The WordPress admin area/panel is one of the most crucial parts of a site from where you manages your entire website- be it adding new functionality, changing the design of a web page, editing the blog posts, publishing/posting the content and a lot more. It is like a home for all the WordPress site owners/administrators/webmasters.
Since, the WordPress admin area by default is very straightforward, mediocre and less secure, it becomes essential for you to customize it according to your specific business needs. Change the colors, make it more appealing, inspiring, functional and of course, secure using best practices.
Here in this blog post, we will share a complete guide on how to customize the admin area of a WordPress blog that will help you achieve the same, without any heavy lifting.
Let’s get started!
Why to Improve the Admin Area of WordPress?
- To customizing the color schemes, icons, admin bars and other aspects of WordPress admin panel.
- To enhance the functionality by adding/reorganizing/deleting different components such as sidebars, toolbars and menus of the admin area.
- To strengthen the security of the login page and back-end of your website. Tightening the functionality and customization options to make it hard for hackers to gain access to your WordPress dashboard.
- To provide the experience of white-labeling if you are customizing the WP admin for your clients.
Customizing the WordPress Admin Panel
1. Focus on building a unique WP login page
A login page is the gateway of your WordPress admin dashboard, so it should be engaging, secure and personalized.
Unfortunately, every login page in WordPress, by default, has the similar design, logo, and links, which makes it boring and monotonous. So, start by customizing your login page using Custom Login Page Customizer plugin.
The plugin helps you create a more appealing, secure and user-friendly admin login page through your WordPress Customizer. Once you are done with the installation, go to Appearance > Login Customize > click on ‘Start Customizing’.
After that, you can customize the different aspects of WordPress admin such as Logo, Form styling, Button styling, Background, Text and colors, and a lot more. Even, you can preview the changes on your screen in real time.
2. Enhance the functionality of your WordPress Admin
Improve the functionality of your WordPress admin area by incorporating and rearranging menus in the sidebar and floating admin toolbar.
Here is the breakdown of the functionalities that needs to be improved:
(a) Manage your WP admin sidebar and toolbar
Since you have no control over where and how many tabs new themes and plugins will add to your sidebar and toolbar, it becomes quite difficult to manage the default WordPress admin area.
With the help of Admin Menu Editor, you can re-arrange, rename, or hide all the links available on your sidebar and toolbar. The plugin comes with a simple and intuitive drag an drop interface that helps you edit the sub-menus of your site like a breeze. So, download, install and activate the plugin to enjoy cluttered-free WordPress admin.
(b) Personalize your WordPress Admin by User Role
If you have a multi-site with multiple users (having access to your WordPress admin), then you can display them a different WordPress dashboard using WP Admin UI Customize plugin.
The plugin lets you create a custom dashboard for specific user roles:
- Administrator
- Editor
- Author
- Contributor
- Subscriber
Plus, you can also customize your toolbar, sidebar, login screen, and other components using this user-friendly plugin.
(c) Display key information in your admin area using Screen Options
WordPress comes with an inbuilt Screen Options button inside your WordPress admin panel. With the help of this button, you can decide what information you want to show and what information you want to hide from the front-end users.
Once you navigate through your admin area, you will see the Screen Options option on the right side of the screen. When you click on the option, it will open a slide down panel that lets you arrange multiple visual options, such as:
- Format
- Categories,
- Tags,
- Show AMP for Current Page?
- Featured Image
- Excerpt, etc.
You can check/uncheck the options to customize their settings individually.
3. Tweak the overall look and feel of your WordPress dashboard
Customize the design of your WordPress dashboard, such as color schemes using admin themes. Make your admin interface more appealing and fascinating by making the use any of the following themes:
(a) Slate Admin Theme
Slate Admin Theme helps you create simple, clean design for your WordPress admin. The theme concentrates on providing the seamless experience when you are managing the backend of your site.
(b) Material Admin Theme
Create a flat design to make your WordPress admin panel more intriguing and captivating using Material Admin theme. The theme focuses on delivering better contrast and eye-catchy look to their end users.
(c) First- WordPress Admin Theme
First- WordPress Admin Theme is a premium WordPress theme that lets you create a custom menu, admin bar, icons for your admin area, without even creating the single piece of coding.
Tip: The themes mentioned above can elevate the entire design of your WordPress dashboard, without even generating a single piece of coding.
Conclusion
These tips will help you customize the admin area of your WordPress and make it easier for you to manage the front-end of your site with ease. Focus on improving the functionality, appearance and other aspects of your WordPress dashboard using the above-mentioned tips.
