WordPress
Admin
Redesigned &
Extended.
Concept redesign of the WordPress admin experience — modernising the block editor toolbar, navigation hierarchy, and plugin management flows.
Concept Designer · Concept Exploration
WordPress admin hadn't changed in years — so I redesigned it from the dashboard up.
Dashboard, Global Search, Pages & Posts, and Settings — fully redesigned with new interaction patterns.
Global search, role badge, create dropdown, recent activity, WP events with timezone, page quick-access, last login.
DEV
WordPress domain depth signalled through this concept — opened the door to the product design role.
Figma File Walkthrough
Full walkthrough of the Figma file — covers Dashboard, Search, Pages & Posts, and the Settings restructure.
The same admin.
Completely rethought.
- ✗Flat 8-item sidebar — Posts, Appearance, Plugins, Users all at the same level with no grouping or priority
- ✗No search — finding a specific setting or plugin required clicking through multiple nested menus every time
- ✗No user context — no role indicator, no recent activity, no notification badge anywhere in the UI
- ✗"Screen Options" hidden top-right — dashboard personalisation was an afterthought, not a designed feature
- ✓Three-column layout: grouped sidebar (WebPages / WP Settings / Plugins), content, Recent Activity + WP Events
- ✓Global search bar across every screen — finds plugins, themes, posts, pages, settings with contextual CTAs
- ✓Role badge next to username, red update indicator, Create dropdown — full context visible at a glance
- ✓Dashboard Screen Toggle: drag widgets to reorder, enable/disable any panel, add or remove plugin widgets
Three problems.
Four screens built to solve them.
Search didn't exist in WordPress admin. Finding a plugin setting, a specific post, or a configuration option meant clicking through nested menus every single time.
No Global SearchSidebar items at the same hierarchy level — core WordPress features mixed with plugin settings with no grouping, no visual priority, no way to tell what belonged where.
Flat SidebarNo role indicator, no activity feed, no local events, no personalisation — same generic view regardless of who you were or what you'd been working on.
No User ContextYour full admin
at a glance.
The dashboard is restructured around three clear zones. The left sidebar is now grouped into named categories — WebPages for core content (Dashboard, Post, Media, Pages, Comments), WordPress Settings for admin config (Appearance, Plugins, Users, Tools, Advanced Settings), and Plugin Settings for each installed plugin's own dedicated page. The centre holds all the dashboard widgets, beautifully aligned with proper spacing. The right column shows a live Recent Activity feed — timestamped entries for every page added, plugin installed, or user created — plus a WordPress Events section where you enter your city to see upcoming local WP events, shown in your account's local timezone.
- Create dropdown — Post, Media, Page, or User without navigating away from the current screen
- Role badge next to username at all times: Admin, Subscriber, or Moderator — always visible
- Red notification badge for WordPress updates — hard to miss, easy to act on immediately
- Recent Activity feed: who added pages, installed plugins, created users — all timestamped
- WordPress Events: enter your city → upcoming local WP events + your account timezone
- Logout shows last sign-in date and time — a simple but meaningful security cue
- Dashboard Screen Toggle: drag widgets to reorder, enable or disable any panel
Dashboard Redesign
Screen Elements Toggle
Find anything.
Without the hunt.
The search bar is entirely new to WordPress admin — it didn't exist before. It sits at the top of every screen and searches across all content types simultaneously: plugins, themes, posts, pages, and settings. Results arrive grouped into named sections so you always know what category you're looking at. Plugin results show a contextual action button based on current state — Install for new ones, Open for active ones, Activate for installed but inactive. Theme results render as thumbnail cards with star ratings. Post and page results show title, author, and timestamp with a direct link to the editor.
- Searches across plugins, themes, posts, pages, and settings in a single query
- Results grouped by type: Plugins · Themes · Posts · Pages · Settings sections
- Plugin results show contextual action: Install / Open / Activate based on current state
- "Search in Plugins" or "View in Posts" links navigate directly to the full section
- Theme results render as thumbnail cards with ratings, Preview, or Activate options
- Post and page results show title, author, and date — one click to open the editor
- Blank state: clean placeholder before typing — no cluttered suggestions or noise
Blank State
Search Results
Pick up exactly
where you left off.
Pages and Posts now open with a Quick Access strip at the top — the last four items you worked on appear as cards, each showing the title, type (Post or Page), and the date it was last opened. One click gets you straight back in. Below that, the full list uses improved filter tabs and a new Search Inside Post field that can match words written within the page body — not just the title. A gear icon opens the Page Settings modal where you can toggle visible columns, set items per page, and choose between view modes.
- Quick Access strip: last 4 pages/posts as cards with title, type badge, and last-opened date
- Search Inside Post: matches keywords written inside page body content, not just title
- "Add New" promoted to a clearly visible position next to the Recent Pages tab
- Filter tabs: All · Published · Draft with clean layout and count badges
- Page Settings: toggle visible columns (Author, Comments, Date), items per page, view mode
- All sections properly aligned and spaced — clean, readable, no visual clutter
Pages List
Page Settings Modal
Settings you can
actually find.
The original WordPress sidebar lumped everything together — core WP features, appearance options, and every plugin's settings at the same visual level. The redesign introduces three clearly named categories. You always know where to look, and nothing ever gets buried under something unrelated.
WebPages
Core WordPress content features — the things you use to actually run and publish on the website. If you're creating or managing content, it lives here.
- Dashboard
- Post
- Media
- Pages
- Comments
WordPress Settings
All admin configuration in one grouped section. Appearance, Plugins, Users — with Advanced Settings nesting import/export, Customizer, and other power-user tools.
- Appearance
- Plugins
- Users (profile, creation, deletion)
- Tools
- Advanced Settings (import/export, Customizer)
Plugin Settings
Each installed plugin gets its own dedicated settings page, clearly labelled. Plugin settings never mix with core WordPress settings — they can't get confused or lost.
- Elementor
- WP Rocket
- WPML
- Gutenberg
- Any installed plugin…
The
Problem
WordPress's admin UI had accumulated years of legacy patterns — the toolbar hierarchy was inconsistent across Gutenberg blocks, the main navigation didn't scale for plugin-heavy installations, and the visual language predated modern SaaS design standards.
Process
& Approach
Audited the existing admin flow across 6 major task types: post editing, plugin management, settings, user management, media library, and theme customisation. Mapped friction points, then designed a restructured navigation hierarchy and updated block editor toolbar system.
Audit & Map
Documented every admin flow — Dashboard, settings, plugin pages, user management — and mapped exactly where the navigation hierarchy broke down and friction accumulated.
Redesign in Figma
Rebuilt Dashboard with a three-column layout, introduced global search bar, restructured sidebar into named categories, and redesigned Pages & Posts with quick access.
Extend & Iterate
Added features the original admin never had: role badge, Create dropdown, Recent Activity feed, WordPress Events with location and timezone, last-login security indicator.
The
Design
Designed a modernised WordPress admin with a collapsible sidebar, unified block toolbar, and a redesigned plugin management view that grouped plugins by category rather than flat alphabetical listing — reducing the cognitive load of managing large plugin libraries.
Where it Led.
WordPress domain knowledge — turned into a career.
This concept, alongside the Effido productivity app, were the portfolio pieces that led directly to the WPMU DEV product design role. The WordPress depth signalled domain knowledge; Effido showed product thinking. Together they opened the door.
Depth signals expertise. Breadth signals curiosity.
The WordPress admin isn't glamorous to redesign — but that's exactly why it worked. Going deep on a product most designers avoid, then adding features the original never had, proved platform understanding that a generic portfolio piece couldn't. Specificity is what opened the door.
View full project on Behance ↗Three-Column Dashboard
Left navigation (WebPages / WP Settings / Plugins), centre content, right activity feed — full admin context on one screen without hunting through menus.
Create with Dropdown
One Create button expands into Post, Media, Page, and User — every content creation action accessible from any screen, right in the topbar.
Role Badge & Security Login
Role displayed next to your name at all times (Admin, Subscriber, Moderator). Logout screen shows last sign-in time for quick security awareness.
Unified Global Search
Searches plugins, themes, posts, pages, and settings in one query. Results grouped by type with contextual actions — Install, Open, or Activate per result.
Page Quick Access
Last 4 pages or posts opened shown as cards at the top of the Pages screen — jump back in without re-scanning the full list every session.
Structured Settings Hierarchy
Three clear categories: WebPages (core WP), WordPress Settings (appearance/plugins/users/advanced), and dedicated Plugin pages that never mix with each other.