Bring Back Single-Column Dashboard
After updating to WordPress 3.8, the single-column Dashboard disappears with no options to bring it back. For years, users could set the number of columns in the Dashboard to suit their needs, but apparently some brilliant decision was made to just remove it. Personal opinions and feelings aside, here is a quick snippet to bring back single-column Dashboard layout for those who were using it and wish to continue doing so.
How to display single-column Dashboard
Fortunately, it’s easy to bring back the single-column Dashboard configuration in WordPress 3.8; just add this code to your theme’s functions.php file:
// force one-column dashboard
function shapeSpace_screen_layout_columns($columns) {
$columns['dashboard'] = 1;
return $columns;
}
add_filter('screen_layout_columns', 'shapeSpace_screen_layout_columns');
function shapeSpace_screen_layout_dashboard() { return 1; }
add_filter('get_user_option_screen_layout_dashboard', 'shapeSpace_screen_layout_dashboard');And done. No editing, just plugin-n-play. If you want to force a different number of columns, just change both instances of “1” to “2” or “3” (or whatever works).
While on the topic, what are your thoughts about the new WP Admin design? You love it, right?
About the author
Jeff Starr is a professional web developer and book author with over 15 years of experience. Jeff works with WordPress every day, designing themes, developing plugins, and securing sites. His books include Digging Into WordPress, WordPress Themes In Depth, and The Tao of WordPress.
12 responses
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siteuntitledIt’s okay so far I guess, but I haven’t had time to really check it out because I’ve found a bug in an upload field I added for CVs on user profiles – not sure if the 3.8 admin changes caused it or if I just never noticed it until now…
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Yeah, disappointed they removed the option to change the column numbers, thanks for the fix.
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+2
Thanks.
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Giuseppe MazzapicaIs possible to make column seletion dynamic, just like before 3.8 See this post at WP StackExchange.
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Proxisoft.netTotally agree!! Why remove?!
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tnx ;)
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Great snippet, you guys rock!
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Bob SchecterWith so much to improve in the front end, I can’t fathom why they spend so much time fawning over the back end.
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Daniel PExcellent work, the new dashboard was bothering me too. Thank you for a quick fix, much appreciated.
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DarwishI just updated to the new WP. It’s great, but I’m not sure if it’s what is causing errors with my google fonts or if it was something else I did.
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Pieter GoosenLike the new dashboard more. It is even beter with this great snippet. I love my single column.
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Otto S.This has been bugging me too, but the main reason I wanted to leave a message was to say thanks because you guys actually post all the source code here for us to use.
That really is awesome, thanks a lot.
