diff --git a/admin/settings/appearance.php b/admin/settings/appearance.php
index fd31903a3f3..b904da2e0bd 100644
--- a/admin/settings/appearance.php
+++ b/admin/settings/appearance.php
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ if ($hassiteconfig or has_any_capability($capabilities, $systemcontext)) { // sp
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('allowuserblockhiding', new lang_string('allowuserblockhiding', 'admin'), new lang_string('configallowuserblockhiding', 'admin'), 1));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('allowblockstodock', new lang_string('allowblockstodock', 'admin'), new lang_string('configallowblockstodock', 'admin'), 1));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtextarea('custommenuitems', new lang_string('custommenuitems', 'admin'), new lang_string('configcustommenuitems', 'admin'), '', PARAM_TEXT, '50', '10'));
+    $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtextarea(
+        'customusermenuitems',
+        new lang_string('customusermenuitems', 'admin'),
+        new lang_string('configcustomusermenuitems', 'admin'),
+        'messages,message|/message/index.php|message
+myfiles,moodle|/user/files.php|download
+mybadges,badges|/badges/mybadges.php|award',
+        PARAM_TEXT,
+        '50',
+        '10'
+    ));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('enabledevicedetection', new lang_string('enabledevicedetection', 'admin'), new lang_string('configenabledevicedetection', 'admin'), 1));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_devicedetectregex('devicedetectregex', new lang_string('devicedetectregex', 'admin'), new lang_string('devicedetectregex_desc', 'admin'), ''));
     $ADMIN->add('themes', $temp);
diff --git a/auth/tests/behat/behat_auth.php b/auth/tests/behat/behat_auth.php
index 34ede3b9c0a..959c2fb043d 100644
--- a/auth/tests/behat/behat_auth.php
+++ b/auth/tests/behat/behat_auth.php
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class behat_auth extends behat_base {
         // hamburger.
 
         // However, the user menu *always* needs to be expanded.
-        $xpath ="//div[@class='usermenu']//a[contains(concat(' ', @class, ' '), ' toggle-display ')]";
+        $xpath = "//div[@class='usermenu']//a[contains(concat(' ', @class, ' '), ' toggle-display ')]";
         array_unshift($steps, new When('I click on "'.$xpath.'" "xpath_element"'));
 
         return $steps;
diff --git a/lang/en/admin.php b/lang/en/admin.php
index 4503afb56f1..1fcbdda6f65 100644
--- a/lang/en/admin.php
+++ b/lang/en/admin.php
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ Moodle community|https://moodle.org
 #####
 Moodle.com|http://moodle.com/
 </pre>';
+$string['configcustomusermenuitems'] = 'You can configure the contents of the user menu (with the exception of the log out link, which is automatically added). Each line is separated by | characters and consists of 1) a string in "langstringname, componentname" form or as plain text, 2) a URL, and 3) an icon either as a pix icon or as a URL.';
 $string['configdbsessions'] = 'If enabled, this setting will use the database to store information about current sessions. Note that changing this setting now will log out all current users (including you). If you are using MySQL please make sure that \'max_allowed_packet\' in my.cnf (or my.ini) is at least 4M. Other session drivers can be configured directly in config.php, see config-dist.php for more information. This option disappears if you specify session driver in config.php file.';
 $string['configdebug'] = 'If you turn this on, then PHP\'s error_reporting will be increased so that more warnings are printed.  This is only useful for developers.';
 $string['configdebugdisplay'] = 'Set to on, the error reporting will go to the HTML page. This is practical, but breaks XHTML, JS, cookies and HTTP headers in general. Set to off, it will send the output to your server logs, allowing better debugging. The PHP setting error_log controls which log this goes to.';
@@ -393,6 +394,7 @@ $string['currenttheme'] = 'Current theme';
 $string['customcheck'] = 'Other checks';
 $string['custommenu'] = 'Custom menu';
 $string['custommenuitems'] = 'Custom menu items';
+$string['customusermenuitems'] = 'User menu items';
 $string['datarootsecurityerror'] = '<p><strong>SECURITY WARNING!</strong></p><p>Your dataroot directory is in the wrong location and is exposed to the web. This means that all your private files are available to anyone in the world, and some of them could be used by a cracker to obtain unauthorised administrative access to your site!</p>
 <p>You <em>must</em> move dataroot directory ({$a}) to a new location that is not within your public web directory, and update the <code>$CFG->dataroot</code> setting in your config.php accordingly.</p>';
 $string['datarootsecuritywarning'] = 'Your site configuration might not be secure. Please make sure that your dataroot directory ({$a}) is not directly accessible via web.';
diff --git a/lib/outputrenderers.php b/lib/outputrenderers.php
index b0deb72a798..d20a2a4896e 100644
--- a/lib/outputrenderers.php
+++ b/lib/outputrenderers.php
@@ -3049,8 +3049,14 @@ EOD;
             $idx = 0;
             foreach ($opts->navitems as $key => $value) {
                 $pix = null;
-                if (isset($value->pix)) {
+                if (isset($value->pix) && !empty($value->pix)) {
                     $pix = new pix_icon($value->pix, $value->title, null, array('class' => 'iconsmall'));
+                } else if (isset($value->imgsrc) && !empty($value->imgsrc)) {
+                    $value->title = html_writer::img(
+                        $value->imgsrc,
+                        $value->title,
+                        array('class' => 'iconsmall')
+                    ) . $value->title;
                 }
                 $al = new action_menu_link_secondary(
                     $value->url,
diff --git a/user/lib.php b/user/lib.php
index 5feb0fd4969..93832e55f4c 100644
--- a/user/lib.php
+++ b/user/lib.php
@@ -614,6 +614,79 @@ function user_count_login_failures($user, $reset = true) {
     return $count;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Converts a string into a flat array of links, where each link is a
+ * stdClass with fields url, title, pix, and imgsrc.
+ *
+ * @param string $text the menu items definition
+ * @param moodle_page $page the current page
+ * @return array
+ */
+function user_convert_text_to_menu_items($text, $page) {
+    global $OUTPUT, $CFG;
+
+    $lines = explode("\n", $text);
+    $items = array();
+    $lastchild = null;
+    $lastdepth = null;
+    $lastsort = 0;
+    foreach ($lines as $line) {
+        $line = trim($line);
+        $bits = explode('|', $line, 3);
+        if (!array_key_exists(0, $bits) or empty($bits[0])) {
+            // Every item must have a name to be valid.
+            continue;
+        } else {
+            $bits[0] = ltrim($bits[0], '-');
+        }
+
+        // Create the child.
+        $child = new stdClass();
+
+        // Name processing.
+        $namebits = explode(',', $bits[0], 2);
+        if (count($namebits) == 2) {
+            // Treat this as a language string.
+            $child->title = get_string($namebits[0], $namebits[1]);
+        } else {
+            // Use it as is, don't even clean it.
+            $child->title = $bits[0];
+        }
+
+        // URL processing.
+        if (!array_key_exists(1, $bits) or empty($bits[1])) {
+            // Set the url to null.
+            $bits[1] = null;
+        } else {
+            // Make sure the url is a moodle url.
+            $bits[1] = new moodle_url(trim($bits[1]));
+        }
+        $child->url = $bits[1];
+
+        // PIX processing.
+        $pixpath = "t/edit";
+        if (!array_key_exists(2, $bits) or empty($bits[2])) {
+            // Use the default.
+            $child->pix = $pixpath;
+        } else {
+            // Check for the specified image existing.
+            $pixpath = "t/" . $bits[2];
+            if ($page->theme->resolve_image_location($pixpath, 'moodle', true)) {
+                // Use the image.
+                $child->pix = $pixpath;
+            } else {
+                // Treat it like a URL.
+                $child->pix = null;
+                $child->imgsrc = $bits[2];
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Add this child to the list of children.
+        $children[] = $child;
+    }
+    return $children;
+}
+
 /**
  * Get a list of essential user navigation items.
  *
@@ -791,6 +864,13 @@ function user_get_user_navigation_info($user, $page) {
         $lastobj = $logout;
     }
 
+    // Before we add the last item (usually a logout link), add any
+    // custom-defined items.
+    $customitems = user_convert_text_to_menu_items($CFG->customusermenuitems, $page);
+    foreach ($customitems as $item) {
+        $returnobject->navitems[] = $item;
+    }
+
     // Add the last item to the list.
     if (!is_null($lastobj)) {
         $returnobject->navitems[] = $lastobj;