Anthology of Ideas

Of the entire website the Dashboard is seen by administrators the most, but it is the hardest part of WordPress to customize. Well not anymore. This plugin allows you to add whatever you want to the Dashboard through PHP and HTML and allows you to even add Sidebar Widgets. You may also wipe the entire dashboard or individually remove some of the more irritating sections like the Dev news, Planet WordPress and the getting started section.

In WordPress 2.5, the code is cleaner, the plugin is more responsive and you can add both “real” sidebar widgets, or add “fake” ones to match the dashboard.

This plugin is currently intended for 2.5, but it also works in WordPress 2.1 – 2.3 and can work in WordPress 2.0.x if you use the Completely Wipe Dashboard option.

Installation is a breeze:

1. Download the zip file for WordPress Dashboard Editor
2. Unzip and upload dashboard.php to your wp-content/plugins/ folder.
3. Go to your dashboard. There will be a new sub-menu item.
4. Select any options you want and add any PHP or HTML code that you want to the textbox.

Code Examples:

To add a sidebar widget to your dashboard (after selecting the option from the Dashboard management page) use the code:

<?php dynamic_sidebar('admin');?>

The Admin sidebar is modified and controlled the exact same way as any other sidebar.

If you use the WP-UserOnline plugin you can use:

<?php echo useronline_page();?>

In WordPress 2.1-2.3 f you find that your new content doesn’t align nicely you can add:

<div style="float:left; width:460px;">
//
//Add all other content here
//
</div>

Any code that can be used in your WordPress Theme can be used in the dashboard. This means that you can have different information appear for the different user roles among other things.