Product Access Manager

Version: 2.15.2 Status: Production Ready ✅
WordPress: 5.8+
WooCommerce: 6.0+
PHP: 8.0+

ACF-based product access control for WooCommerce with high-performance caching and complete display integration.

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What It Does

Controls which products users can see based on ACF site_catalog values and WordPress user roles.

Example:

• Products with Vimergy_catalog → Only visible to users with access-vimergy-user role
• Products with HP_catalog or DCG_catalog → Visible to everyone (public catalogs)
• Admins → See everything

Works everywhere:

• Shop pages
• Category pages
• Search results
• Product sliders
• FiboSearch
• Third-party plugins using wc_get_products()

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Quick Start

1. Requirements

• ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) plugin installed
• ACF field site_catalog configured on products
• WordPress user roles created (format: access-xxx-user)

2. Installation

# Upload to plugins directory
wp-content/plugins/product-access-manager/

# Or via WP-CLI
wp plugin install product-access-manager.zip --activate

3. Configuration

Public Catalogs (always visible):

• HP_catalog
• DCG_catalog

Restricted Catalogs (auto-detected):

• Any other XXX_catalog value in ACF field

User Roles Required:

• Format: access-{catalog-name}-user
• Example: access-vimergy-user for Vimergy_catalog

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How It Works

Visibility Logic

Is user an admin?
    YES → Show ALL products
    NO ↓

Does product have site_catalog set?
    NO → Show product (default visible)
    YES ↓

Is catalog public (HP/DCG)?
    YES → Show product
    NO ↓

Does user have matching access-{catalog}-user role?
    YES → Show product
    NO → Hide product

Caching System

Dual-layer cache for maximum performance:

1. Per-User Cache (shop/search/categories)

   • Cache key: pam_hidden_products_{user_id} or pam_hidden_products_guest
   • Duration: 30 minutes
   • Stores: Products THIS user cannot see

2. Shared Cache (sliders/widgets)

   • Cache key: pam_all_restricted_products
   • Duration: 30 minutes
   • Stores: ALL restricted products (used by sliders)

Performance:

• First page load: ~1 second (cache rebuild)
• Cached loads: ~0.1 seconds (cache hit)
• Database queries: 74% reduction

Auto-clears on:

• User login
• User logout
• User role change

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Integration Points

WooCommerce

Main queries (shop, categories, search):

• Hook: pre_get_posts
• Method: post__not_in exclusion
• Cache: Per-user blocked products

Product Sliders

All wc_get_products() calls:

• Hook: woocommerce_product_data_store_cpt_get_products_query
• Method: Universal filter
• Cache: Shared restricted products
• Note: Sliders NEVER show restricted products (even to authorized users)

FiboSearch

Hybrid approach:

• Server-side: Visibility filters affect indexing
• Client-side: JavaScript removes restricted products from live results
• File: pam-fibosearch-filter.js
• Exception: Admins and authorized users bypass client filter

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Adding New Catalogs

Zero code changes required!

Steps:

1. Add ACF choice

   ACF Field: site_catalog
   Add choice: NewBrand_catalog

2. Create WordPress role

   Role slug: access-newbrand-user
   Role name: NewBrand Access

3. Assign products

   Edit product → Set site_catalog to "NewBrand_catalog"

4. Assign users

   Edit user → Assign role "NewBrand Access"

Done! The plugin auto-detects the new catalog.

See ADDING-NEW-CATALOGS.md for detailed instructions.

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Manual Cache Clearing

Via WP-CLI

# Clear all caches
wp cache flush
wp transient delete --all

# Clear specific PAM caches
wp transient delete pam_hidden_products_guest
wp transient delete pam_all_restricted_products

# Clear specific user cache (replace 123 with user ID)
wp transient delete pam_hidden_products_123

Via Code

// Clear for specific user
pam_clear_blocked_products_cache($user_id);

// Clear for guests
pam_clear_blocked_products_cache(null);

// Clear slider cache
pam_clear_slider_transients();

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Debugging

Enable Debug Mode

Edit product-access-manager.php:

define( 'PAM_DEBUG', true ); // Line 35

View Logs

# Local development
tail -f wp-content/debug.log | grep PAM

# Production server
ssh -p 12872 holisticpeoplecom@35.236.219.140
tail -f public/wp-content/debug.log | grep PAM

Debug Output

[PAM v2.8.1] Blocked products cache MISS for user 0 - rebuilding
[PAM v2.8.1] Calculated 50 blocked products for user 0
[PAM v2.8.1] Blocked products cache SAVED for user 0
[PAM v2.8.1] Restricted products cache HIT - 50 products
[PAM v2.8.1] wc_get_products(): Applied exclusion of 50 restricted products

Remember: Set PAM_DEBUG to false before production deployment!

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Troubleshooting

Products not appearing for authorized user

Symptom: User has access-vimergy-user role but doesn't see Vimergy products

Solutions:

1. Clear user's cache: wp transient delete pam_hidden_products_{user_id}
2. User should log out and back in
3. Verify role: wp user get user@example.com --field=roles
4. Check product ACF: Ensure site_catalog is set to Vimergy_catalog

Slider showing restricted products

Symptom: Guest users see restricted products on homepage slider

Solutions:

1. Clear shared cache: wp transient delete pam_all_restricted_products
2. Clear slider cache: wp db query "DELETE FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE '%_transient_spwps_%'"
3. Clear Kinsta cache (if on Kinsta)
4. Hard refresh browser (Ctrl+F5)

FiboSearch not filtering

Symptom: Search results show restricted products to guests

Solutions:

1. Clear browser cache (JavaScript might be cached)
2. Check browser console for errors
3. Verify script loaded: typeof pamFilterFiboResults should return "function"
4. Test AJAX endpoint manually (see AI-AGENT-GUIDE.md)

Site crash / Memory exhaustion

Symptom: White screen, 500 error, "Allowed memory size exhausted"

Cause: Likely recursion issue in cache building

Solution:

1. Disable plugin temporarily
2. Check error logs for stack trace
3. Verify $GLOBALS['pam_building_cache'] flag exists (see AI-AGENT-GUIDE.md)
4. Report issue if flag is present

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File Structure

product-access-manager/
├── product-access-manager.php         # Main plugin
├── pam-fibosearch-filter.js          # FiboSearch client filter
├── README.md                          # This file
├── QUICK-START.md                     # Setup guide
├── ADDING-NEW-CATALOGS.md            # Catalog instructions
├── AI-AGENT-GUIDE.md                 # Developer reference
├── DEPLOYMENT-SETUP.md               # CI/CD setup
├── GITHUB-SECRETS-TEMPLATE.md        # Secrets template
└── Plans and reports/
    └── v2.8.1-production-ready.md    # Status report

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Version History

v2.15.2 (Current)

• ✅ Declared compatibility with WooCommerce High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS)
• ✅ Added regression coverage for the WooCommerce feature declaration

v2.15.1

• ✅ Added the typed allow/deny/unknown product-access contract
• ✅ Corrected product access gate precedence

v2.8.1

• ✅ Optimized slider caching with shared cache
• ✅ Eliminated redundant static variables
• ✅ Production-ready with debug disabled
• ✅ Documentation updated

v2.8.0

• ✅ Simplified slider strategy
• ✅ Re-enabled slider native caching
• ✅ Removed user-aware slider complexity

v2.5.x

• ✅ Session-based caching (30-minute transients)
• ✅ FiboSearch client-side filtering
• ✅ Memory exhaustion fixes

v2.0.0

• ✅ Migrated from tags to ACF-based control
• ✅ Dynamic catalog detection

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Performance Metrics

Metric	Before Cache	After Cache	Improvement
Shop page load	2.1s	0.4s	81% faster
Slider load (cached)	1.8s	0.1s	94% faster
Database queries	47	12	74% reduction

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Security

⚠️ Important: NOT Fail-Safe

This plugin is NOT fail-safe from a security perspective:

• Products remain set to "visible" in WooCommerce
• Plugin filters hide them dynamically
• If plugin fails or is disabled, restricted products become visible to everyone

For fail-safe security, you would need to:

• Set restricted products to "hidden" in WooCommerce
• Have the plugin REVEAL them to authorized users (opposite approach)

Current Security Features:

• ✅ Admins always see everything
• ✅ Cache isolation (no user data leakage)
• ✅ Capability checks (consistent permission validation)
• ✅ Multiple filter layers (visibility, purchase, direct access)
• ⚠️ Relies on plugin being active and working

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Support & Documentation

• Setup: QUICK-START.md
• Add Catalogs: ADDING-NEW-CATALOGS.md
• Developers: AI-AGENT-GUIDE.md
• Status Report: Plans and reports/v2.8.1-production-ready.md
• Deployment: DEPLOYMENT-SETUP.md

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Credits

Author: Amnon Manneberg
License: Proprietary
Support: Internal use only

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Last Updated: August 30, 2026