Feature Request: custom topbar items filter

BrikPanel replaces the native WordPress admin bar with its own topbar (Brikpanel_Dashboard_Topbar). The topbar already has a solid per-item visibility and audience system (brikpanel-topbar-items.php) covering its 9 built-in controls, but that system only manages existing items. There’s no way for a plugin to register a new item into the topbar programmatically.

Problem

Because the native admin bar is hidden (not removed, just CSS-hidden via the brikpanel-has-topbar body class), any plugin using add_action('admin_bar_menu', ...) to add nodes still fires, but renders into a bar nobody sees. The only workaround BrikPanel currently offers is custom_link: a single, owner-typed label+URL pair, entered manually in settings. That’s fine for one static shortcut. It doesn’t scale to a plugin wanting to add a live counter, a dropdown menu, or a status indicator the way create or notifications do internally.

Requested solution

Add a filter, e.g.:

php

apply_filters( 'brikpanel_topbar_items', array $items )

fired inside Brikpanel_Dashboard_Topbar::render() before or after the built-in items, so a plugin can register a new item using the same shape BrikPanel’s own items already use: an id, a render callback (or icon + label + href for the simple case), and optionally a position (left/right, before/after a given built-in key).

Why this specific approach

The existing visibility/audience code in brikpanel_topbar_item_is_visible() and brikpanel_topbar_item_audience_allows() is keyed by item id and already backward-compatible with unknown keys (defaults to visible). If registered items are pushed through brikpanel_topbar_items_label_map() (or a merged version of it) before the settings UI renders, the existing toggle-switch and per-role audience UI in brikpanel_render_topbar_items_field() extends to cover developer-registered items automatically, with no new UI work. This is the same pattern BrikPanel already uses for brikpanel_product_editor_boxes in the hooks API: register via filter, let the existing render/priority/visibility machinery handle it.

Suggested minimal shape

php

add_filter( 'brikpanel_topbar_items', function ( $items ) {
    $items['my_plugin_status'] = [
        'label'    => __( 'Sync status', 'my-plugin' ),
        'position' => 'right',   // or 'left'
        'priority' => 15,
        'callback' => function () {
            echo '<span class="my-plugin-topbar-badge">Synced</span>';
        },
    ];
    return $items;
} );

Open question for the BrikPanel team

Should registered items pass through brikpanel_topbar_item_is_visible() by default (inheriting the toggle/audience system for free), or should that require an explicit opt-in flag per item? Defaulting to “inherited” matches how brikpanel_product_editor_boxes behaves and avoids every third-party plugin needing to duplicate visibility logic.