Menu Geo Control - WordPress Plugin

A WordPress plugin that adds country-based visibility controls to WordPress menu items.

Features

• Show for Countries - Display menu items only for specific countries
• Hide for Countries - Hide menu items from specific countries
• Three Targeting Modes - Show/Hide (Default), Show Only, or Hide Only
• Visual Interface - Fields appear directly in the WordPress menu editor
• Automatic Caching - 24-hour cache to minimize API calls
• No API Keys Required - Uses free geolocation services (ip-api.com by default)
• Works with All Menus - Primary, footer, mobile menus, etc.
• Nested Menu Support - Hide parent items and all children are hidden too

Installation

Method 1: Upload via WordPress Admin

1. Download the menu-geo-control.zip file
2. Go to Plugins → Add New in WordPress admin
3. Click Upload Plugin
4. Choose the zip file and click Install Now
5. Click Activate Plugin

Method 2: Manual FTP Upload

1. Extract the zip file
2. Upload the menu-geo-control folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Go to Plugins in WordPress admin
4. Activate Menu Geo Control

Configuration

1. Go to Settings → Menu Geo Control
2. Select your preferred geolocation service
3. Set a default country code for local development
4. Save settings

How to Use

Adding Geo Targeting to Menu Items

1. Go to Appearance → Menus
2. Select the menu you want to edit
3. Expand any menu item by clicking the dropdown arrow
4. Scroll down to see the Geo Targeting section with three fields:

Show for Countries

Enter country codes separated by commas to show the menu item ONLY for those countries.

• Example: AU,NZ,SG
• Result: Menu item only visible to Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore visitors
• Leave empty to show for all countries

Hide for Countries

Enter country codes separated by commas to hide the menu item for those countries.

• Example: US,GB
• Result: Menu item hidden from US and UK visitors
• Leave empty to not hide for any countries

Geo Targeting Mode

• Show/Hide (Default): Both fields work together
• Show Only: Only uses "Show for Countries" field
• Hide Only: Only uses "Hide for Countries" field

5. Click Save Menu

Use Case Examples

Example 1: Regional Product Menus

Create region-specific product menu items:

Products (Australia/NZ)

• Show for Countries: AU,NZ
• Links to: /products-anz

Products (Southeast Asia)

• Show for Countries: SG,MY,ID,TH
• Links to: /products-sea

Products (North America)

• Show for Countries: US,CA
• Links to: /products-na

Result: Each visitor sees only the product menu relevant to their region.

Example 2: Regional Support Centers

Sydney Support

• Show for Countries: AU
• Links to: /support/sydney

Singapore Support

• Show for Countries: SG,MY,ID,TH
• Links to: /support/singapore

Auckland Support

• Show for Countries: NZ
• Links to: /support/auckland

Example 3: Compliance Pages

GDPR Information

• Show for Countries: GB,DE,FR,ES,IT,NL,BE
• Links to: /gdpr-compliance

Example 4: Hide Features for Specific Markets

Enterprise Plans

• Hide for Countries: CN
• Links to: /enterprise

Result: Enterprise menu item is hidden from Chinese visitors.

Example 5: Regional Pricing Pages

Pricing (AUD)

• Show for Countries: AU,NZ
• Links to: /pricing-aud

Pricing (SGD)

• Show for Countries: SG,MY,ID,TH
• Links to: /pricing-sgd

Pricing (USD)

• Show for Countries: US,CA
• Links to: /pricing-usd

Country Codes

Use standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (2 letters):

Asia Pacific

• AU - Australia
• NZ - New Zealand
• SG - Singapore
• MY - Malaysia
• ID - Indonesia
• TH - Thailand
• JP - Japan
• CN - China
• IN - India
• HK - Hong Kong
• PH - Philippines
• VN - Vietnam
• KR - South Korea

Americas

• US - United States
• CA - Canada
• MX - Mexico
• BR - Brazil
• AR - Argentina

Europe

• GB - United Kingdom
• DE - Germany
• FR - France
• ES - Spain
• IT - Italy
• NL - Netherlands
• BE - Belgium
• CH - Switzerland
• AT - Austria
• SE - Sweden

See full list of country codes

Nested Menu Items

When you hide a parent menu item, all of its child (sub-menu) items are automatically hidden as well. This ensures logical menu structure.

Example:

• Parent: "Solutions" (Hidden for CN)
  • Child: "Cloud Hosting"
  • Child: "Managed Services"
  • Child: "Support"

If a Chinese visitor views the menu, neither the parent nor any of the children will appear.

Geolocation Services

The plugin supports three free geolocation services:

ip-api.com (Default)

• Free: Yes, no API key required
• Rate Limit: 45 requests per minute
• Accuracy: Good
• Recommended for: Most use cases

ipapi.co

• Free Tier: 1,000 requests per day
• Rate Limit: Generous
• Accuracy: Very good
• Recommended for: Higher traffic sites

ipinfo.io

• Free Tier: 50,000 requests per month
• Rate Limit: Very generous
• Accuracy: Excellent
• Recommended for: Production sites with high traffic

Performance

• Country detection results are cached for 24 hours per IP address
• Only one API call per unique visitor per day
• Minimal performance impact due to efficient caching
• Cache can be manually cleared from settings page

Local Development

When developing locally (127.0.0.1 or private IP addresses), the plugin uses the default country code set in settings. This allows you to test country-specific menus during development.

Testing Different Countries

1. Set your default country in Settings → Menu Geo Control
2. Clear the cache
3. View your site to see the menu for that country
4. Change default country and clear cache to test another country

Troubleshooting

Menu items not showing/hiding correctly?

1. Check Settings → Menu Geo Control to see detected country
2. Verify country codes are correct (2 letters, uppercase, comma-separated)
3. Clear the cache from the settings page
4. Make sure you saved your menu after adding geo targeting
5. Check if parent menu items have conflicting settings

Fields not appearing in menu editor?

1. Make sure the plugin is activated
2. Try expanding/collapsing the menu item
3. Save and refresh the Menus page
4. Check browser console for JavaScript errors

Menu looks broken on frontend?

1. Some themes require specific menu item structures
2. Test with a default WordPress theme to isolate theme issues
3. Check if your theme caches menus

Multiple Menus

The plugin works with all registered menus in WordPress:

• Primary navigation
• Footer menus
• Mobile menus
• Custom menus
• Widget area menus

Each menu can have its own geo-targeting rules per menu item.

Combining with Other Plugins

This plugin can be used alongside:

• WPBakery Geo Control - For page content geo-targeting
• Geo Content Control - For shortcode-based geo-targeting
• Other menu plugins - Compatible with most menu extensions

Privacy & GDPR

This plugin:

• Detects visitor country based on IP address
• Uses third-party geolocation APIs
• Caches results for 24 hours
• Does not store personal information
• Does not use cookies

Ensure your privacy policy mentions use of geolocation services.

Advanced Usage

Combining Show and Hide

You can use both fields together in "Show/Hide (Default)" mode:

Example: Show menu item ONLY for AU/NZ but explicitly hide for US

• Show for Countries: AU,NZ
• Hide for Countries: US
• Result: Only AU/NZ visitors see it (US already excluded but explicitly hidden as safety)

Dynamic Menu Switching

Create multiple versions of the same menu item:

1. "Contact Us (Sydney)" - Show for AU
2. "Contact Us (Singapore)" - Show for SG,MY,ID,TH
3. "Contact Us (Auckland)" - Show for NZ

All link to different pages with regional contact info.

Support

No Support

For WordPress menu system questions, visit WordPress documentation.

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• Show/Hide country targeting for menu items
• Three targeting modes
• Visual interface in menu editor
• Multiple geolocation service providers
• Automatic caching
• Admin settings page

License

GPL v2 or later

Credits

Developed for Phantosmax infrastructure and cloud hosting services.