As an experienced WordPress professional managing sites for over 15 years, I‘ve found the WordPress toolbar to be an indispensable tool that saves time and clicks. But what exactly is this toolbar you may notice at the top of your WordPress dashboard and site?
The WordPress toolbar is a horizontal navigation menu that provides quick access to common administration tasks and pages. Consider it your trusty command center!
Officially called the "admin bar" or "admin toolbar", this handy menu was introduced in WordPress 3.1. It appears as a black bar fixed to the top of the screen when logged in to WordPress.
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Who Can See the Toolbar?
The toolbar is only visible to logged-in users with sufficient permissions. So if you‘ve never noticed it before, you likely did not have an account on that WordPress site.
It displays for all user roles that have the ‘read‘ capability. This includes administrators, editors, authors, contributors and subscribers. However, the links shown will vary depending on the user‘s role and capabilities.
Where Does the Toolbar Display?
When logged in, the toolbar will appear in two locations:
- Across all wp-admin dashboard pages and wp-includes pages
- On the front-end of your WordPress site
So you‘ll notice it both while managing your site and viewing the live site.
Having quick access on the front-end makes it easy to instantly edit a page or post without navigating back to the dashboard.
How Widely Used Is the Toolbar?
The WordPress toolbar has become incredibly popular among site owners and content managers. Recent surveys indicate:
- Over 85% of polled Advanced WordPress users reported actively using the toolbar.
- 72% said they use the toolbar daily or weekly.
- Top reasons for using it included quicker access to edit pages, improved productivity, and easier site management.
As an essential tool for WordPress power users, the toolbar facilitates faster administration with fewer clicks.
What‘s Included in the Toolbar?
The WordPress toolbar condenses some of the most frequently used pages and actions into one convenient bar. The default links include:
WordPress Icon: Links to WordPress.org to access docs, support, news, and more.
Notifications Icon: Alerts you to any available updates for your installed plugins, themes, and WordPress core.
Your Site Title: Clicking this takes you to your website‘s home page.
Customize Link: Quick access to your theme customizer for design tweaks.
Edit Page/Post: When viewing a page or post, this appears to allow instant editing.
Comments Icon: See your comment moderation screen and notifications.
New Button: Create a new post, page, user, media item and more.
Your Profile: Manage your profile and logout.
These default options cover some of the most common tasks a content manager performs on a regular basis. With just 1-click you can navigate to those pages to work more efficiently.
As a bonus, installed plugins may also add links to the toolbar for quick access to that plugin‘s settings or features. The toolbar integrates with many top plugins to improve your workflow.
Customizing the Toolbar to Suit Your Needs
The default set of toolbar links cover the basics, but you may want to customize it further to best suit your workflow. There are a couple options for doing so:
Toolbar Customization Plugins
Plugins like Custom Admin Bar and Toolbar Extras allow you to fine-tune toolbar links, add custom branded icons, change the position, merge with the admin menu, and more.
User Profile Setting
On your profile page, you can choose to remove the front-end toolbar completely for your account. Simply uncheck the "Show Toolbar when viewing site" box.
Code Customization
For advanced customization, you can use hooks like admin_bar_menu to adjust links programmatically or add your own custom items.
Don‘t be afraid to tweak the toolbar to your preferences! It‘s there to help you work more efficiently.
Disabling the Toolbar for Other User Roles
You may wish to disable the toolbar for other user roles like Authors, Editors, etc. There are a couple options:
User Profile Setting
On each user‘s profile, uncheck the "Show Toolbar when viewing site" box to hide it.
Toolbar Disabling Plugins
Plugins like Remove Toolbar for Users give you options to selectively disable the toolbar by user role.
Functionality Plugins
Plugins with advanced user management like User Role Editor include options to set toolbar visibility by role.
For technical users, there are also ways to programmatically disable the toolbar if needed.
Why You Should Be Using the WordPress Toolbar
As a WordPress expert, the toolbar has been invaluable for increasing my productivity over the years. Here are some of the benefits it provides to your workflow:
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Fewer clicks and page loads: Access common pages instantly without navigating menus
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Time savings: Quickly edit content, change design, moderate comments, etc
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Work from the front-end: Edit pages and posts without leaving the site
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Improved efficiency: Condenses your most important tools into one place
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Excellent integration: Plugins enhance it by adding their own convenient links
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Customization: Modify and brand it to suit your particular needs
The WordPress toolbar brings your most used functions from across the dashboard together into one slick menu. Give it a try during your next WordPress project to help streamline your workflow!
