WHMCS 8.8 - Hide $0.00 and Paid Invoices from Client Area Notifications (Freemium 3 Theme)

[Ali C]

Hi everyone,

I'm reaching out to the community for guidance on a customization project we're working on with WHMCS 8.8.

PROBLEM:
We are using the Freemium 3 custom theme on WHMCS 8.8. We have identified a display issue in the client area where invoices with a $0.00 balance are appearing in the notification panel. This includes both invoices that started as $0.00 and those that have been fully paid. This is creating unnecessary noise and confusion for our clients.

REQUEST:
We would like to hide these invoices from the client area notifications. Specifically, any invoice with a $0.00 balance should not be shown to the client in the notification dropdown.

WHAT I'VE TRIED:
- Contacted WHMCS Support and received guidance from Jimmy White (Staff)
- Learned that the alert/notification system for the client is managed by a separate tool
- Learned that excluding certain elements would not be possible directly
- Was advised that we may be able to reword the information provided by customizing what is passed back to the TPL file
- Referenced the WHMCS/User/Alert class documentation: https://classdocs.whmcs.com/8.1/WHMCS/User/Alert.html

GUIDED BY SUPPORT TO POST HERE:
Jimmy White from WHMCS Support recommended reaching out to the Development community, as other members will have completed similar tasks and can offer guidance on how best this can be completed.

QUESTIONS:
1. Has anyone else tackled this problem?
2. What is the best approach to customize what is passed to the TPL file?
3. Are there any hooks or filters available that would allow us to exclude certain invoices from notifications?
4. Best practices for modifying the alert/notification system?
5. Any code examples or guidance on using the WHMCS/User/Alert class?

I have screenshots and our custom CSS available if anyone needs them.

Thank you in advance for any guidance or pointers you can provide!