Admin Header Include

Overview

The Admin Header include file (header.php) is the master template that renders the top navigation, license verification, announcement ticker, and all CSS/JavaScript dependencies for every admin page. It provides two navigation modes (Classic and Modern), handles session management, license verification with the ComusThumbz license server, and dynamically generates dropdown menus from the database.

Key capabilities include:

• Dual navigation system (Classic image map + Modern CSS dropdown)
• Real-time license verification with caching
• Credits balance display with auto-refresh
• Announcement ticker with remote API integration
• Dynamic menu generation from tblMenus database
• Session management and authentication handling
• Navigation preference persistence (database + localStorage)
• CSS/JavaScript dependency loading

System Requirements

PHP Requirements

PHP Extensions Required

• mysqli - Database connectivity
• session - Session management
• json - JSON encoding/decoding for license cache
• curl - License verification API calls

PHP Functions Required

• sessionstart() - Session initialization
• setcookie() - Cookie management for preferences
• filegetcontents() / fileputcontents() - License cache file operations
• curlinit(), curlexec(), curlclose() - API communication

PHP Settings

session.autostart = Off
date.timezone = Your/Timezone
allowurlfopen = On

External Dependencies

• Font Awesome 6.4+ - Icon library (loaded via CDN)
• Google Fonts - Orbitron and Rajdhani fonts for modern navigation
• ComusThumbz License API - Remote license verification
• ComusThumbz Announcements API - Remote announcement ticker

Menu Parent Categories

The navigation system uses these parent menu categories:

Required Folders

Features & UI Elements

Modern Navigation

[Screenshot: header-modern-nav]

The modern navigation provides a clean, dropdown-based interface:

Top Bar Elements:

• Logo with brand icons (film, images, video, heart, fire)
• ComusThumbz brand name with tagline
• Quick access buttons (New Links, View Site)
• Notification bell with dropdown
• User profile dropdown

Main Navigation:

• Horizontal menu bar with 12 parent categories
• Dropdown menus on hover
• Active state highlighting based on current page
• Icon + text for each menu item
• Badge support for notifications

Classic Navigation

[Screenshot: header-classic-nav]

The classic navigation uses an image map:

Header Image:

• 800px wide header graphic
• 12 clickable regions for menu categories
• Dropdown menus appear on mouse hover
• Green color scheme (#e3f7db background)

Dropdown Menus:

• JavaScript-powered dropdown positioning
• Auto-hide on mouse out (250ms delay)
• Browser edge detection for positioning
• Unique menu arrays per category

License Status Bar

[Screenshot: header-license-status]

Displays license verification status:

Credits Display:

• Shows current credits balance
• Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds
• "Buy Credits" button with pulse animation

Navigation Toggle

[Screenshot: header-nav-toggle]

Toggle switch between Classic and Modern navigation:

• Saves preference to database (tblSettings.navstyle)
• Syncs with localStorage for backup
• Applies immediately without page reload
• Available in both navigation modes

Announcement Ticker

[Screenshot: header-announcement-ticker]

Scrolling announcement bar:

• Fetches announcements from ComusThumbz API
• Auto-refreshes every 60 seconds
• Pauses on hover
• Click tracking for action links
• Type-specific icons (info, success, warning, error, sale, update, maintenance)
• Priority badges for urgent announcements

Notification Bell

[Screenshot: header-notification-bell]

In modern navigation, displays unread notifications:

• Badge shows unread count (max 99+)
• Dropdown shows latest 5 notifications
• Priority-based ordering (urgent first)
• Color-coded icons by priority
• Links to full notifications page

Step-by-Step Usage

Switching Navigation Modes

1. Look for the toggle switch in the license status bar
2. Toggle between "Classic" and "Modern"
3. Preference saves automatically
4. Takes effect immediately

Understanding Menu Constants

The header defines menu constants for active state:

Adding Menu Items

1. Navigate to Admin Panel → Settings → Menu Configuration
2. Or insert directly into database:

INSERT INTO tblMenus (parent, title, url, iconclass, optionmask, priority, menuorder)
VALUES ('Tools', 'New Tool', 'newtool.php', 'fas fa-wrench', 0, 0, 10);

License Verification Flow

1. Header checks for $licenseconfig array
2. Looks for cached verification in ct/dat/licensecache.json
3. If cache valid (< 1 hour), uses cached result
4. If cache expired, calls license API
5. Stores result in cache and displays status

Best Practices

Performance Optimization

1. License Caching: Don't reduce cacheduration below 300 seconds
2. Menu Queries: Menu items are queried once per page load
3. Credits Refresh: Auto-refresh interval is 30 seconds
4. Announcement Refresh: Ticker refreshes every 60 seconds

Security Considerations

1. Session Validation: Always starts session if not active
2. Cookie Authentication: Validates login cookie against password hash
3. CSRF Protection: Not directly in header, but session is initialized
4. Output Buffering: Cleans unwanted output from includes

Custom Menu Items

When adding custom menu items:

• Use consistent parent names (Help, Import, Database, etc.)
• Set appropriate optionmask for visibility rules
• Use Font Awesome 6 icon classes
• Keep priority values unique within parent

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Navigation Dropdown Not Appearing

Cause: JavaScript error or missing menu arrays

Solutions:

1. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
2. Verify tblMenus table has data
3. Check that menu arrays are generated correctly:

SELECT DISTINCT parent, COUNT(*)

   FROM tblMenus

   GROUP BY parent;

1. Clear browser cache and refresh

License Status Shows Error

Cause: API communication failure or invalid credentials

Solutions:

1. Verify $licenseconfig in config.inc.php
2. Check that curl extension is enabled
3. Test API connectivity:

curl -X POST https://comusthumbz.com/projects/api.php/auth/verify \

     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \

     -d '{"licensekey":"YOURKEY","domain":"YOURDOMAIN","email":"YOUREMAIL"}'

1. Check ct/logs/php-error.log for detailed errors

Modern Navigation Not Switching

Cause: Database or JavaScript sync issue

Solutions:

1. Check tblSettings.navstyle column exists:

SELECT navstyle FROM tblSettings WHERE id = 1;

1. Verify getnavpreference.php is accessible
2. Clear localStorage: localStorage.removeItem('navpreference')
3. Check browser console for AJAX errors

Announcements Not Loading

Cause: API access or license verification issue

Solutions:

1. Check browser console for fetch errors
2. Verify license key is set (announcements require valid license)
3. Check network tab for API response
4. Test API directly:

fetch('https://comusthumbz.com/projects/announcementsapi.php?action=get&location=header')

     .then(r => r.json())

     .then(console.log);

Credits Not Displaying

Cause: Credits balance API call failing

Solutions:

1. Check getcredits.php exists and is working
2. Verify license is verified (credits require valid license)
3. Check credits balance in license dashboard
4. Review error logs for API failures

Debug Queries

-- Check menu structure
SELECT parent, title, url, optionmask, priority
FROM tblMenus
ORDER BY parent, priority;

-- Check navigation preference

SELECT navstyle FROM tblSettings WHERE id = 1;

-- Check notifications

SELECT notificationid, title, priority, isread
FROM tblUserNotifications
WHERE userid = 1
ORDER BY createdat DESC
LIMIT 10;

-- Check license cache timestamp
-- (View the file ct/dat/licensecache.json)

Security Considerations

Authentication

• Validates $COOKIE['login'] against $pwhash
• Support cookie (support=ok) grants elevated access
• Session ID used as fallback user identifier

Output Sanitization

• Uses htmlspecialchars() for output encoding
• Menu URLs sanitized before rendering
• JavaScript variables escaped with addslashes()

API Security

License API uses HTTPS

• SSL verification disabled for compatibility (CURLOPTSSLVERIFYPEER = false)
• API responses validated before use

Translatable Strings

{
    "headercomusthumbz": "COMUSTHUMBZ",
    "headertagline": "High Powered Website Automation",
    "headernewlinks": "New Links",
    "headerviewsite": "View Site",
    "headernotifications": "Notifications",
    "headerviewall": "View All",
    "headerallcaughtup": "All caught up!",
    "headernonotifications": "No new notifications",
    "headerprofilesettings": "Profile Settings",
    "headerlicenseinfo": "License Info",
    "headerlogout": "Logout",
    "headerlicenseverified": "License Verified",
    "headerlicenseerror": "License Error",
    "headercredits": "Credits",
    "headerbuycredits": "Buy Credits",
    "headernoskim": "No Skim",
    "headerskimpercent": "{percent}% Skim",
    "headerfullversion": "Full Version",
    "headerfreeregistered": "Free Registered",
    "headerclassic": "Classic",
    "headermodern": "Modern",
    "headerannouncements": "Announcements",
    "headerloadingannouncements": "Loading announcements...",
    "headernoannouncements": "No announcements at this time",
    "headernovalidlicense": "No Valid License Key Found",
    "headerbadkey": "Bad Key"
}

Related Documentation

• Admin Footer - Footer include with comments and bug reports
• Navigation Preference AJAX - Navigation preference handler
• Modern Navigation Styles - Modern navigation CSS
• License Configuration - License setup

Version History