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The WordPress ToolBar

Previously known as the WordPress "Admin Bar"

Updated: May 2, 2023
By: RSH Web Editorial Staff

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The WordPress Toolbar

Previously known as the WordPress "Admin Bar" is a shortcut area that allows you to access the behind the scenes controls when you are on the front end of your WordPress blog or website. The Admin Toolbar is the bar that goes across the very top of the screen once you’re logged in to your WordPress website.

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On the far left side of the WordPress Dashboard, you’ll see the WordPress logo.
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By hovering over this WP logo, you will see links to WordPress specific information. These are links if you ever want to take a look at WordPress documentation, see the Support Forums or leave feedback.

To the right of the WordPress logo, you’ll see the name of your site. Hover over this and there is a submenu for the front end of your site. This is how your site looks to visitors.

The next section gives a quick reference for comments.

The last section on the left side of the "Toolbar" is the + New link. If you hover over this link, you’ll see a submenu that will quickly take you to the add new screen for post, media, page and user. All of these things can also be done from the navigation on the left side of the dashboard, but this link is great for getting these tasks done quickly.

On the far right side of the screen, you’ll see “Howdy, your name.” Hover over this section to see the submenu to edit your profile or log out of your website.

The WordPress Toolbar Front End View

By default, once you’ve logged into your WordPress website, the "Toolbar" will also be visible to you from the front end of your site. If you hover over the name of your website, then click "visit site", you’ll see the front end of your site. From this view, the WordPress "Toolbar" changes a bit.

Hover over the title of your website section, you will see links for the dashboard, which will take us back to the dashboard home, and links to take us to themes, customize, widgets, menus, background and header. All of these sections can also be found from the left-hand navigation menu in the WordPress dashboard, but this is a great quick reference.

This view also adds a search function. Click the magnifying glass to open the search prompt.

How to Turn Off the WordPress "Toolbar"

Most people find the WordPress "Toolbar" useful, but some people may want to turn the WordPress "Toolbar" off from the front end of the site. Remember, the WordPress "Toolbar" is only visible to you when you’re logged in to your website. To turn off this view, click the "Edit my Profile" link. From this screen, you’ll see a checkbox to Show Toolbar when viewing the website. Simply uncheck this box to turn this view off, then scroll to the bottom and click Update profile. If you decide later that you’d like to turn the "Toolbar" back on, just return to your edit profile and check the box to show the toolbar again.

Popular Toolbar Plugins for WordPress

Hide Admin Toolbar

This plugin is used to hide admin toolbar from website. It will hide that bar when you are logged in and viewing the site.

The Accessibility Toolbar

Boost the Accessibility of Any Website with The Accessibility Toolbar. Add front-end accessibility options to your website in just seconds. Add this plugin and immediately provide WCAG compliant features for those with disabilities.

Bottom Admin Toolbar

Natively WordPress doesn’t offer the possibility to change your admin bar position. With that simple extension you can stick it at the bottom forever and hide it by pressing shortcut

Toolbar Publish Button

Simple jQuery script of this plugin duplicates Update / Publish / Save Changes / Save Draft / Preview Changes button for posts, pages, custom posts, taxonomies, user profiles, and settings to the top WordPress admin bar

Admin Toolbar Menus

Add 3 new menu locations to the WordPress toolbar so you can quickly and easily create your own custom toolbar menus using the built in WordPress menus page. Supports multi level and works seamlessly with the existing toolbar menus.

Remove/Hide Admin Toolbar

Removing or requiring removal of the admin toolbar from display on the front end of your website is tedious. This plugin uses a built-in WordPress filter (show_admin_bar) to disable it globally.

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