Added More Meaningful nothing matches filters or no records exist

admin/saved_payment_methods.php

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ $num_rows = mysqli_fetch_row(mysqli_query($mysqli, "SELECT FOUND_ROWS()"));
     </div>
     <div class="table-responsive-sm">
         <table class="table table-striped table-borderless table-hover mb-0">
-            <thead class="text-dark <?php if ($num_rows == 0) { echo "d-none"; } ?>">
+            <thead class="text-dark <?php if (!$num_rows[0]) { echo "d-none"; } ?>">
             <tr>
                 <th>
                     <a class="text-dark" href="?<?= $url_query_strings_sort ?>&sort=client_name&order=<?= $disp ?>">

agent/ticket_list.php

@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ if ($tickets) {
 
             <div class="table-responsive">
                 <table class="table table-striped table-borderless table-hover mb-0">
-                    <thead class="text-dark text-nowrap">
+                    <thead class="text-dark text-nowrap <?php if (!$num_rows[0]) { echo "d-none"; } ?>">
                     <tr>
                         <td class="checkbox-column">
                             <div class="form-check">

includes/filter_footer.php

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@
  * Relies upon the $num_rows variable being set correctly
  */
 
+/*
+ * Nothing to paginate means nothing rendered below the filter bar at all - the
+ * tables already hide their <thead> at zero rows. Handled here rather than in
+ * each of the 48 listing pages because this file is the one thing they all
+ * include, and it already has $num_rows.
+ */
+require __DIR__ . '/inc_empty_state.php';
+
 $total_found_rows = $num_rows[0];
 $total_pages = ceil($total_found_rows / $user_config_records_per_page);
 
@@ -119,9 +127,3 @@ if ($total_found_rows > 5) {
     <?php
 
 }
-
-if ($total_found_rows == 0) {
-    echo "<center class='my-3'><i class='far fa-fw fa-6x fa-meh-rolling-eyes text-secondary'></i><h3 class='text-secondary mt-3'>No Results</h3></center>";
-}
-
-?>

includes/inc_empty_state.php

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ * Empty state for listing pages.
+ *
+ * Required from filter_footer.php, which every listing page already includes
+ * and which already receives $num_rows - so this reaches all 48 of them
+ * without touching each one.
+ *
+ * The tables already hide their <thead> when $num_rows[0] is 0, so an empty
+ * result was rendering as a card with a filter bar and nothing under it. This
+ * fills that gap and, more usefully, distinguishes the two reasons a list can
+ * be empty:
+ *
+ *   - nothing has been created yet    -> say so plainly
+ *   - the filters exclude everything  -> say THAT, and offer a way out
+ *
+ * The second is the one worth getting right: a filtered-to-nothing list looks
+ * identical to an empty install, and the fix (clear the filters) is invisible.
+ *
+ * $page_title is set from the script name by includes/page_title.php, which
+ * every listing page pulls in via inc_all / inc_all_client / inc_all_admin,
+ * so the label is already correct per page ("Clients", "Recurring Invoices")
+ * with nothing to maintain.
+ */
+
+if (!isset($num_rows) || intval($num_rows[0]) > 0) {
+    return;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Which GET keys are page furniture rather than a filter the user chose.
+ * canned_date is here because filter_header.php WRITES it on every request
+ * when absent, so its presence says nothing; the dates it resolves to are
+ * what count, and those arrive as dtf/dtt.
+ *
+ * client_id is scope, not a filter - 33 of these pages run inside a client via
+ * inc_all_client.php. Counting it would tell someone their empty client has
+ * "no invoices matching the current filters" and offer a Clear filters link
+ * that quietly drops them out of the client entirely.
+ */
+$empty_state_ignored_params = array('page', 'sort', 'order', 'canned_date', 'show_column', 'client_id');
+
+$empty_state_filtered = false;
+foreach ($_GET as $empty_state_key => $empty_state_value) {
+    if (in_array($empty_state_key, $empty_state_ignored_params, true)) {
+        continue;
+    }
+    if (is_array($empty_state_value) ? count($empty_state_value) : strlen(trim((string)$empty_state_value))) {
+        $empty_state_filtered = true;
+        break;
+    }
+}
+
+$empty_state_thing = strtolower($page_title ?? 'records');
+
+?>
+
+<div class="text-center text-secondary py-5 px-3">
+    <?php if ($empty_state_filtered) { ?>
+
+        <i class="fa fa-4x fa-filter mb-3 d-block" aria-hidden="true"></i>
+        <h6>No <?= escapeHtml($empty_state_thing) ?> match the current filters.</h6>
+        <p class="small mb-3">Try widening the date range or clearing the search.</p>
+        <?php /* keep the client scope, drop everything else */ ?>
+        <a href="<?= escapeHtml(strtok($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '?') . (isset($_GET['client_id']) ? '?client_id=' . intval($_GET['client_id']) : '')) ?>" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-secondary">
+            <i class="fa fa-fw fa-times me-2" aria-hidden="true"></i>Clear filters
+        </a>
+
+    <?php } else { ?>
+
+        <i class="fa fa-4x fa-inbox mb-3 d-block" aria-hidden="true"></i>
+        <h4>No <?= escapeHtml($empty_state_thing) ?> yet.</h4>
+        <h6>Anything you add will show up here.</h6>
+
+    <?php } ?>
+</div>