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Wider Admin Menu

By WP Chill

Site Administration & Utilities / Site Health & Diagnostics

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Wider Admin Menu Review - In-Depth Analysis

Wider Admin Menu allows you to customize the width of your WordPress admin menu. Set it from 160px to 300px for better navigation.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.85/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 21+ reviews)

Active Installations

2,000+

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

Wider Admin Menu is a standalone plugin built, maintained and operated by the friendly folks over at MachoThemes.

This lightweight plugin lets you set the width of your admin menu from the default 160px up to 300px.

A separate stylesheet is also included if you wish to avoid Yet Another Plugin. This plugin will leave no trace! If you delete the plugin, all settings will be removed from the database. Guaranteed. However, simply deactivating it will leave your settings in place, as expected.

Comparing to Alternatives

Wider Admin Menu offers a unique feature set focused on expanding the WordPress admin menu width, improving usability. It competes with several plugins that also customize the admin menu experience.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and effective improvement to admin menu usability
No leftover data after uninstalling, keeping the database clean
Highly customizable width via CSS or SCSS variables
Improves visibility and reduces text wrapping in the admin menu
No known security vulnerabilities reported

Weaknesses

Does not integrate width changes with Gutenberg editor or other admin interfaces
Limited to adjusting menu width without additional menu management features
No pro version with extended capabilities
May require manual CSS adjustments for advanced customization

User Sentiment Analysis

With a high rating of 4.7 out of 5 from 21 reviews, users generally praise the plugin for its simplicity and effectiveness. The majority of feedback is positive, highlighting ease of use and noticeable improvements.

Positive highlights

Great helper plugin with easy CSS customization (Rasso Hilber)
No residual database entries after uninstalling (cronwerk)
Unique and useful admin menu customization (Irina)
Simple yet effective improvement to admin area appearance (Svensonsan)
Makes the admin menu more comfortable to use (pedjas)

Common complaints

Weaknesses

Limited integration with other admin interfaces like Gutenberg
Requires manual CSS adjustments for some customizations
No advanced menu management features
No premium support or additional features due to lack of pro version

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who want a straightforward, lightweight solution to widen the WordPress admin menu for better readability and usability without complex features.

Not ideal for

Those seeking comprehensive admin menu management tools or seamless integration with all WordPress admin interfaces, including Gutenberg, may find this plugin insufficient.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides the core functionality of widening the admin menu with customizable width via CSS, offering good value for users needing this specific feature.

Final Verdict

Wider Admin Menu is a well-rated, simple plugin that effectively addresses the narrow admin menu issue in WordPress. It is easy to customize and leaves no residual data after removal, making it a clean and practical choice for users wanting to improve admin menu usability.

While it lacks advanced features and integration with all admin interfaces, its security record is excellent and it offers good value as a free plugin. Users needing more comprehensive menu management may consider alternatives, but for widening the admin menu, this plugin is a solid option.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Wider Admin Menu plugin.

admin menu

menu width

WordPress admin

Screenshots

FAQ

Sure. That’s actually how this plugin started out. If you simply need a wider admin bar and you’re cool with CSS then try this:

Look in the plugin’s /css folder for the file wider-admin-menu.css.

Then either copy its contents to your theme’s stylesheet,

copy the file to your theme folder and add this to your theme’s functions.php to load it:

function wider_admin_menu() {   wp_enqueue_style( 'wider-admin-menu', get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/wider-admin-menu.css' ); } add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wider_admin_menu' );

That covers WordPress 4.0 and up.

For WordPress 3.8 to 3.9.2, substitute wider-admin-menu-38.css.

For WordPress 3.5 to 3.7.1, substitute wider-admin-menu-35.css.

For WordPress 3.3 to 3.4.2, substitute wider-admin-menu-33.css.

Need a hand? I’m on the support forum.