WordPress Toolbar Editor - Hide, Add links to Admin Bar

The Admin Bar in WordPress offers the most necessary options from different plugins. By default, it offers howdy text with your nickname, a New button, a Comment icon, Site name, and getting-started documentation.

When plugin installation grows over time, we notice our admin toolbar is also flooded with a lot of items.

Then we feel the necessity to create a personalized Admin Bar? I recommend, not waiting till then to start admin bar customization. Because Smart people learn from their mistakes and Wise people learn from others mistakes. Here, the WordPress Toolbar Editor will solve your every problem regarding admin bar.

Without wasting your valuable time, let me share a screenshot with you. Can you relate the issue to yourself? 

This is a messy screenshot with some admin bar items, and I have only installed 14 necessary plugins. You can see how the howdy text took position under the main admin bar pointed with the right side arrow. The Clear Rest Cache item took position before the dashboard menu item pointed with the left side arrow. 

If you are a developer and work for your client's site, then I am pretty sure you don’t want to deliver a project like this to your clients.

At the end of this blog post, you will be able to create a personalized WordPress admin bar for your clients like the following screenshot, with limited accessibility. 

Getting started with WordPress toolbar editor

Before diving, let me share the proper plan with you for customizing the WordPress Toolbar. I have tried my best to find out all possible ways that will help you to customize WordPress admin bar. But still, I may have missed something. Please feel free to comment, and I will try to provide a solution and also update the blog post. 

WordPress Admin bar not showing: This is a common issue for WordPress beginners. I will explain a possible issue that can hide the WordPress Admin bar. 

Hide WordPress Admin Bar: I will guide you on how to hide admin bar items for a specific user, user role. 

Hide Front end Admin Bar: Instead of hiding front end admin bar from the profile page, I will show you the way to hide front end toolbar dynamically for any user or user role. 

Add a link to WordPress Admin Bar: Learn how easily you can create a custom link or menu item in the Admin bar. You can create submenu items for custom links or any existing items from the 3rd level. 

Disable Admin bar except Administrator: In this section, you will get the guidelines on how to disable WordPress admin bar for all users except administrators. 

Define Admin Bar location: It’s not necessary to keep the Admin bar position always on top, but you can define the Admin bar position to the bottom too. 

Style customization for Admin Bar: Adding a color or gradient to the Admin bar background can provide an extra personalized feel to your Admin Bar. Plus you can change the text and new button colors that match your brand. 

I am going to use the Admin Bar Editor plugin and will share the necessary code snippet for the developers. Make sure to download the plugin and install it in your WordPress Dashboard. 

Free Download | Admin Bar Editor PRO  

WordPress Admin bar not showing

You wake up from bed and visit your website and notice the admin bar is missing, though you have logged into your dashboard. This is a common issue for beginner WordPress users. 

First of all, navigate to WP Admin > Profile. Now, check if "Show Toolbar when viewing site "option is checked or not. If it’s unchecked, then check this setting and save. You should preview the admin bar in the front end now. 

Hide WordPress Admin Bar

Do you like to hide specific Admin bar items, or the entire Admin bar? Have you ever wanted to hide some of the admin bar items for a specific user role or user name? 

All of my mentioned questions have a solution in the following guideline. Navigate to your WordPress Dashboard and click on the Admin bar Editor option. (Make sure you have installed the admin bar editor plugin.)

Note: You can notice the Admin bar editor option inside the WP Adminify menu. It’s because I have installed the WP Adminify plugin on my local server. WP Adminify and Admin Bar Editor are both 100% compatible with each other. Using both plugins can help you create a fully customized WordPress client Dashboard. 

Hide backend Admin bar for specific user

Inside the Admin bar editor option, you can see the  "Backend", "Frontend", and "Advanced" options. By default, the "backend" is selected. 

Let’s assume that we would like to hide the "Rank Math SEO" from another administrator. (I have installed Rank Math and created an admin account called "admin-client")

Now click on the Rank Math SEO item and it will expand some options called "Menu title", "Menu link", "Hidden for rules", and "Set custom icon". You have to click on "hidden for rules" and select the username. For me, I will select "admin-client" user name. 

After saving the settings, try to log in with your selected admin username and password. You will notice the admin menu item is hidden from the backend. Here is a screenshot from my "admin-client" dashboard. 

Hide the admin bar for all users 

Hiding admin bar items is very simple, you can see an "on/off switcher" beside each admin bar item. Just toggle the switch off for which item you like to hide for all users. I have hidden a lot of items for all users in the following screenshot, and you can see the admin bar gets a cleaner view. 

Also, you can hide your existing admin menu items for a specific user with the help of the Admin Menu editor by the WP Adminify free plugin. 

Hide Front end Admin Bar

Like the backend, you can control whether you want to hide the frontend admin bar for all users or like to limit the frontend admin bar items for specific user roles or user names. 

Hide the front end Admin bar for all users 

Click on the Frontend option, then make the switcher "yes" from "no" for "Disable Frontend Admin Bar?". Now you can see another "yes/no switcher" for "Hide Admin Bar for All Users". Make it yes, too, then save the settings.

Now visit your website frontend, and you will notice the Admin bar is hidden. Now the admin bar is hidden for all users, no matter he/she is logged in as administrator or editor, or subscriber. 

Add a link to WordPress Admin Bar

Adding a custom item or link to WordPress admin bar provides better control over your users. There are different types of use cases for different agencies. But I am going to explain this feature from an editorial perspective. 

If you run a WordPress blog site and have multiple editors, then you can create some custom links for - 

Quick Access to Posts: You can put a categorized post list inside the admin bar. 

Media Library Shortcut: Maybe you manage an external service for media uploading where your designer upload media files, like Google Drive. You can link the drive folder or anything directly to the admin bar. 

Custom Shortcodes & Templates: If there are any shortcodes & templates for CTA or layout, then you can put the necessary links directly to the admin toolbar. 

To add a link, navigate to the Admin Bar Editor. Scroll down and click on "Add Item" button. This will be your primary item. Under this primary item, you can create sub-menu items just like I did in the following screenshot. I named "Blog Post Category" as the primary item and added 2 category items as sub-items. 

Take a look at the following screenshot. This is the output of my previous settings. You can create sub-menu items under a sub-menu. 

Disable Admin bar except Administrator

To disable WordPress admin bar for all users except administrators, you need to create a conditional display on the frontend option. 

Turn on the Yes/No switch for "Disable Frontend Admin Bar?" option. Now take a look at the last option called "Disabled For", and besides this option, there is a button called "Add new conditions". Click on this button and select all user roles except the Administrator user role. 

Then save the settings, and now the admin bar is disabled for all users except administrators. 

Define Admin Bar location

Navigate to Admin Bar Editor > Advanced option. The first option is "Adminbar Position" which is selected by default. You can define whether you like to keep your admin bar at the top or the bottom. 

Style customization for Admin Bar

Inside this advanced option, there is a tab called "Styles". Just click on this style option, and you will get all color customization options for your Admin bar background and text. I have added a gradient color as the admin bar background and changed the font color and background hover color.

Let me clarify that changing the admin bar colors will not affect the admin menu background color. I have used the Admin Menu editor to customize the admin menu's background and text colors. 

Let’s Wrap UP! 

I hope you got a clear idea on how you can control your WordPress Admin bar for specific users instead of showing it for all users. Still, if there is something that I have missed, please comment below. I will try to provide you solution and will update the Admin Bar Editor plugin for you.