Building WordPress Custom Dashboards: 4 Critical Aspects

Dipayan Mitra • Last Modified: December 29th, 2022

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WordPress is an intuitive and easy-to-use CMS platform that offers various customization features to help users change their Admin Dashboards. However, the default capabilities of WordPress are quite limited. To overcome this barrier, there are multiple third-party plugins available that can be used to customize the WordPress Dashboard according to unique business and analytics needs. 

This article will provide a step-by-step guide to help you fully customize your WordPress Custom Dashboard with ease!

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

  • Understanding of Plugins.

What is WordPress?

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WordPress is the world’s top Content Management System offered by a United States-based software firm founded by Matt Mullenweg. Although the company was established in 2000, the CMS application was launched in 2003. WordPress allows users to create, host, and manage professional-looking websites effortlessly. It is a Cloud-based application that eliminates the need to install any specialized infrastructure in workplaces.

WordPress comes with several pre-built templates that can be used to create websites for different content types, including blogs, membership websites, forums, events websites, e-commerce, galleries, e-learning, online stores, and many more. All templates are customizable and users can change them according to their business requirements. WordPress comes with a wealth of Plugins and Extensions that users may employ to enhance the functionality and features of their websites. On the WordPress Marketplace, you can find both free and premium plugins.

Businesses operating in multiple industries worldwide use WordPress to create websites and publish contempt online. The easy-to-use and numerous drag-and-drop features of WordPress allow users with no prior knowledge of coding to design impeccable websites at ease.

A report suggests that over 40% of the world’s total websites are hosted on WordPress. The software provides several video tutorials to users that help them learn about WordPress’s functionalities. Moreover, users also get access to various WordPress forums where they can solve their queries with the help of the community. An added advantage of WordPress is that it comes with out-of-the-box support for hundreds of third-party integrations that can be used to customize the software and also increase its capabilities. 

In simple words, without knowing how to code, WordPress allows users to create and administer full-featured websites using only a web browser.

WordPress also provides a smartphone app compatible with iOS and Android that can be used to manage websites and publish content from anywhere in the world. The smartphone application drastically increases the accessibility of CMS software.

Key Features of WordPress

WordPress is one of the world’s most popular Content Management Systems offering numerous features and tools for making website building and content publishing an easy task for users. Below mentioned are a few notable features of WordPress.

1) Easy Content Publishing 

The easy-to-use and intuitive interface of WordPress make it easier for users to edit and publish content on their websites. Additionally, the smartphone application of WordPress makes it further easier for users to post online content and manage websites. Users can effortlessly post, save, draft, and schedule posts using WordPress. The software also allows users to add pages, insert media, and perform various related tasks.

2) Search Engine Optimization 

Search Engine Optimization is crucial for all websites to rank higher in search results. WordPress offers out-of-the-box support for multiple SEO Plugins, including Yoast, SEMRush, and others that help users fine-tune SEO for content. Better Search Engine Optimization ensures a higher reach and increased website traffic. 

3) Mobile Ready 

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In today’s time, most Internet surfers use their mobile phones to search content online. All the websites built on WordPress are perfectly optimized for smartphones and other mobile devices, which is a massive advantage of using WordPress. 

4) Theme Customization

Customizing websites according to branding is crucial for every website. It helps provide a better browsing experience to website visitors. WordPress comes with various tools and features that allow users to make changes to both the front and backend of websites. The theme customization feature can be accessed from the appearance and customization option present in the WordPress sidebar. However, the extent of customizations options depends on the type of theme that users choose. 

What is a WordPress Custom Dashboard?

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The WordPress Admin Dashboard, commonly known as the WordPress Admin Panel, is the command centre for a WordPress-powered website. It is the initial page that users see when they log into their website’s management section. The Dashboard provides an overview of websites by displaying all of the necessary data. Users can efficiently manage all the published content on websites using the WordPress Dashboard.

After logging in, users can access the Dashboard by clicking the Dashboard button in the top left corner of the screen. Users can also use the Dashboard to manage numerous plugins, alter basic settings, and do a variety of other functions. 

The WordPress Admin Dashboard menu contains a number of categories that can be used to navigate to various pages, such as the media library, posts, plugins, pages, users, and many more. WordPress also provides a Quick Draft tool in the Dashboard that allows users to quickly write, save, and publish content for websites.

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4 Steps to Create a Custom WordPress Dashboard 

WordPress offers multiple out-of-the-box customization features that can be used to personalize Dashboards according to user requirements. For example, users can change the colour scheme of their Dashboard from the pre-built colour scheme section available in the appearance and customization section of the WordPress Dashboard. Moreover, users can also add or remove widgets from their Dashboards according to their needs. 

Users need to visit the screen options tab and select the elements they want to keep on their Dashboards for customizing widgets. Customizing widgets help users keep only the necessary widgets on their Dashboards that help in increasing productivity and save a lot of time. Customizable default WordPress Widgets include Plugins, Users, Settings, Media, Posts, and Pages tabs. 

However, in order to fully customize WordPress Dashboards, users need to install various plugins that cater to their requirements. Below is a list of customization options available using various third-party plugins and tools. 

WordPress Custom Dashboard Step 1: Customizing WordPress Login Screen 

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As WordPress is Open-source, anyone can make changes to the appearance of its interface. Users can install multiple plugins that can be used to customize the login screen of WordPress according to their needs. The login screen can be customized by removing the WordPress logo and replacing it with company logos to provide a better user experience. There are multiple plugin options available in the market that allow users to white label their login pages. Some of the most popular plugins include White Label CMS, Branda, Custom Login Page Customizer, and White Label

For example, while using White Label CMS, users need to visit the settings option after the installation process. Then, users have to replace the existing information with their personalized text to customize the login page. White Label CMS provides a Branding option where users can replace the WordPress logo with their own brand. 

WordPress Custom Dashboard Step 2: Customizing WordPress Admin Theme 

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Admin themes are specifically built for each website that increases the visual appeal of the WordPress Admin Dashboard. Like the login screen, users can also customize the admin theme of WordPress using various free and paid plugins. Open-source plugins like Slate Admin Theme lets users customize the appearance of the WordPress Admin Dashboard. The plugin allows users to make changes to their Admin Dashboard for a simple and minimalistic look. Users can also choose customized color schemes for their Admin Dashboards using the Slate Admin Theme plugin. Customizing WordPress Admin Themes can enhance user experience as it completely changes the looks of default WordPress Admin Dashboards. 

WordPress Custom Dashboard Step 3: Customizing WordPress Admin Dashboard Widgets 

WordPress provides support for multiple plugins that can be used to customize widgets and also increase the platform’s capabilities. There are many plugins available in the market that allow users to create and deploy customized widgets in their WordPress Admin Dashboard. Widgets like user notes, social box, feed box, and many more can be added to WordPress Dashboards with the help of third-party plugins like Dashboard Widget Suit that helps users to carry out and track various processes in a short time. The plugin also provides various customization options that can be used to change widgets according to user needs. 

Users can choose another plugin called WP Help that adds a Help section in the Admin Dashboard. It is helpful for multi-author websites as users can resolve the commonly raised issues by simply visiting the help section. Another plugin called Adminimizer lets users hide admin menus for different users. It’s an essential plugin, particularly for multi-user websites. Depending on the user’s role, the plugin can be used to hide or remove items from view.

WordPress Custom Dashboard Step 4: Customizing WordPress Admin Dashboard Analytics 

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WordPress allows users to connect Google Analytics with their websites to help them track the performance of their websites. Google Analytics can be connected to WordPress using various plugins like Monster Insights. Once the integration process is completed, a widget in the WordPress Custom Dashboard displays all the critical metrics related to websites. Users just need to follow the setup wizard, and the plugin will automatically add the tracking code. 

The analytics widget will display information like page views, the number of sessions, and many more in the WordPress Custom Dashboard. However, users have to visit the insights section present in the WordPress sidebar to view detailed analytics reports. 

Conclusion 

As WordPress is Open-source, users can customize the platform according to their needs. Users can simply follow the aforementioned steps to fully customize their WordPress Admin Dashboards. However, over customization can result in a decreased interface speed and efficiency. Hence it is crucial for users to customize the WordPress Dashboard to the needed extent. 

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