Dashboard quick links widget

by Hem Thapa

Description

A lightweight plugin to allows admins to create an admin dashboard widget with frequently accessed links for quick access.

I originally developed this plugin after spending hours creating client/user documentation for every WordPress project. Instead of writing step-by-step navigation documentation, I used this plugin to organise all necessary links on the single widget for non-technical users. As a developer, I also use this script myself to organise frequently accessed links for quick access.

Links format

Each link should be entered in a separate line in the following format
(the fourth parameter, i.e. font awesome icon class is optional)

Link text|Button link|Button text|font-awesome icon class

Examples

Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post blog
Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post blog|fa fa-cog
Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php newtab|Post blog|fa fa-cog`

If you have any feedback or queries please contact me at hemthapa.com

Installation

Install the plugin from within the Dashboard or upload the directory dashboard-quick-link-widget and all of its contents to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory of your website
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Configure the widget options and links on Settings->Dashboard links widget.
Preview and confirm the dashboard widget.
That’s all, Now users can simply click on the button in the dashboard widget to access the page.

Screenshots

Dashboard widget preview
plugin settings dialog

Faq

How to format the list of the links?

You need to list each link in a separate line in the following format
Link text|Button link|Button text|font-awesome icon class

(fourth parameter, i.e. Font Awesome icon class is optional)

Example:

Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Create new post|fa fa-cog

How to open links in new tab?

By default, all links open in the same tab, if you want to open all the links on the widget in a new tab tick the ‘Open all links in a new tab’ box.

However, if you want to open only selected links in a new tab, add the keyword ‘newtab’ after the link.

Example:

Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php newtab|Post new blog

How to add a divider or additional info in between the links?

If you need to add any text, divider or any plain or HTML content in between the links, please add the new line with ‘#’ in the front. Any new lines starting with # are rendered as it is in the widget. You can add any HTML tags in this line.

Example:
#<strong> Section title </strong>
Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post new blog
#<hr/>
Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post new blog

Why Font Awesome icons is not working properly?

Please make sure correct the Font Awesome version is selected.

Reviews

Great plugin!!

By rrvoigt on February 5, 2024

Just what we needed!! Hopefully this plugin gets updated on a regular basis. Currently while writing not supported by the latest WP version 6.4.3 (but it works). Also maybe an improvement suggestion - for me i would have liked an option to make all buttons the same length. So they sit more evenly, but that is a personal preference. Great work !!!

Wish I could include an external post

By ixoyewarrior on January 23, 2024

Our site uses sub domains but I have no way to post a link to anything external.

Awesome Plugin

By herchen on November 14, 2022

I manage many WordPress sites and it's often a pain to find a frequently used menu item buried within tons of options. I actually developed my own plugin for that reason (called Admin Menu Search), but even then I got tired of typing in the filter to find the menu item I wanted. I found this plugin by searching for "Admin Links" and after a little bit of setup, it's really handy!! Excellent plugin idea and very useful! Thank You!

Very good - Does exactly what it says!

By NETT.PRO (nettpro) on June 23, 2022

Nice, simple plugin. Solved my problem. Could not find it when searching from within WordPress, but downloaded and installed and everything works. Thanks.

Just what I needed

By tolkodelo on February 25, 2021

This is my first plugin review. Plugins like AIOSEOP, Jetpack - why would I even bother rating them? But this little plugin is so simple, specific and handy, that I just can't help saying thank you to the author. I've got a couple of pages that I update almost daily, and I thought hey, on my dashboard there are a bunch of blocks I never use, why not put something useful there, like some direct page edit links. It would save me a couple minutes every single time. Hey, and there must be a plugin for this, right? ) And here it is ) Took me a couple of minutes to set up, works great. If you ever write another plugin like this one, let us know!

Simple and amazing!

By roadtrip28 on January 26, 2021

A great and EASY plugin which work without any problems. 1 thing which you can probably add: new tab for custom links (possible atm for all but not for single links). Thanks for making it and keep it up!!

Perfect tool for the job

By jdykast on September 10, 2020

This is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a way to add quick links (bookmarks / favorite items / call them what you will) to the dashboard and this works perfectly. It's simple, customizable, and works right out of the box.

Super handy!

By GaryManners on October 25, 2016

Do you have a page that you edit on a regular occasion? Or maybe you are setting a site up for someone who can't tell the difference between a page or a post and you need to make things easier for them? This plugin makes it easy to add a quick link in the dashboard area. Very easy to set up.

Changelog

1.6.0

4 Sep 2023

Support for custom HTML block is added to add text, space or whatever you like in between the links to categorise and manage the links block
Support for multiple version of Font Awesome icon is added
Individual links can now be set to open in a new tab