/ Plugin Category

/ Design & Themes

/ Themes & Templates

/ Add Admin CSS

Add Admin CSS

By Scott Reilly

Design & Themes / Themes & Templates

Add Admin CSS Review - In-Depth Analysis

Add custom CSS to WordPress admin pages easily. Modify styles with inline CSS or external files.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.14/10

User Rating

4.9/5 (based on 35+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin allows you to easily tweak the appearance of WordPress admin pages. You can hide elements, move items around, and change fonts, colors, and sizes using custom CSS.

With this plugin, you can define additional CSS either inline or by URL, which will be applied to all administration pages. It provides hooks to customize the output, the CSS files, and control when the CSS is applied.

For developers, detailed documentation is available that covers the hooks provided by the plugin.

Comparing to Alternatives

Add Admin CSS is a straightforward plugin designed to customize the WordPress admin area by adding custom CSS. Compared to other admin customization plugins, it focuses solely on CSS injection without additional features.

Top alternatives

Add Admin CSS

Strengths

Simple and easy to use interface for adding CSS.
Helps hide unwanted admin notices and elements effectively.
Includes intelligent code editing features like auto-closing brackets and syntax highlighting.

Weaknesses

No built-in support or extensive documentation.
Limited to CSS customization only, lacking broader admin customization options.
No pro version or advanced features available.

User Sentiment Analysis

Users appreciate the plugin's simplicity and effectiveness in customizing the admin area through CSS, though some note the lack of support and advanced features.

Positive highlights

"Really easy to use" - strettonbull
"Did exactly what I wanted" - Topher
"Intelligent text field with code coloring" - Topher
"Working great!!!" - ipchania
"Awesome plugin, works fantastic" - mikeecho

Common complaints

Lack of support for beginners needing CSS help.
No advanced features beyond CSS injection.
Limited documentation and guidance.

Weaknesses

No official support channel.
No premium or enhanced version for additional functionality.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who want a simple and effective way to add custom CSS to the WordPress admin area without extra features or complexity.

Not ideal for

Users seeking comprehensive admin customization tools or those needing support and guidance with CSS coding.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version allows users to add custom CSS to the WordPress admin area with helpful code editing features like syntax highlighting and auto-closing brackets.

Final Verdict

Add Admin CSS is a lightweight and user-friendly plugin ideal for those who want to customize their WordPress admin area through CSS without distractions or upsells.

While it lacks advanced features and official support, its simplicity and effectiveness make it a valuable tool for users comfortable with CSS who want to tailor their admin experience.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Add Admin CSS plugin.

Admin

Admin Theme

Css

Style

Stylesheets

Screenshots

FAQ

Yes, via the “Admin CSS Files” input field on the plugin’s settings page.

It is certainly possible that you can put yourself in an unfortunate position by supplying CSS that could hide critical parts of admin pages, making it seemingly impossible to fix or revert your changes. Fortunately, there are a number of approaches you can take to correct the problem.

The recommended approach is to visit the URL for the plugin’s settings page, but appended with a special query parameter to disable the output of its CSS. The plugin’s settings page would typically be at a URL like https://example.com/wp-admin/themes.php?page=add-admin-css%2Fadd-admin-css.php. Append &c2c-no-css=1 to that, so that the URL is https://example.com/wp-admin/themes.php?page=add-admin-css%2Fadd-admin-css.php&c2c-no-css=1 (obviously change example.com with the domain name for your site).

There are other approaches you can use, though they require direct database or server filesystem access:

Some browsers (such as Firefox, via View -> Page Style -> No Style) allow you to disable styles for sites loaded in that tab. Other browsers may also support such functionality natively or through an extension. Chrome has an extension called Web Developer that adds the functionality.
If you’re familiar with doing so and have an idea of what CSS style you added that is causing problems, you can use your browser’s developer tools to inspect the page, find the element in question, and disable the offending style.
In the site’s wp-config.php file, define a constant to disable output of the plugin-defined CSS: define( 'C2C_ADD_ADMIN_CSS_DISABLED', true );. You can then visit the site’s admin. Just remember to remove that line after you’ve fixed the CSS (or at least change “true” to “false”). This is an alternative to the query parameter approach described above, though it persists while the constant remains defined. There will be an admin notice on the plugin’s setting page to alert you to the fact that the constant is defined and effectively disabling the plugin from adding any CSS.
Presuming you know how to directly access the database: within the site’s database, find the row with the option_name field value of c2c_add_admin_css and delete that row. The settings you saved for the plugin will be deleted and it will be like you’ve installed the plugin for the first time.
If your server has WP-CLI installed, you can delete the plugin’s setting from the commandline: wp option delete c2c_add_admin_css

The initial reaction by some might be to remove the plugin from the server’s filesystem. This will certainly disable the plugin and prevent the CSS you configured through it from taking effect, restoring the access and functionality to the backend. However, reinstalling the plugin will put you back into the original predicament because the plugin will use the previously-configured settings, which wouldn’t have changed.