/**
     * STANDALONE FEATURED SHOWCASE ENGINE: Pulls automated purchasers AND manual admin choices!
     */
    public function render_featured_vendors_showcase() {
        if ( get_option( 'cp_enable_profiles', 'yes' ) === 'no' ) { return ''; }

        global $wpdb;
        $promotions_table = $wpdb->prefix . 'connectpay_promotions';

        // 1. Fetch vendor IDs holding an active unexpired completed promotion package
        $purchased_featured_ids = $wpdb->get_col( "
            SELECT DISTINCT vendor_id FROM $promotions_table 
            WHERE expires_at > NOW() AND payment_status = 'completed' 
            ORDER BY CASE WHEN package_type = 'gold' THEN 1 ELSE 2 END ASC, expires_at DESC
        " );
        if ( ! is_array( $purchased_featured_ids ) ) { $purchased_featured_ids = array(); }

        // 2. NEW OVERRIDE: Fetch your manual admin checkbox options choices from settings
        $manual_featured_string = get_option( 'cp_manual_featured_vendors', '' );
        $manual_featured_ids    = array_map( 'intval', array_filter( explode( ',', $manual_featured_string ) ) );
        if ( ! is_array( $manual_featured_ids ) ) { $manual_featured_ids = array(); }

        // Merge both arrays cleanly to build a master featured pool group
        $master_featured_pool = array_unique( array_merge( $purchased_featured_ids, $manual_featured_ids ) );

        if ( empty( $master_featured_pool ) ) {
            return '<div style="text-align:center; padding:30px; color:#64748b; font-family:sans-serif; background:#ffffff; border-radius:12px; border:1px solid #e2e8f0; font-style:italic;">No featured promotional profiles spotlighted today.</div>';
        }

        // Parse through active vendor permissions checks layers safely
        $vendor_ids = array();
        if ( get_option( 'cp_enable_kyc', 'yes' ) === 'yes' ) {
            $vendor_ids = $wpdb->get_col( "
                SELECT DISTINCT u.ID FROM $wpdb->users u
                INNER JOIN $wpdb->usermeta m1 ON u.ID = m1.user_id
                INNER JOIN $wpdb->usermeta m2 ON u.ID = m2.user_id
                WHERE m1.meta_key LIKE '%capabilities' AND m1.meta_value LIKE '%connectpay_vendor%'
                AND m2.meta_key = 'connectpay_verified' AND m2.meta_value = '1'
            " );
        }

        if ( empty( $vendor_ids ) ) {
            $vendor_ids = $wpdb->get_col( "
                SELECT DISTINCT u.ID FROM $wpdb->users u
                INNER JOIN $wpdb->usermeta m ON u.ID = m.user_id
                WHERE m.meta_key LIKE '%capabilities' AND m.meta_value LIKE '%connectpay_vendor%'
            " );
        }

        // FIXED KEY-INDEX ALIGNMENT: Reset array keys cleanly to guarantee proper rank ordering
        $ordered_featured_ids = array_values( array_intersect( $master_featured_pool, $vendor_ids ) );
        if ( empty( $ordered_featured_ids ) ) { return ''; }

        // Enforce fetching all matched accounts in sequence order
        $user_query = new WP_User_Query( array( 'include' => $ordered_featured_ids, 'orderby' => 'include', 'number' => -1 ) );
        $users = $user_query->get_results();

        $page_id = $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[connectpay_profile_view]%' AND post_status = 'publish' AND post_type = 'page' LIMIT 1" );
        $profile_base_url = $page_id ? get_permalink( $page_id ) : home_url( '/profile/' );

        $output = '';
        $styles_path = CONNECTPAY_PATH . 'directory-grid-styles.php';
        if ( file_exists( $styles_path ) ) { ob_start(); include $styles_path; $output .= ob_get_clean(); }

        $output .= '<div class="cp-dir-container">';
        // 2. FEATURED RENDERING LOOP: Formats both manual selections and organic buyers
        foreach ( $users as $user ) {
            if ( ! $user ) { continue; }
            
            $seller_id = $user->ID;

            $location = get_user_meta( $seller_id, 'connectpay_location', true );
            $gender   = get_user_meta( $seller_id, 'connectpay_gender', true );
            $age      = get_user_meta( $seller_id, 'connectpay_age', true );
            $about    = get_user_meta( $seller_id, 'connectpay_about', true );

            // Determine if they are gold, silver, or forced featured via admin settings
            $package_tier = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT package_type FROM $promotions_table WHERE vendor_id = %d AND expires_at > NOW() AND payment_status = 'completed' LIMIT 1", $seller_id ) );
            
            $is_manually_featured = in_array( $seller_id, $manual_featured_ids, true );
            $is_gold = ( $package_tier === 'gold' || ( $is_manually_featured && empty($package_tier) ) );

            $avatar_id = get_user_meta( $seller_id, 'connectpay_custom_avatar', true );
            $avatar_html = '';
            
            // NO GUESSWORK FIX: Returns the exact valid HTML image tag markup dynamically
            if ( $avatar_id ) {
                $img_url = wp_get_attachment_image_url( $avatar_id, 'medium_large' );
                if ( ! $img_url ) { $img_url = wp_get_attachment_image_url( $avatar_id, 'medium' ); }
                if ( $img_url ) { 
                    $avatar_html = '<img src="' . esc_url( $img_url ) . '" class="cp-dir-avatar" alt="' . esc_attr($user->display_name) . '" style="width:100%; height:100%; object-fit:cover; display:block;" />'; 
                }
            }
            
            if ( empty( $avatar_html ) ) {
                $initial = strtoupper( substr( $user->display_name, 0, 1 ) );
                $avatar_html = '<div class="cp-dir-avatar-fallback">' . esc_html( $initial ) . '</div>';
            }

            $automated_profile_url = add_query_arg( 'vendor_id', $seller_id, $profile_base_url );
            
            // Apply priority gold frame accents to admin selections and gold tier purchases
            $featured_card_style = $is_gold ? 'border: 2px solid #fcd34d; box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(252,211,77,0.18); background: #fffdfa;' : 'border: 1px solid #cbd5e1; box-shadow: 0 4px 14px rgba(0,0,0,0.02); background: #ffffff;';

            $output .= '<div class="cp-dir-card" style="' . esc_attr($featured_card_style) . '">';
            $output .= '  <a href="' . esc_url( $automated_profile_url ) . '" style="text-decoration: none; display: block; width: 100%;"><div class="cp-dir-img-container" style="width:100%; aspect-ratio:1/1; overflow:hidden; border-radius:12px;">' . $avatar_html . '</div></a>';
            $output .= '  <h3 class="cp-dir-name" style="margin-top: 16px; display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 4px; justify-content: center; width: 100%;">';
            $output .= esc_html( $user->display_name );
            $output .= '    <span style="color: #d97706; font-size: 14px;" title="Featured Spotlight Profile">⭐</span>';
            $output .= '  </h3>';
            
            $output .= '  <div class="cp-dir-badges">';
            if ( $gender ) { $output .= '    <span class="cp-dir-badge">' . esc_html( $gender ) . '</span>'; }
            if ( $age )    { $output .= '    <span class="cp-dir-badge">' . esc_html( $age ) . ' Yrs</span>'; }
            if ( $location ) { $output .= '    <span class="cp-dir-badge">📍 ' . esc_html( $location ) . '</span>'; }
            $output .= '  </div>';
            
            $output .= '  <p class="cp-dir-bio">' . ( $about ? esc_html( $about ) : 'No bio summary description details provided.' ) . '</p>';
            $output .= '  <a href="' . esc_url( $automated_profile_url ) . '" class="cp-dir-cta-btn" style="' . ( $is_gold ? 'background: #d97706;' : 'background: #4f46e5;' ) . '">✨ View Featured Profile</a>';
            $output .= '</div>';
        }

        $output .= '</div>';
        return $output;
    }
}