Total theme compatibility

I ran into a compatibility gap with Total Theme / Total Theme Core and wanted to share both the root cause and a working fix in case it’s useful for a future update.

The problem

The hcbrwpb_visible_for_roles attribute has no effect on vcex_* shortcodes (e.g. vcex_flex_container, vcex_heading, vcex_button, etc.). Those are Total Theme Core’s own elements and they never pass through WPBakery’s vc_shortcode_output filter, which is the only hook this plugin uses.

Total Theme Core registers vcex_* shortcodes via WordPress’s native add_shortcode and renders them through its own Shortcode_Abstract::output() method. That method returns HTML directly without firing vc_shortcode_output.

The fix

Total Theme Core has its own pre-render filter called vcex_maybe_display_shortcode. It fires a filterable boolean before any vcex_* element renders, and at that point the raw shortcode attributes, including hcbrwpb_visible_for_roles, are still intact (before they get stripped by vcex_shortcode_atts()).

Hooking there applies the same role logic to all vcex_* elements. Here’s a drop-in snippet (child theme functions.php or a mu-plugin):

<?php

/**
 * Extends "Hide Content by Role for WPBakery" to cover vcex_* shortcodes.
 *
 * The plugin hooks vc_shortcode_output, which WPBakery fires only for its own
 * native elements. Total Theme Core's vcex_* elements bypass that filter and
 * render via Shortcode_Abstract::output(), which calls vcex_maybe_display_shortcode
 * before doing anything else — so we hook there instead.
 */

add_filter('vcex_maybe_display_shortcode', function (bool $display, string $tag, array $atts): bool {
    if (!$display || empty($atts['hcbrwpb_visible_for_roles'])) {
        return $display;
    }

    $allowed_roles = array_map('trim', explode(',', $atts['hcbrwpb_visible_for_roles']));

    if (in_array('logged_out', $allowed_roles, true) && !is_user_logged_in()) {
        return true;
    }

    $user = get_userdata(get_current_user_id());
    if ($user) {
        foreach ($allowed_roles as $role) {
            if (in_array($role, (array) $user->roles, true)) {
                return true;
            }
        }
    }

    return false;
}, 10, 3);

The original vc_shortcode_output hook still handles WPBakery-native elements (vc_row, vc_column, etc.) as expected. This just fills the gap for Total Theme Core’s elements.

Ideally this (or an equivalent integration file) could ship in the plugin’s /integrations/ folder alongside the existing salient.php.