How do you like the default WordPress admin ? Some people express distaste for it saying it’s stuck in the past design-wise and can be hard to learn for beginners. Personally I have never had a problem with it – that may be because I have used most versions and spend so much time in there that everything comes naturally.
The design is nothing special but it is functional, if however, you would like to change the look of it you now have a few options open to you. In this post I’m going to be taking a look at some free and some commercial plugins which will allow you to use different designs in your WordPress admin panel.
Modern Admin – Flat WordPress Admin Theme
Modern Admin is flat-retina ready template for WordPress admin. This plugin comes with 5 color schemes, custom login form, configurable menu & dashboard icons.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
ClientSide
Clientside is a meticulous combination of a redesigned admin theme and a set of settings and tools that help customize and unclutter the WordPress interface for yourself or your clients.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $15
WordPress Admin Theme
WordPress Admin Theme (WAT) is a WordPress plugin to customize the entire look of your WordPress admin section and you can customize most of the admin elements as your wish.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
WordPress Ultra Admin
Ultra Admin brings your WordPress Admin Panel to LIFE. Along with White Label Branding features, It comes with 30 Awesome Inbuilt themes and gives you an option to Create your own theme. You can also control appearance of Admin Menu, Top Bar, Buttons, Content Boxes, Typography, Forms, Text and background colors, logo and so on.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
WP Shapere
WPShapere WordPress Admin Theme is a WordPress plugin and a powerful tool to customize your WordPress admin. It will totally white label the WordPress admin section. With WPShapere you have the ability to offer your customers a complete new admin dashboard with your brand name.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
First WordPress Admin Theme
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
Retina Press
Retina Press – The brand new retina display custom theme; designed for the WordPress admin. This WordPress admin theme now gives you the ability to offer your customers & clients a completely new and customised dashboard, ultimately disguising the wordpress dashboard.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
Forest
Forest is the new revolution of WordPress Admin Theme 2014 It’s time for You and your Clients to get away from boring admin.
Forest will make you and your clients be excited with managing a wordpress site It’s the first time, we have a Awesome Quick Panel in admin dashboard.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
Slate Pro
Slate Pro is a powerful WordPress admin theme plugin that reimagines WordPress with a clean and simplified design. White label your WordPress install with custom colors, a custom login screen, custom admin branding, and more. Slate Pro is also multisite compatible: network activate to control the look of all sub-sites.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $21
Awesome Admin Color Palettes
Isn’t everybody excited about the new wordpress 3.8 theme and the new administration panel look? The only thing that’s limited are the color palettes inside the theme. There are just a few color palettes available, and they don’t seem to be on everybody’s taste.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
WP Admin Menu Manager
Manage WordPress admin menu was never so easy! You can hide, rename, reorder and change the icon of every WordPress admin menu item, and submenus too! You can have a clean and mistake-free menu for your clients, to other WordPress users and even entire roles.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $14
CrispAdmin
CrispAdmin gives a modern look and feel to WordPress admin area with flat style, vector icons, custom login page and logo changer. Comes bundled with 12 vibrant color themes out of the box and gives you the tools to create even more.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $12
BluePress
A social style theme for Admin page with the new context sensitive menu and toolbar, wonderful look and feel. New icon and blue style maybe suitable for you
- Full Details & Download | Price: Free
Micropanel
Micropanel is clean and unique WP Admin Template. With simple installation and user-friendly interface it distracts your from the boring default administration presented by WordPress.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $12
Rebrand WordPress
Using our Rebrand WordPress Admin Theme – Modern Flat UI Plugin you can change it in just minutes. Inspired by the new iOS7 and combined with the Flat UI Design Trend we managed to develop a plugin that will change your WordPress Administration appearance totally.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $12
Dynamic Admin Theme
- Full Details & Download | Price: $12
Light WP Admin Theme
Everything You Need To Make WP-Admin Fresh.
- Full Details & Download | Price: $15
Helios Custom Admin Theme
Create your own wordpress admin colour schemes. Furnish an admin dashboard with an attractive colours of your own choice.
- Full Details & Download | Price: FREE
Slate Admin Theme
Slate provides a clean, simplified design for your WordPress Admin area. Our goal was to simplify the visual design with a primary focus on the content writing experience.
- Full Details & Download | Price: FREE
Infogeek Admin Themes
Add three new color themes in the admin UI of version 3.8 of wordpress. Is not supported for real in previous versions.
- Full Details & Download | Price: FREE
Cream6 Admin Theme
A user-friendly admin theme. Responsive as far as CSS can manage on the core.
- Full Details & Download | Price: FREE
Live Admin Customizer
Create Customized theme for wordpress admin panel. with out any code
- Full Details & Download | Price: FREE
13 Comments
Don’t find the styling of the Admin IFC not that important. I would have expected to also see some kind of restrictiveness in the WP menu (per role for example) … in case the client needs access to the insides of WP. And then the styling would be a big help in making the IFC more easy to use.
Just my 5 cents.
#justlemIT
Glad I found this article as I am need to change wordpress admin theme. Gotta try it one by one :)
Blue Press is $12, not free.
I appreciate seeing this list. I’ve been a fan of MP6 for some time, and I don’t any other freebies that tempt me.
Lane
nice theme plz share some news themes
Tempted to see the popularity of these versus the new color schemes in 3.8. I particularly like Midnight.
In my opinion the MP6 plugin looks best so far, the other themes are small current wp-admin or MP6 variations only, well i do realize that what you can do with wp-admin in terms of design is very limited but still …
I do agree with you, but I must say that some go further than others when it comes to a “premium experience”. I’ve tried a couple from this list, and my favourite, undoubtedly, is Admin Infusion, because it is simple (MP6 based) – and now WP 3.8 based. This makes it very lightweight, but very powerful at the same time. Beauty in miniumalism if you like…
I don’t know if BluePress was previously free, but at this time it costs $12.
The information in the article is very useful. I love and will mark it. thank you much
Bookmarked these themes – very useful. MP6 looks a lot like the new WP 3.8 dashboard. I like being able to white label the dashboard for my company.
If some one wants to be updated with newest technologies therefore he must be visit this
web site and be up to date all the time.
Are there any tutorials on how to build your own custom WordPress Admin area?
Impressive compilation with an average pricetag at $ 14 :), I wasn’t aware there was so many possibilities in the admin theme department.
Thanks for the read.