Matt Mullenweg 11:24 pm on March 24, 2026

Rethinking Left Navigation

It’s nice that plugins can hook into the left nav wherever they want, but there’s no hierarchy and things can get pretty mixed up.

Perhaps we have all the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. WP stuff first, then at the end we have plugins, and below Plugins, plugins can register a top-level left nav if they want, and all their universe can live beneath that menu item, but there’s a clear way to get in and out of bigger ones like WooCommerce.

Being at the bottom isn’t great, but we could allow pinning or just have the most three-recently accessed plugins at the top under Dashboard, which would naturally give top billing to plugins like a LMS or ecommerce where the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. becomes the main thing people are doing with the site.

Scott Kingsley Clark 11:52 pm on March 24, 2026

Default sorting of third party menu items by alphabetical would go a long way too.
- Ronald Huereca 3:34 am on March 25, 2026
  
  That’s exactly what Sortacular does. I submitted it to .org but it’s in the queue. Really small pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party..
  
  https://github.com/DLXPlugins/sortacular
- Andy Peatling 8:45 pm on March 25, 2026
  
  That will make everyone name their plugins starting with A or a special character. It would be much better to sort intelligently.
Greg Ross 12:04 am on March 25, 2026

While I agree there are improvements that could be made to the left nav bar, I’m not a fan of “recently used” lists for that, mostly because it destroys any kind of muscle memory you might build around using the UIUI User interface.

I think this problem is one of those where the current solution is the worst possible solution… except for every other possible solution 😉

Personally I deal with the chaos of the left nav menu through the “Adminadmin (and super admin) Menu Editor” pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. by Janis Elsts, which gives the user the ability to setup the menu to their workflow instead of trying to impose one standard workflow on them.

I’d rather see this kind of functionality brought into coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. than an attempt to force some new layout paradigm on everyone. Perhaps when a new menu item is added by a plugin a quick popup could be displayed explaining you can move it wherever you want to.

Two general thoughts though if a change was to be made:

1. Changing the current layout which has been around for decades(?) now is going to be a highly controversial change and require a lot of retraining/learning.
2. If the change is made, plugins should have the ability to override it just as they do now (see above mentioned plugin).

Perhaps instead of enforcing some kind of hierarchy on the left nav through code, instead build a guide for plugin developers for where they should be placing items as a best practice kind of thing. It could even be added to the plugin review flow as an optional/recommended item in the review.
- lepardman 12:16 am on March 25, 2026
  
  Couldn’t agree more
- Earthman Media 2:43 am on March 25, 2026
  
  💯% agree with everything said here…
- Sebastien SERRE 6:34 am on March 25, 2026
  
  The guide is already existing https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/administration-menus/
  maybe it can be improved
Mike McAlister 3:37 am on March 25, 2026

I think it’s super smart and important to rethink the left navigation. While I love the extensibleExtensible This is the ability to add additional functionality to the code. Plugins extend the WordPress core software. nature of WordPress, leaning into some new UIUI User interface/UXUX User experience standards here makes sense as we head into an agent-first era.

That kind of UI consistency will make many jobs easier and faster for agents, both in CLICLI Command Line Interface. Terminal (Bash) in Mac, Command Prompt in Windows, or WP-CLI for WordPress. and agents that use the browser.
Dave Loodts 6:30 am on March 25, 2026

Last week i gave a presentation about this, with some solutions. I also said currently the adminadmin (and super admin) bar is DOA (dead on arrival).
I have build a custom pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. where users can hide/show nav items. Meaning: admins or shop managers can have there own setup cause if you ask yourself neutrally the question: “who are we to decide what users get’s to see”, then a personal profile fits in the spirit of open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL..

In case of WooCommerce it adds quit a lot parent items. Unlike Surecart who only adds 1, check the differences.

I also touch on the old-fashion experience that admin bars deliver with the beautifull example of how Ollie delivers admin UXUX User experience. Check their backend experiences, that’s how you deliver branding and still use coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. (FSE) elements.
WooCommerce can lead the way in this, also using the widgets which can be way more powerful then currently used.

I’m not a fan of pinned or last used either.
Well, maybe it’s time for a core menu manager…
zactoff 9:25 am on March 25, 2026

Rather than introduce another forced change that everyone has to get used to whether they want to or not, why not allow individual users to drag/drop the left nav menu items into whatever order suits them best.

Perhaps introducing a lock/unlock button so that they don’t get shunted around accidentally.

The lock/unlock button could be shown/hidden by admins dependant on user levels.

Admins can already instigate menu order changes if they know how, this just surfaces that and makes it more flexible.
Pascal Birchler 9:58 am on March 25, 2026

Reminds me of https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-menu-manager which allowed users to customize the adminadmin (and super admin) menu to their liking using drag & drop.

If there’s interest, this could be revived and added as a GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc.
https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ experiment or so.
- Michael Nelson 7:27 pm on March 25, 2026
  
  Ya letting admins customize it themselves sounds best. Maybe let higher privileged users set the default layout for others too. It’s kinda like how you can customize the layout of programs on your computer or apps on your phone.
  - Pascal Birchler 9:34 pm on March 25, 2026
    
    Totally. The (never released) v2 of the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. supported that out of the box. Great for agencies to customize for clients for example.
ianatkins 10:01 am on March 25, 2026

Pinning or changing the menu state between users would be a nightmare for support and directing clients.

Likewise for a drastic design change.

I don’t think ‘coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.’ should be given priority as some sites like e-commerce don’t even use blogs or tags etc.

I don’t think there’s an issue with a two tier menu, it’s standard ui, it’s more that there’s limited consistency as to where things live.

Extending the existing core settings pages to be pluggable and extensibleExtensible This is the ability to add additional functionality to the code. Plugins extend the WordPress core software. in a organised manner might make more sense, alongside a review of main menu items with a view to accommodate and consolidate common shared features.

For example logging is a common feature, with no core support and re-implemented by everything, splattered around various menu locations.

Or the new connectors api screen being consolidated place for all APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. keys.

Auditing the existing pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. ecosystem to see where menu items are being added would make sense.

If looking to consolidate the top level menu items, perhaps just two options for ‘add’ and ‘edit’ could work, consolidating all post types and taxonomies. It aligns more with the user intent.
- David Dashifen Kees 12:52 pm on March 25, 2026
  
  Pinning or changing the menu state between users would be a nightmare for support…
  
  This. Definitely this. I help to support hundreds of sites, and I suspect there are teams out there handling thousands of them. If each of those sites could (conceivably) have a different menu per user on the site, the level of effort to provide editors support would increase substantially.
adrian33000 2:45 pm on March 25, 2026

I like this idea, perhaps with some variations. Every time you add a new pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party., you have to hunt around to find it in the Nav menu. Sometimes it is at the top, sometimes in the middle, other times at the end, or within the settings or tools headings.

I think a “My Plugins” blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. in the center of the Left Navigation, where all the plugins live, could be a solution.

As regards the pinning of some to the navigation, I think this needs to be site-owner-determined, as each owner or administrator has their own priorities. So an option to select, for example, 3 plugins to pin to the top of the navigation, immediately below Dashboard, would, I think, be a good option.
Drivingralle 3:13 pm on March 25, 2026

The problem is not the openess of the menu. It’s what I expect from a good open system that prides itself in being what you use to make it your own. The problem is that pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. and themes miss use the trust the system gives them.

Not every plugin is the very most important thing on this website. No matter how big or small the plugin is.

For example a plugin adding a SMTP connector to a WP does not need to add a top-level menu item for there settings page and a handfull of praktical dead menu items leading to pages that you can unlock by buying the pro version. The plugin should add the settings page into the settigns menu. Done.
This and the collection of other ways to polute the wp-adminadmin (and super admin) are what is anoying.

I like that WooCommerce can add it’s top-level items because that menu items are what a shop manager needs quickly accessible. This should not be hidden inside menu or levels of sidebars like the “website editor” does.

I would prever to add an extra level into the menus make something like:
[…]
├── Tools
├── Settings
│ └── Reading
│ └── My Tool
│ ├── General
│ ├── Frontend
│ └── APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. Keys
[…]
mrwweb 4:11 pm on March 25, 2026

I’m not opposed to rethinking menu standards or adjusting the menu, but I am opposed to removing the menu filters. I use those not just to place me u items where I want them but to adjust and remove CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. items that aren’t necessary for a site. Making such a core part of the UIUI User interface unfilterable would be a big developer regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5.. Those filters are used for good just as often as they’re used for bad.

And it’s a good point in an earlier comment that the recently used would hurt muscle memory and likely be more confusing that helpful. An interesting compromise between full drag and drop and nothing would be introducing a way to pin menu items for a user account?
John Parris 6:23 pm on March 25, 2026

Haven’t thought deeply about this, but I like the idea of giving users the power to sort the menus for their use case, with good defaults of course. It would be great if users didn’t have to put custom code or find the perfect pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. to do what they want here. Pinning is nice, but it only gives users a limited ability to curate it, so they’ll end up with custom code and/or a plugin on top of the pinning options.

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Rethinking Left Navigation

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