Believe it or not, User Experience is everything. Your clients will notify you of frontend issues, but if you are a freelancer or agency owner, then improving the backend for your clients is your job. Providing a WordPress Custom User Dashboard experience can smooth the admin and navigation journey for your clients.

For Example, it’s better to create a custom admin page for clients and redirect them to the custom admin page automatically as soon as they log in to the Dashboard. 

What content you will put in the custom admin page is a different question. I will answer this question in the following content. 

Especially keeping the dashboard clean is necessary for non-tech clients, otherwise, they may get lost and click on unnecessary options. 

Have you ever heard from your clients that the Dashboard is messy and it’s very confusing? If yes, can you let me know how you have handled the situation in the comments? I like to hear your story.

How to Create a WordPress Custom User Dashboard

This is a broad topic, and I am going to break down the summary within this section before moving to action. You will get a clear idea of my plan for creating a WordPress Custom User Dashboard for clients or for any specific user role. 

So, here’s what you need to understand first before creating a custom dashboard in WordPress.

Create an Admin Page 

It’s the main point above all of the following tasks. I will guide how to create a proper admin page for a specific user role or user name by using your preferred page builder or default WordPress editor. 

Redirect Clients to the Custom Admin Page on Login 

As soon as we log in to the WordPress Dashboard, it redirects us to the default Dashboard page. But for clients, it’s necessary to redirect them to their suitable custom admin page. 

Redirect Clients to a Frontend URL on Logout (Optional)

This is optional, but if you consider more about user experience, then you can redirect any type of user to a special frontend URL. Maybe you can create a Thank You page and write a proper farewell message or provide value-added content based on your niche. 

Hide Unwanted WordPress Admin Menu Items 

Clients always prefer to get the main administrator access. Now it’s our job to provide them a clean interface on their administrator account by hiding unwanted admin menu items like Tools, Settings. 

Create some Custom Dashboard Widgets

If you prefer to stick with the default Dashboard without creating a custom admin page, then it’s necessary to add some custom Dashboard widgets that will provide real value to your clients. Also, hiding the default Dashboard widget is a must. 

Hide Plugins from Installed Plugins 

You can block the preview for some special plugins that you don’t want to preview to your clients. Keep the necessary plugins and hide all plugins that you have used to customize the WordPress Dashboard and improve site performance. 

Customized Login Page (Optional)

Instead of the default WordPress login page, it’s better to rename the login page URL and customize the WordPress login page. 

Before Getting Started 

Before we jump into our action, I would like to mention that you must install the WP Adminify Free or Pro version in your WordPress Dashboard. With the help of the WP Adminify plugin, I will guide you on creating a WordPress Custom User Dashboard. 

Free Download | Explore WP Adminify Plans

If you have finished the setup, we can move forward to this blog post. Surprise awaits – I have an amazing freebie as a bonus for you at the last of this blog post. 

How to Create a Custom Admin Page? 

Navigate to WP Adminify > Productivity > Enable Admin Pages Switcher. Now reload your Dashboard, and you will notice an option called Admin Page under the WP Adminify admin menu item. 

Now, click on this Admin Page option, and you will notice a preview like the following screenshot. It looks similar, right? Yes, this is a post type developed by the WP Adminify team, and it supports any page builder. 

Now, click on the Add Admin Page button. You will get the editor with some extra custom fields called Display Option and Menu Attributes. 

Let’s add some content in with the default WordPress Editor. Do all necessary customization for the Custom admin page, like add title, change icon, define menu order, and select the user role that can preview the admin page. After doing all modifications, the page will look like something like the following screenshot. 

NOTE: I have added all content just for demo purposes. You can organize the layout and add dynamic or static content based on your needs. 

Now, publish this custom admin page and navigate to your Dashboard. As I mentioned “1” as my menu order, you can notice the “Pixar Admin” (Title of my Admin Page) menu took its position before the default Dashboard. 

Clicking on this “Pixar Admin” will preview all the content that I have added inside the editor, and its preview looks like the following screenshot. 

Redirect a Specific User to Custom Admin Page 

I have created an admin account called “client”. Now I will add a condition for this specific user: My condition is that when the user logs in to the WordPress Dashboard, it will redirect the user to my custom admin page instead of the default WordPress Dashboard.  I will do this with the Redirect URLs option.

First, navigate to WP Adminify > Security > Enable Redirect URLs. After enabling this feature, you can see the Roles Redirect tab, click on this option, and click on the “Add New Login Redirect” button. 

Here, I am going to do the following things – 

• User Type = Username 
• User = Select Client username 
• Redirect URL = Copy and paste the full URL of my custom Admin Page 

Then save the settings. Now it’s testing time. I have logged out and am trying to log in via my client username and password. Watch the following short video, and you will get the result.

Redirect Users to a URL while Logging Out (Optional)

You can stick with the default WordPress logout page. But if you want to add an extra touch on user log out, then you can create a thank you page and redirect your users to the thank you page when they log out. 

The process is similar to the previous condition. Just select the logout redirection option instead of the login redirection. 

Now follow the same condition and change the Redirect URL to your thank you page URL. Just like the following screenshot. 

Watch the following video, and you can easily understand how it works. 

How to Hide Unwanted WordPress Admin Menu Items?

To hide WordPress Admin menu items, I will use the Admin Menu Editor by the WP Adminify plugin, which is 100% Free to use. 

Just navigate to WP Adminify > Admin Menu Editor. For example, I would like to hide the default Dashboard menu item for the client user. 

Now, click on the Dashboard menu item in our Menu Editor and choose the client username inside the Hidden for Rules option. It will hide the Dashboard menu item from the client Dashboard. In the following screenshot, you can see a side-by-side view. 

By applying the same method, you can hide all unwanted menu items for your client’s dashboard. Not only this, but you can also reorder the admin menu items position. Rename existing admin menu, Change icon, add custom admin menu items and many more. 

How to Create Custom Dashboard Widgets?

To create a Dashboard Widget, you need to enable the option called Dashboard & Welcome Widget from the productivity option of the WP Adminify plugin. After enabling the option, just reload your dashboard, and you will get the Dashboard Widget option under WP Adminify. 

Click on this Dashboard widget option, and it will redirect you to the main options panel for adding a Custom Dashboard widget. Just click on the “Add New Widget” button, and all necessary options will appear. Let me break down each option – 

• Widget Title: I have added “WP Adminify Intro” as the title 
• Widget Position: Choose Normal or Side
• Content Type: Choose any one from our 6 options (I chose Video)
• Allowed User Roles: Select who can see this specific Dashboard Widget

This widget will be added inside the default WordPress Dashboard. In the following screenshot, you can notice that the Dashboard widget added and it behaves like all other default Dashboard widgets. You can drag and drop this widget to anywhere inside the Dashboard. 

Hide plugins from installed plugins 

You don’t want to display what type of plugins you have used to create a custom client Dashboard for your clients, right? You can do this with the help of functions.php file. 

Just paste the following code and modify the username with your client’s username, and input the plugins folder and the main filename. Then save the functions.php file 

function hide_plugins_for_specific_user_adminify( $plugins ) {
   if ( ! is_admin() ) {
       return $plugins;
   }


   $current_user = wp_get_current_user();


   if ( 'set-username' === $current_user->user_login ) {
       $plugins_to_hide = array(
           'woocommerce/woocommerce.php',
           // Add additional plugins as needed.
       );
       foreach ( $plugins_to_hide as $plugin_file ) {
           if ( isset( $plugins[ $plugin_file ] ) ) {
               unset( $plugins[ $plugin_file ] );
           }
       }
   }

   return $plugins;
}
add_filter( 'all_plugins', 'hide_plugins_for_specific_user_adminify' );

How to Customize WordPress Login Page? (Optional)

This is necessary for branding. If you own an agency, you know brand identity is something that is the first touchpoint to your clients. You can rebrand the default login page, which enhances the brand identity plus improves user experience. 

To customize the default login page, you need to install the Loginfy Addon by WP Adminify. 

After installation, navigate to WP Adminify > Login customizer. You will get access to 16 pre-built login page templates. 

Select any template and start customizing the template. Change the login page Logo, Title, color, and adjust the margin padding for more visibility. You can create something unique that doesn’t seem like the default login page. 

Changing the login page URL is also mandatory. It’s not only for branding but also for security. You can prevent a brute force attack by changing the default WordPress login URL. 

To change the default WordPress login page URL, navigate to WP Adminify > Security > Redirect URLs. There, you can notice an option called “New Login URL”, just input anything inside this area and save the settings. Whatever you type here will be the new login URL for your WordPress Dashboard. 

Here is a screenshot of the new WordPress login page design with a custom URL called “new-login”.

Bonus Tool

Thanks for reading so far.

As promised, I would like to share a bonus tool with you that can enhance your Admin navigation faster than ever.

If you are a MacBook user, then you are familiar with the Spotlight search. What if I told you that you can add a spotlight search in your WordPress Dashboard? Seems interesting, right? 

Free Download | Explore WP Spotlight Plans 

Just install the WP Spotlight plugin, and you will get to know all shortcut keys inside the key bindings option. Also, feel free to modify the shortcut key based on your needs and navigate to your Dashboard from anywhere. It supports both backend and frontend search, too. 

Let’s Wrap UP!

In this blog post, I have tried to cover all the necessary steps you should follow to enhance client navigation, allowing role-based content that keeps your clients up to date.

If you followed the mentioned steps, you can create a professional WordPress Custom User Dashboard without any coding knowledge. 

If you still faced any problem while following my steps, feel free to comment below. I will try my best to assist you with any available resource or support.