Wordpress adding a menu page when activating a plugin

Question

Im making a custom plugin for wordpress and i need to create a page in the admin menu. I already have a file called mailing_list.php with the following code:

function jps_mail_list_page_entry() {
    add_menu_page(
        __('JPS Mailing List'),
        'JPS Mailing List',
        'manage_options',
        'jpsNews_mailinglist',
        'jpsNews_mailing_list',
        'dashicons-email'
    );
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'jps_mail_list_page_entry');


function jpsNews_mailing_list() {
    echo 'hello';
}

Now, in the plugin page i have this:

function jpsNews_activate_plugin() {
    include_once(plugin_dir_path(__FILE__).'pages/mailing-list.php');
}
register_activation_hook(__FILE__,'jpsNews_activate_plugin');

Its not working so, is it even possible to do it like this? how can i do it?

thanks in advance.

Answer 1

found the problem. Turns out the function that creates the pages needs to be outside the activation hook. moved it to the end of the script and works perfectly.

Thanks =)