`cc_duplicate_menu_copy_item_meta`

Controls whether additional metadata is copied.

Default

true

Parameters

$copy_meta         // bool
$old_item_id       // int
$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$item              // object
$duplicate_context // array

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_item_meta`

Filters all metadata before processing.

Parameters

$meta              // array
$old_item_id       // int
$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$item              // object
$duplicate_context // array

Return

array

`cc_duplicate_menu_skip_meta_keys`

Filters protected meta keys.

Parameters

$protected_meta_keys // array
$old_item_id         // int
$new_item_id         // int
$new_menu_id         // int
$menu_id             // int
$item                // object
$duplicate_context   // array

Return

array

`cc_duplicate_menu_skip_meta_key`

Filters individual meta key skipping.

Parameters

$skip_meta_key     // bool
$meta_key          // string
$values            // array
$old_item_id       // int
$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$item              // object
$duplicate_context // array

Return

bool

`cc_duplicate_menu_meta_value`

Filters meta values before saving.

Parameters

$meta_value        // mixed
$meta_key          // string
$old_item_id       // int
$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$item              // object
$duplicate_context // array

Return

mixed

Actions

`cc_duplicate_menu_before_duplicate`

Fires before duplication begins.

Parameters

$menu_id        // int
$menu           // WP_Term
$requested_name // string

`cc_duplicate_menu_before_duplicate_context`

Fires after context is prepared.

Parameters

$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

`cc_duplicate_menu_before_menu_insert`

Fires before the new menu is created.

Parameters

$new_menu_args     // array
$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

`cc_duplicate_menu_before_item_processing`

Fires before item duplication begins.

Parameters

$items             // array
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$menu              // WP_Term
$duplicate_context // array

`cc_duplicate_menu_after_item_create`

Fires after an item is created (first pass).

Parameters

$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$item              // object
$menu_id           // int
$duplicate_context // array

`cc_duplicate_menu_after_item_meta_copy`

Fires after metadata is copied.

Parameters

$old_item_id       // int
$new_item_id       // int
$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$item              // object
$duplicate_context // array

`cc_duplicate_menu_after_duplicate`

Fires after duplication completes.

Parameters

$new_menu_id       // int
$menu_id           // int
$menu              // WP_Term
$old_to_new_map    // array
$duplicate_context // array

Notes on Hook Usage

Two-pass duplication system

First pass

Items created with parent = 0
Hooks:

cc_duplicate_menu_item_args
cc_duplicate_menu_after_item_create

Second pass

Hierarchy restored
Hook:

cc_duplicate_menu_item_update_args

👉 Use second-pass hooks or cc_duplicate_menu_after_duplicate for final structure.

Metadata handling

Metadata copying is:

Enabled by default
Fully filterable
Safe for third-party extensions

Naming pipeline

Order of execution:

requested_name OR copy_suffix
→ generated_name
→ final_menu_name
→ new_menu_args

Recommended extension points

Use case	Hook
Naming control	`cc_duplicate_menu_final_menu_name`
Skip items	`cc_duplicate_menu_skip_item`
Modify items	`cc_duplicate_menu_item_args`
Modify hierarchy	`cc_duplicate_menu_item_update_args`
Metadata control	metadata filters
Post-processing	`cc_duplicate_menu_after_duplicate`

Real-world example: mark duplicated menu items for internal auditing

This example adds a small custom meta value to each duplicated menu item after it has been created. A developer could use this later for diagnostics, reporting or integration with an internal workflow.

add_action(
	'cc_duplicate_menu_after_item_create',
	function( $new_item_id, $new_menu_id, $item, $menu_id, $duplicate_context ) {
		update_post_meta( $new_item_id, '_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_source_item', absint( $item->ID ) );
		update_post_meta( $new_item_id, '_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_source_menu', absint( $menu_id ) );
		update_post_meta( $new_item_id, '_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_created_at', current_time( 'mysql' ) );
	},
	10,
	5
);

What this does

When a menu item is duplicated, the code stores:

_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_source_item
_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_source_menu
_cc_duplicate_menu_audit_created_at

This makes it possible to identify where a duplicated menu item originally came from, without changing the duplication process itself.