![SimpleBar Banner](https://www.lukedunsmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/banner-1544x500-1.png)

# SimpleBar - Admin Bar Customizer
A free WordPress plugin that lets you easily customize the admin bar and side menu. Change colours, add your own links, hide elements or use drag and drop to reorder them.

[![Live Site](https://img.shields.io/badge/demo-live-blue)](https://www.lukedunsmore.com/simplebar-admin-bar-customizer-free-open-source-plugin-for-wordpress)
![Open Source](https://img.shields.io/badge/Open%20Source-Yes-brightgreen)
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## Why SimpleBar?

The WordPress admin bar is powerful — but it gets cluttered quickly. SimpleBar exists to give you back control of your WordPress admin experience.

SimpleBar is a free, lightweight tool that lets you hide what you don’t need and keep your workflow tidy.

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## Features

- Hide unused admin bar items
- Reduce visual clutter in the WordPress toolbar
- Keep frequently used items accessible
- Add custom links to the admin bar
- Change colours of both the admin bar and side menu
- Live preview while editing appearance settings
- Settings tabs switch instantly without full page reload
- Built-in preset themes (including WordPress Classic default)
- Accessibility contrast guardrails for key colour pairs
- Import/export settings as JSON
- Discover and hide third-party admin bar nodes per role
- Front-end admin bar visibility rules by role and post type
- Lightweight, fast, and unobtrusive
- Built with core WordPress APIs
- No tracking, ads, or external dependencies

SimpleBar is designed for developers, site owners, and anyone who values a clean admin experience.

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## What's New in 2.1.0

- New first-run default style: **WordPress Classic** preset, with WordPress 7.0 blue (`#3858E9`).
- New Appearance improvements:
  - Preset selector with one-click apply.
  - "Colour Riot" preset label refresh.
  - Live preview for admin bar and admin menu colours.
  - Contrast guardrails with pass/warning feedback.
- New settings UX polish:
  - Tabs now switch without full page reload.
  - Title Case headings and button labels.
  - Improved spacing in Roles & Links reorder section.
- New Tools tab:
  - Export all settings as JSON.
  - Import settings from a SimpleBar export file.
- New Roles & Links improvements:
  - Discover third-party admin bar node IDs from current admin context.
  - Hide discovered IDs per role.
- New front-end toolbar visibility rules:
  - Hide by selected roles.
  - Hide on selected public post types.
  - Optional "wp-admin only" mode.

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## Screenshots

**Admin bar customisation options**

![Admin Bar Settings](https://www.lukedunsmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/screenshot-1.png)

**Cleaned-up admin bar in action**

![Admin Bar Preview](https://www.lukedunsmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/screenshot-2.png)

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## Installation

### From WordPress.org
Install directly from the plugin directory:

👉 https://wordpress.org/plugins/simplebar-admin-bar-customizer/

### From GitHub
1. Download or clone this repository
2. Upload the `simplebar-admin-bar-customizer` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`
3. Activate the plugin via **Plugins → Installed Plugins**

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## Requirements

- WordPress 6.0+
- PHP 7.4 or higher

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## Roadmap

- Minor UX refinements based on real-world usage
- Compatibility testing with future WordPress releases
- Documentation polish

Feature requests are welcome!

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## Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.

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## Author

Built by **Luke Dunsmore**  
Designer / Developer / Builder of Practical Tools

- Website: https://www.lukedunsmore.com
- WordPress.org: https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukedunsmoto/

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## License

GPL v2 or later  
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html