Don't Mess Up Prod

This plugin displays a colored environment indicator in the WordPress admin bar to help developers and content managers quickly identify which environment they're working in. This helps prevent accidentally making changes to production sites when you think you're working on staging or development.

WordPress Playground

See the plugin in action:

• Local – Grey
• Development – Purple
• Staging – Green
• Production – Red

Installation

Manual

1. Upload the plugin files to /wp-content/plugins/dont-mess-up-prod/
2. Activate the plugin through the "Plugins" screen in WordPress
3. Configure the plugin using filters (see Configuration section below)

Composer

composer require davekellam/dont-mess-up-prod

Configuration

The plugin can be configured using WordPress filters.

Example Configuration (mu-plugin)

Create a file /wp-content/mu-plugins/dmup-config.php:

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Don't Mess Up Prod Configuration
 */

/**
 * Configure minimum capability for the environment indicator
 *
 * By default, the plugin only shows to explicitly allowed users.
 * Use this filter to enable role-based access.
 *
 * @param string|false $capability Current capability setting.
 * @return string|false Modified capability setting.
 */
function dmup_set_minimum_capability( $capability ) {
    // Enable for Author level and above
    return 'publish_posts';
}
add_filter( 'dmup_minimum_capability', 'dmup_set_minimum_capability' );

/**
 * Configure allowed users for the environment indicator
 *
 * Add specific user logins that should see the environment indicator
 * regardless of their role level.
 *
 * @param array $users Current allowed users array.
 * @return array Modified allowed users array.
 */
function dmup_set_allowed_users( $users ) {
    // Add specific user logins here
    $project_users = [
        'developer-name',
        'content-manager-name',
    ];

    return array_merge( $users, $project_users );
}
add_filter( 'dmup_allowed_users', 'dmup_set_allowed_users' );

/**
 * Configure environment URLs for your project
 *
 * Customize the URLs used to detect different environments and populate child links under the admin bar menu item
 *
 * @param array $urls Current environment URLs array.
 * @return array Modified environment URLs array.
 */
function dmup_set_environment_urls( $urls ) {
    return [
        'local'       => 'http://yourproject.local',
        'development' => 'https://dev.yourproject.com',
        'staging'     => 'https://staging.yourproject.com',
        'production'  => 'https://yourproject.com',
    ];
}
add_filter( 'dmup_environment_urls', 'dmup_set_environment_urls' );

/**
 * Configure environment colors for your project
 *
 * Customize the colors used for each environment
 *
 * @param array $colors Current environment colors array.
 * @return array Modified environment colors array.
 */
function dmup_set_environment_colors( $colors ) {
    return [
        'local'       => '#17a2b8', // blue
        'development' => '#6f42c1', // purple
        'staging'     => '#ffc107', // yellow
        'production'  => '#dc3545', // red
    ];
}
add_filter( 'dmup_environment_colors', 'dmup_set_environment_colors' );

Environment Detection

The plugin detects the current environment using this priority order:

1. URL matching – Compares the current site URL against the configured environment URLs. This list will also be used to generate a list of links that appears on hover in the admin bar.

2. wp_get_environment_type() – Which defaults to production and can be set via php constant:

   define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'staging' );

The indicator is visible to users who either meet the minimum capability (defaults to publish_posts, filterable via dmup_minimum_capability) or whose username appears in the allowed users filter. This keeps visibility limited to the folks who need the context.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later