The WordPress admin bar is nice, but sometimes you need more options for it, such as showing it or not, adding links to it, changing its color, and more. These twelve plugins greatly expand your admin bar options.

1. Custom Admin Bar (DOWNLOAD HERE)

Of course there’s no better place to start this list than with WPMUDev’s own FREE Custom Admin Bar. This plugin lets you add a logo, text, and links. Simple interface, and of course, even though it’s free, you know that you’ll always get great support and faster than lightening updates.

2. WP Admin Bar New Tab PP (DOWNLOAD HERE)

If you’re a new tab addict like me, this plugin is for you. It opens the links on your admin bar in a new tab. It only does this when you are in the admin area. If you are on the front end of your site, the links DO NOT open in a new tab.

(images from plugin documentation)

3. Admin Bar Remover (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin does one simple thing: It removes the admin bar from showing up on the front end of your site (but not the back end).

Simply install it and activate it, and your front end admin bar is gone.

4. Admin Bar Minimizer (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin allows you to manually make the admin bar appear or disappear with a click. You can choose to make the bar show or not show by default, and there are also controls for both the front end and the back end admin bar.

5. WP Custom Admin Bar (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugins gives you a number of different options for controlling your admin bar. You can allow certain users to see or not see the bar based on user roles. You can disable the admin bar on a single page or sitewide. And you can also use CSS to change a number of different styling options for the bar (see how I changed the color of the bar below).

6. WordPress Admin Bar Improved (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin gives you a number of different options, such as choosing default items to show in your bar, adding a login form in the bar for users not logged in, as well as CSS sections to style different elements of the bar.

7. Stick Admin Bar to Bottom (DOWNLOAD HERE)

Don’t like your admin bar at the top of your pages, but you use it enough to still want it around? Stick it at the bottom with this plugin. Just install it and activate it, and you’ll find your bar moved to the bottom.

8. Admin Bar Backend Search (DOWNLOAD HERE)

On many pages in the backend of WordPress you have a search box to search that section of the admin area. For example, on the Plugins page, you have search box that will search all your plugins. On your Posts page, you will have a search box to search all posts.

This plugin brings all those different search boxes together in one convenient spot on the admin bar.

9. WP Admin Bar Effect (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin hides the admin bar in the backend, but then shows it when you mouse over the sliver of the bar that’s left at the top of the page. There are also controls for the speed at which the bar appears and how sensitive the mouse over is.

10. Logged Out Admin Bar (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin shows an admin bar to logged out users with a link to the login page.

11. Admin Bar Theme Switcher (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin lets you easily switch between your themes.

12. WP Admin Menu (DOWNLOAD HERE)

This plugin pulls your admin menus into your admin bar. There are also several control options for suppressing or showing the bar.