WordPress Plugin : Admin Drop Down Menu

One of the first things I wanted to improve in the admin area of my WordPress blog, back in the 1.5 days, was the header menu. I wanted to be able to reach any admin page in one click, instead of first clicking on the first level link ("Manage" for example) and then only on a submenu link ("Comments") So came a very neat plugin : the WordPress Admin Drop Down Menu

When WordPress 2.7 and its new and optimized user interface came, I thought there was still room for improvements: a horizontal menu gave the admin area more of a "desktop application" feel, and I think it's superior to a vertical menu. So I updated the WordPress Admin Drop Down Menu.

Download

Get the plugin :

Download the plugin :
ozh-admin-drop-down-menu.zip
Extract and upload to your blog, preserving directory structure.
Note: download counter here and stats on wordpress.org may differ and reflect the number of downloads before this plugin was hosted on the plugin directory

Activate and enjoy. Another friendly install & forget piece of PHP.

Features

  • Customizable color scheme with a neat color picker
  • Normal mode for regular users, compact mode for real estate maniacs, minimal mode for those who never have enough
  • Optional cute icons from FamFamFam
  • Enhanced compatibility with handheld devices
  • Joy and happiness for every day

Javascript is involved for advanced features and to make stuff compatible with MSIE6, but on any decent browser everything works even with Javascript disabled.

Super neat color picking.

Any color you'll love.

Normal or compact display.

Browser compatibility

The plugin has been developed on Firefox 3, Chrome and MSIE7. It should do fine with MSIE6 and Safari too.

There are glitches with Firefox 2 and Camino which both use a deprecated rendering engine. There are also glitches with Opera. I won't fix these, but if anyone wants to submit a CSS patch to resolve one of these issue, you're welcome :)

Developer friendly

The plugin comes with a wickedly cool API that will allow other plugin developers to interact with it, like adding your own custom icon for your plugin. Read the API for Coders page for examples and documentation. Also, all elements the plugin produces get custom CSS classes and id's to allow easy styling or selecting.

Translations

The plugin is ready for interglobanalization and there is a .pot template file included so polyglots can even make their own translation and sent the .mo and .po files to me that I'll include in the package.

The plugin comes with the following translations, in no particular order:

And maybe more since I might totally forget to update this list :)

Older Versions

All my plugins are designed to run on the latest WordPress version available. Upgrade WordPress whenever a new version is out, or be sorry when your site gets compromised.

If for some unintelligent reason you need to get an older version of this plugin, it might be available, yet totally unsupported or recommended. Check here: Other versions.

Feedback, Bug report, Feature request

Sure. Feed me back. Like it? Blog about it. Love it? Click on the download link, see the Paypal button appear, and give it some clicks!

If you're reporting bugs, you're welcome, but please provide a screenshot and informations about your browser & your OS. I'm not supporting deprecated blogs or plugins or browsers, and I can't respond to incomplete bug reports.

If you're suggesting a feature, you're welcome too, but I won't add an admin menu on the public side of the blog, on top of pages. If you're looking after having this menu fixed on top of page, check this companion plugin that works as a plugin to this plugin: Admin Menus Fixed.

1 comments

  1. AnushaRaji » Blog Archive » links for 2006-01-19

    […] WordPress Plugin : Admin Drop Down Menu « planetOzh WordPress Plugin : Admin Drop Down Menu (tags: lazysheep) […]

  2. Pixelshooter » Nice plugin

    […] I found this nice lazy-friendly plugin here. Credits to Ozh. […]

  3. RCOnline » WordPress Plugin: Admin DropDown Menu

    […] Wo kann man das Plugin herunterladen? Wie immer auf der Seite des Entwicklers: Admin DropDown Menu –> […]

  4. beto

    Started using this plugin since jan/06. Just after enabling it, my wordpress 2 won´t enable or disable any other plugins. Is this happening to anyone else? Thanks.

  5. Testing Old WP Plugins I Like at CoffeeBear Dev Blog

    […] wpLicense 0.5.2: This plugin works fine but it breaks Admin Drop Down Menu. […]

  6. Myjutsu

    J'ai un petit problème avec ce plugin depuis que j'utilise la version 2.0.1 de wordpress. Quand je suis sur la page Dashboard une partie du sous-menu option apparait alors qu'il ne devrait pas avoir de sous-menu justement.
    Je précise que ce problème n'existait pas sous wordpress 2.0
    Ca vient de moi ou le pb est général?

  7. Ozh

    Myjutsu » 2.0.1 ici et pas de probleme… (à moins que je n'ai pas compris ton probleme: oui un sous-menu vide apparait quand tu es sur la page Dashboard ou bien Import, c'est voulu)

  8. Myjutsu

    Qu'un sous menu apparaisse d'accord mais mon problème n'est qu'il n'est pas vide justement. Je viens de tester sous IE est effectivement ca marche. Je continue donc de chercher d'ou ca vient.

  9. Myjutsu

    Problème résolu.
    En effet la liste du sous-menu se trouve à "l'extérieur" de l'écran quand la souris n'est pas sur le menu (position absolute -900px). J'utilise un plugin firefox qui zoome le texte et ainsi il faisait dépasser une partie du sous menu qui n'etait pas censé etre visible.
    Une petite modification de CSS plus tard le pb était résolu.
    Désolé de t'avoir déranger.

  10. WP Plugin i use at Fenbox

    […] Akismet Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web serivce to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use this service. You can review the spam it catches under “Manage” and it automatically deletes old spam after 15 days. Extended Live Archives Implements a dynamic archive. CoolPlayer this plugin allow you add any type of media into your blog. Admin Drop Down Menu Replaces admin menu and submenu with a 2 level horizontal CSS dropdown menu bar. Saves lots of clicks ! WordPress Database Backup On-demand backup of your WordPress database. –> […]

  11. jazzle
  12. Michael B

    On the one site I installed this on, it doesn't like the mulitple menus of Spam Karma. Can barely see the other tabs. I was using 1.2 of the plugin as well.

  13. Flyweb!’s [B]log » Wordpress tips & experiences

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu Brings us a very compatible plugin to be used in WP-admin. It is realy nothing more then some advanced CSS rendering which does a very good job in accessability for the WP-admin section. RSI patients will love this one for it reduces the number of clicks considerably. […]

  14. CLiFF::BLOG » Wordpress Plugin: Admin Drop Down Menu

    […] 這個叫Admin Drop Down Menuçš„WP Plugin真好!把WP後台的Admin Menu變成下拉式目錄設計。一按即到各功能分頁。 […]

  15. Vakão WebLog » Must Have plugins for WordPress

    […] The Admin Drop Down Menu plugin makes the header menu much easier to use by providing a two-level drop-down menu bar. Instead of having to navigate to the top-level menu and then to the sub-menu, you can simply move your mouse over the top-level menu and then to the sub-menu function you wish to use. […]

  16. Andrew Hearn’s Blog » Blog Archive » Wordpress Blog install
  17. Dan Atkinson

    Hi there! An excellent plugin! But, for some reason, I have a problem with Akismet using 1.2.

    When I click on Akismet using the dropdowns, I receive the following error:
    Cannot load akismetakismet.php.

    I have to go to Manage and then to Akismet instead. Has anyone else had this problem?

  18. Dan Atkinson

    It seems that this happens with ALL plugins and not just that one. The plugin kinda really screwed up every other plugin for me and I've now had to de-activate it.

    Here is a list of the plugins I have:

    Adsense-Deluxe 0.7
    Akismet 1.14
    Brian's Latest Comments 1.5.9
    BDP Referral Tracker 1.0.2
    Favatars 2
    LiveCalendar 1.8.5
    Post Star Rating 0.1.1
    PJW WP Cache Inspect 0.5
    Wordpress Version Check 1.00
    Related Posts 2.0
    Google Sitemaps 3.0
    Dunstan's Time Since 1.1
    Admin Drop Down Menu 1.2

  19. Jen Leheny

    Works great for me! thanks for saving me a few clicks and a few seconds! :)

  20. Ozh

    Jen » thanks for feedback !

    Dan » I had some hard times but I think I've found what the problem is. This is a Windows issue, and you're hosted on a Windows server, right ? Download today's upgrade, version 1.3, and it should work fine. Tell me.

  21. Dan Atkinson

    Ozh, Yes I am hosted on a Windows server!

    The new plugin works well now!

    Thanks very much!

  22. digital bites » Blog Archive » Blog upgraded: WordPress 2.0.1

    […] Other interesting plugin no WordPress user should do without is Admin Drop Down Menu. […]

  23. Thomas Holmes

    hi ozh,

    i've installed the plugin and its not working! :(

    i am working with wp2.0 on unix with the tiger admin plugin.

    was looking forward to more swift movement around my blog – yours hopefully!

    thomas

  24. Ozh

    Ho, great. "It's not working". That really helps.
    My answer is : "It *is* working".

  25. Bart

    Hi Ozh,

    I have problems with your script in combination with Tiger Style Administration in Firefox on OSX. In Camino and Safari on OSX it works ok. I confirmed that the Javascript works correctly so I'm thinking that there is some weird CSS issue here.. Any ideas?

    Cheers, and thanks for a cool plugin,

    Bart

  26. 探花 @ Tinn Walk . » Blog Archive » 我使用的wordpress 插件 -Wordpress 2.01 blog 博客 游戏 音乐 电影 下载 it资讯 web2.0

    […] 06.2.27 Admin Drop Down Menu 后台插件 减少你的点击量 必备啊~~ […]

  27. 今天天气好圆啊 » Blog Archive » 今天换成了wordpress

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu 后台插件,优化后台显示的。 […]

  28. Thomas Holmes

    > Ho, great. “It’s not working”. That really helps.
    > My answer is : “It *is* working”.

    Well your response doesn't really help either does it.

    Maybe it *is* working but it isn't working as it should be – there are no dynamic menus appearing.

    I have noticed that it does work in Safari but its not working in my browser of choice – 1.5.0.1 firefox for mac. Sounds like Bart is having the same problem.

  29. LiCheong.com » Blog Archive » 我所用的 Wordpress 插件

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu 讓你在 WP-Admin 裏面更快捷選擇你想要的工具。 […]

  30. Ozh

    Thomas » if you expect answers that help, clearly state problems. "It's not working" is a totally useless comment.

    As for your now clearly stated problem with Mac FF 1.5.0.1, well, maybe I can look at this when I have a Mac.

  31. Thomas Holmes

    Ok, thanks ozh. I appreciate "it's not working" is pretty useless – its just knowing what information that is required at any time. I didn't realise it was potentially a browser-related problem until I saw it working in Safari.

  32. 2optimize » Blog Archive » My Theme and Plugins

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu – Submenu always visible […]

  33. pils

    nothing really, just wanted to say that the javascript:doh() on the 'demo' page made me laugh…v.funny.

    :]

  34. BirDesign

    WordPress…

  35. Stupid Wordpress Tricks » Blog Archive » Admin drop down menu plugin

    […] I installed the admin drop down menu plugin, and it worked like a charm!  When you're administering a WordPress blog, it saves many keystrokes, since it is only a two level menu.  Here are the installation steps: […]

  36. doopoo » Wordpress plugins in use

    […] 1. Ultimate Tag Warrior 2. Adhesive 3. Twilight Autosave 4. Admin Drop Down Menu 5. WordPress Database Backup Blog […]

  37. 10 most useful wordpress plugins according to Sabahan.com « Sabahan.com

    […] 5. Admin Drop Down Menu […]

  38. Blogging Marty’s Life – Imagine images – 攝影與記錄我的生活 » WordPress升級2.0.2以及plugin更新備忘錄

    […] 更新致2.0.2,順便新增了Get Recent Comments、Google Sitemaps、Admin Drop Down Menu以及自己改寫的Marty's list_cats。 Marty @ 4:14 pm Filed under: 站台日誌 […]

  39. OYWG`S Blog » wordpress 插件

    […] 06.2.27 Admin Drop Down Menu 后台插件 减少你的点击量 必备啊~~ […]

  40. Three Bears » Blog Archive » 我爱Plugins

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu:管理后台用的插件,减少点击量,爽! […]

  41. Three Bears » 我爱Plugins

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu:管理后台用的插件,减少点击量,爽! […]

  42. leftleg

    呵呵… 不错.装ing…

  43. CLiFF::BLOG » Blog Archive » Wordpress Plugin: Admin Drop Down Menu

    […] 這個叫Admin Drop Down Menuçš„WP Plugin真好!把WP後台的Admin Menu變成下拉式目錄設計。一按即到各功能分頁。 […]

  44. jawhn

    awesome, thank you sir!

  45. Cregy » Wordpress

    […] I have listed below some additional plugins that I have found useful: Static front page Subscribe Me Adhesive Jerome's Keywords Admin Menu Dropdown Search and Replace CG PowerPack […]

  46. dancemoon.net – RSS

    […] Admin Drop Down Menu […]

  47. David

    I love this plug-in. There is a blank space at the very end of the php that causes rss feeds to fail validation through FeedBurner. Just figured out what was happening and thought I'd let you know. Thanks for making this.

  48. Marcus\SM

    Oh, FAQ me… ;-)

    Well, that FAQ-Auto-Responer IS nice (and it proved useful), but where the **** do I actally find the FAQ??? I would like to look if my other problem is described there too…

    anyways: here's a screenshot
    (this is static, i.e. no mouse-hovering going on ;) )
    – the actually active tab is "Counter" but the 2nd-level-menu shows part of the options-submenu instead of the counter-submenu
    – the part indicated by the arrow leeds to displaying the otions-submenu when hovered above.

  49. jazzy

    kicks my face in!!!

  50. sproke :0)

    Just wanted to say thank you very much. Have just upgraded to 2.0.2 and have had enough of having to go through a trillion menues to get any where. If this were RL, I would give you a big *kiss* on the cheek :0)

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