feat: persist empty-state notice dismissal via user_meta

The "No active/completed notes found" notice was already dismissible
per-page-load (WP core's X button hides it), but pressing X only
cleared it for the current view — it returned on the next refresh.
The dismissal is now persisted to user_meta per-user-per-list-type,
so once closed it stays closed across page loads until the flag is
reset.

MECHANICS
- inc/wp-notes-display.php now checks get_user_meta(uid,
  'wp_notes_dismissed_empty_<type>') before rendering and skips the
  notice render entirely when set.
- New AJAX handler wp_ajax_wp_notes_dismiss_empty validates a nonce
  and the edit_posts capability, then writes the flag via
  update_user_meta(). type=active|completed; anything else 400s.
- An inline jQuery handler in wp_notes_add_inline_scripts() listens
  for clicks on .wp-notes-empty .notice-dismiss (WP core's auto-
  injected X button) and fires the AJAX call. The visual hide is
  still WP core's job.
- The notice element carries data-wp-notes-empty-type and a fresh
  per-render data-wp-notes-nonce for the round trip.

RESET
The flag is per-user-meta keyed wp_notes_dismissed_empty_active /
wp_notes_dismissed_empty_completed. wp_delete_user removes them
automatically. A UI button to reset dismissed notices is not built
yet — flagged in the changelog as a future enhancement.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,35 @@ Format: [Keep a Changelog 1.1.0](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/) — versi
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added — Persistent dismissal of the empty-state notice (user_meta)
+The "No active/completed notes found" notice was already
+dismissible per-page-load, but pressing X only hid it for the
+current view — it returned on the next refresh. The dismissal is
+now persisted to **user_meta** per-user-per-list-type, so once you
+close it, it stays closed until you reset the flag.
+
+**Mechanics:**
+- `inc/wp-notes-display.php` checks
+  `get_user_meta(uid, 'wp_notes_dismissed_empty_<type>')` before
+  rendering and skips the notice entirely when set.
+- `wp_ajax_wp_notes_dismiss_empty` (new handler in `wp-notes.php`)
+  validates a nonce + `edit_posts` capability, then writes the flag
+  via `update_user_meta()`. Accepts `type` of `active` or
+  `completed`; rejects anything else.
+- An inline jQuery handler in `wp_notes_add_inline_scripts()` listens
+  for clicks on `.wp-notes-empty .notice-dismiss` (WP core's auto-
+  injected X button), reads the data-attributes off the notice, and
+  fires the AJAX call. WP core still handles the visual hide.
+- The notice element carries `data-wp-notes-empty-type` and a fresh
+  per-render `data-wp-notes-nonce` for the round trip.
+
+**Reset:** the flag is per-user-meta keyed
+`wp_notes_dismissed_empty_active` /
+`wp_notes_dismissed_empty_completed`. To make the notice reappear
+for a user, an admin can clear those keys (or `wp_delete_user`
+removes them automatically). A UI button to reset dismissed notices
+is not built yet — flagged as a future enhancement if needed.
+
 ### Fixed — Duplicate "Create a New WP Note" form at the bottom of My Notes
 A second, bare-bones *"Create a New WP Note"* form was being
 rendered at the **bottom** of the My Notes page, below the active

inc/wp-notes-display.php

@@ -22,14 +22,24 @@ function wp_notes_display_notes($type = 'active') {
     $section_title = ($type === 'active') ? 'Active Notes' : 'Completed Notes';
 
     if (empty($notes)) {
-        /* is-dismissible adds an X button via WP core's common.js so
-           users can clear the empty-state message for the current view.
-           Dismissal is per-page-load (the message reappears on next
-           refresh if the list is still empty) — persistence across
-           reloads would need user_meta tracking and isn't built yet. */
-        echo '<div class="wp-notes-empty notice notice-info is-dismissible">';
-        echo '<p>' . esc_html__('No ' . ($type === 'active' ? 'active' : 'completed') . ' notes found.', 'a-wp-notes') . '</p>';
-        echo '</div>';
+        /* Per-user persistent dismissal: if the current user has
+           dismissed the empty-state notice for this list type before,
+           we skip rendering it entirely. The flag stays set until they
+           explicitly reset it (or until we extend this to auto-clear
+           when a note is created — Option B for a future iteration).
+           Flag key: wp_notes_dismissed_empty_active / _completed. */
+        $dismiss_meta_key = 'wp_notes_dismissed_empty_' . $type;
+        if (get_user_meta(get_current_user_id(), $dismiss_meta_key, true)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $nonce = wp_create_nonce('wp_notes_dismiss_empty');
+        printf(
+            '<div class="wp-notes-empty notice notice-info is-dismissible" data-wp-notes-empty-type="%1$s" data-wp-notes-nonce="%2$s"><p>%3$s</p></div>',
+            esc_attr($type),
+            esc_attr($nonce),
+            esc_html__('No ' . ($type === 'active' ? 'active' : 'completed') . ' notes found.', 'a-wp-notes')
+        );
         return;
     }
 

wp-notes.php

@@ -656,10 +656,47 @@ function wp_notes_add_inline_scripts() {
                     }
                 });
             });
+
+            // Persist the dismissal of the empty-state notice.
+            // WP core's common.js attaches the X button and hides the
+            // notice on click; we just hook the same click and fire an
+            // AJAX call to set the user_meta flag so the notice does
+            // not reappear on the next page load.
+            $(document).on('click', '.wp-notes-empty .notice-dismiss', function() {
+                var \$notice = $(this).closest('.wp-notes-empty');
+                var type   = \$notice.data('wp-notes-empty-type');
+                var nonce  = \$notice.data('wp-notes-nonce');
+                if (!type || !nonce) { return; }
+                $.post(ajaxurl, {
+                    action: 'wp_notes_dismiss_empty',
+                    type:   type,
+                    nonce:  nonce
+                });
+            });
         });
     </script>";
 }
 
+// Persist a user's dismissal of the "No active/completed notes found"
+// empty-state notice so it doesn't reappear on the next page load.
+// Triggered by inline JS in wp_notes_add_inline_scripts() when the
+// user clicks the X on a .wp-notes-empty notice.
+add_action('wp_ajax_wp_notes_dismiss_empty', 'wp_notes_ajax_dismiss_empty');
+function wp_notes_ajax_dismiss_empty() {
+    if (!current_user_can('edit_posts')) {
+        wp_send_json_error('Insufficient permissions.', 403);
+    }
+    check_ajax_referer('wp_notes_dismiss_empty', 'nonce');
+
+    $type = isset($_POST['type']) ? sanitize_key(wp_unslash($_POST['type'])) : '';
+    if (!in_array($type, ['active', 'completed'], true)) {
+        wp_send_json_error('Invalid list type.', 400);
+    }
+
+    update_user_meta(get_current_user_id(), 'wp_notes_dismissed_empty_' . $type, 1);
+    wp_send_json_success(['dismissed' => $type]);
+}
+
 // Handle saving edited notes
 add_action('wp_ajax_wp_notes_save_edit', 'wp_notes_save_edit');
 function wp_notes_save_edit() {