WordPress plugin that temporarily disables the user defined order (user settings). The plugin is targeted at developers. Often it's annoying when you add a meta box to the admin UI and can't be sure if it's in the right position because you might have already moved it around and added a user setting. The plugin can be reused to temporarily overr…

disable_metabox_order.php

<?php

namespace WCM;

/**
 * Plugin Name: (WCM) Meta Box Order Debug
 * Description: Temporarily overrides the MetaBox-order by dismissing the user setting.
 * Author:      Franz Josef Kaiser
 * Author URI:  https://unserkaiser.com
 * Version:     1.0
 * License:     MIT
 * © Copyright 2013 by Franz Josef Kaiser <wecodemore@gmail.com>
 */

defined( 'ABSPATH' ) or exit;

add_filter( 'get_user_metadata', 'WCM\disableMetaBoxOrder', 10, 4 );
/**
 * @param mixed $abort Whether to return or bypass. Default: NULL
 * @param int $userID
 * @param string $key
 * @param boolean $single
 * @return array|null
 */
function disableMetaBoxOrder( $abort, $userID, $key, $single )
{
	static $queryString;

	NULL === $queryString
	AND isset( $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] )
		AND parse_str( $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], $queryString );

	if (
		empty( $queryString )
		OR ! isset( $queryString['disable'] )
		)
	{
		remove_filter( current_filter(), __FUNCTION__ );
		return NULL;
	}

	// Too early: abort
	if (
		! function_exists( 'get_current_screen' )
		OR NULL === get_current_screen()
		OR ! property_exists( get_current_screen(), 'post_type' )
	)
		return NULL;

	// Don't trigger on the wrong screens
	if ( 'post' !== get_current_screen()->base )
	{
		remove_filter( current_filter(), __FUNCTION__ );
		return NULL;
	}

	$target  = 'meta-box-order_';
	$target .= get_current_screen()->post_type;

	// Trigger on default as on site specific settings
	if (
		$key === $target
		OR $key === $GLOBALS['wpdb']->prefix.$target
		)
	{
		// Prevent endless loop
		remove_filter( current_filter(), __FUNCTION__ );

		$meta = get_user_meta(
			get_current_user_id(),
			$target,
			TRUE
		);
		return array( array_combine(
			array_keys( $meta ),
			array_fill( 0, count( $meta ), "" )
		) );
	}

	return NULL;
}

/**
 * Adds a node to the admin bar.
 * The node is a link to the current page including a new key/value arg.
 * The value will be checked in the user meta filter to turn debugging on/off.
 * @param \WP_Admin_Bar $bar
 */
add_action( 'admin_bar_menu', function( \WP_Admin_Bar $bar )
{
	if ( 'post' !== get_current_screen()->base )
		return;

	$link = 'add' === get_current_screen()->action
		? add_query_arg(
			'post_type',
			get_current_screen()->post_type,
			admin_url( 'post-new.php' )
		)
		: get_edit_post_link(
			get_the_ID(),
			'toolbar'
		);
	$link = add_query_arg(
		'disable',
		'metaboxorder',
		$link
	);

	$bar->add_node( array(
		'id'     => 'metabox-order-disable',
		'title'  => '<span class="ab-icon dashicons-forms"></span><span class="ab-label">Disable</span>',
		'href'   => $link,
		'group'  => FALSE,
		'meta'   => array(
			'html'     => '',
			'class'    => '',
			'onclick'  => '',
			'target'   => '',
			'title'    => '',
			'tabindex' => '',
		),
	) );
}, 100 );