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Simplify Admin Menus

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Simplify Admin Menus

by Adam Alexandersson

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Description

Simplify Admin Menus allows you to customize and streamline your WordPress admin interface by controlling which menu items and admin bar elements are visible to different user roles and individual users. This helps create a cleaner, more focused admin experience.

Key Features:

  • Role-based menu item visibility control
  • Per-user overrides (Inherit, Hide, or Show) that can bypass role settings
  • Protected administrators who always retain full menu access
  • Customizable admin bar elements per role or user
  • Simple and intuitive interface
  • Improves admin workflow efficiency

Build Tools

This plugin uses modern build tools to compile and optimize assets. To set up the development environment:

  1. Clone the repository:
    git clone https://github.com/adamalexandersson/simplify-admin-menus.git

  2. Install dependencies:
    npm install

  3. Available build commands:

    • npm run build – Build production assets
    • npm run dev – Start development server with hot reloading
    • composer install – Install PHP dependencies

The plugin uses:
* Vite for asset bundling and development server
* SCSS for styling
* Composer for PHP dependency management and PSR-4 autoloading

  1. Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/simplify-admin-menus directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
  3. Use the Settings->Simplify Admin Menus screen to configure the plugin
  4. Configure visibility settings for each user role as needed
  5. Optionally set per-user overrides or protected administrators

Development

The source code for this plugin is available on GitHub: https://github.com/adamalexandersson/simplify-admin-menus

Can I control menu items for specific user roles?

Yes, you can customize which menu items are visible for each user role independently.

Can I unhide a menu item for one user when it is hidden for their role?

Yes. Select the user and set that item to Show. User Show overrides role hiding. Inherit follows the role; Hide forces the item hidden.

Important: Show only unhides items WordPress already allows for that user. It cannot grant capabilities. For example, Appearance, Plugins, and Users normally require Administrator capabilities, so showing them for an Editor will have no effect.

What are protected administrators?

Protected administrators always see the full admin menu and admin bar, even if the Administrator role has items hidden. Only users in that list are exempt — network/super admin status alone does not bypass restrictions. The first administrator is protected by default. You can manage the list under Protected administrators on the settings page.

Does this plugin block access to admin pages by URL?

No. This plugin only hides menu and admin bar items in the interface. It does not change capabilities or block direct URL access.

Will this affect the front-end of my site?

No, this plugin only modifies the admin interface and admin bar. It does not affect your website’s front-end appearance.

Exactly what I needed — and free!

By alingsaskommun on April 9, 2026

This plugin does exactly what it promises: clean, role-based control over the WordPress admin menu and admin bar. The interface is intuitive and it took only a few minutes to configure visibility settings per user role. No bloat, no upsells, no "premium version" paywalls — just a straightforward tool that works.

I particularly appreciate that this is fully open source and completely free. In a world where basic admin customization often costs money, it's refreshing to find a plugin built with the WordPress spirit in mind.

A big thank you to Adam Alexandersson for sharing this with the community. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to simplify the admin experience for editors and contributors without paying for an enterprise plugin.

Perfection !

By nick6352683 on April 25, 2025

So far this works like a charm. I only used it a few minutes, and I tested pretty much all that could be tested, and everything works as advertised.

Thank you.

2.0.1

  • Added command palette available as a hideable admin bar item.
  • Tested with WordPress 7.1

2.0.0

  • Added protected administrators who always retain full menu and admin bar access
  • Added per-user Inherit / Hide / Show overrides that can bypass role settings
  • Migrated legacy user hide maps to the new override format automatically
  • Protected access is controlled only by the protected administrators list (not network/super admin status alone)
  • Improved menu removal using WordPress core menu APIs
  • Restructured plugin code into clearer namespaced app folders
  • Hardened settings save/load sanitization and redirects
  • Tested with WordPress 7.0

1.3.2

  • Tested with WordPress 6.9

1.3.1

  • General improvements

1.3.0

  • Added support for user specific settings
  • Improved security and code quality for WordPress plugin repository
  • Renamed plugin to Simplify Admin Menus

1.2.2

  • Improved security and code quality for WordPress plugin repository

1.2.1

  • Minor changes and improvements
  • Translations updates

1.2.0

  • Renamed the plugin to Simplify Admin
  • Added support for wordpress color schemes

1.1.0

  • Added support for all admin bar items
  • Added composer and rewrite of the code with PSR-12 and PSR-4 autoloading
  • Added translations support
  • Rewrited the javascript from jQuery to Vanilla javacript and updated the CSS to SCSS
  • Added Vite build system for asset management

1.0.0

  • Initial release
  • Basic functionality for hiding admin menu items
  • Role-based access control
  • Admin interface for managing settings
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