Put your navigation for WordPress 2.7 back on top!

by Jack Humphrey on Jan 13

At first I liked the side navigation menu that came out with WordPress 2.7.  I saw people complain that they missed the accessibility of the top menu bar in the admin area and thought they were just too quick to judge.

Now after working with it for about a month, I’m convinced the better, more efficient way of navigation is the older top navigation menu.  If you feel the same way, but don’t know what to do about it, I have news.

Grab the Ozh Admin Drop Down Menu WordPress Plugin for 2.7

Simply put, you install it, and your navigation menu goes from vertical back to horizontal with many options for customizing.  It improves on the old nav menus by making each major section a drop down menu so literally everything is at your fingertips and always on top of the page.

Problem solved!

Tagged as: admin drop down menu, admin menu, wordpress 2.7 plugins, Wordpress Plugins

  • http://joerobertson.com Joe

    Good find Jack! Much nicer navigation. Joe

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  • http://voucherfrenzy.co.uk/discount-codes James@Voucher Codes

    Nice – I’ve just upgraded the first of my sites to 2.7 and the change to the nav bar was really irritating. Who says I’m averse to change?! :)

    Jamess last blog post..iRiver Clix2 | MP3 Deals

  • http://www.jerryholliday.com Jerry

    Ahh I totally agree! I find it fiddly scrolling all the way down all the time – but hey presto great solution – thanks Jack!
    Jerry

    ….hey whats this keyword love…..

    Jerrys last blog post..Rank #1 on Google inside 24 hours

  • http://www.jointwinwin.com/blog/the-billion-dollar-mindmap/ JointWinWin Cause-Related Marketing

    I just overhauled JointWinWin (bit of a nightmare tie-ing together 3 different content management systems) and settled on the horizontal nav without the drop downs – the javascript behind was very verbose.

    Not sure what the Ozh drop down menu footpring will look like but one to bear in mind.

    Cheers,
    Tom

    JointWinWin Cause-Related Marketings last blog post..Newbies – Where to start online

  • http://www.directoryofkilleen.com/blog Kent@Local Search

    Darn it Jack…you always are coming up with solutions I need when I need them. Are you lving in my head listening to my thoughts?

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  • http://www.stonecoldstuff.com/blog StoneCS

    Hey Jack,

    Just found you on twitter and saw this. I’m still using an older WP version but have seen some videos of 2.7 and it really looks different. Glad to see it’s still easily changed to more familiar configurations.

    StoneCSs last blog post..Perfect Time To Get Back To Business.

  • http://highvantagepoint.com Don Wilson

    It’s nice to have options. Personally, I like the side menu.

    Don Wilsons last blog post..American Idol Began Tonight

  • http://followlist.com/blog/dofollow-blog-info/dofollow-blog-list-widget Mike@Do-Follow Blog List

    Hi Jack,

    I’m sure glad I stumbled upon this post. I really don’t like the WP 2.7 left menu bar. I guess it’s tough to teach an old dog new tricks :-)

    There are a couple of other things I don’t like about WP 2.7, but won’t go into them here.

    Thanks,
    Mike

    Mikes last blog post..Blog Spammer Fooled Me

  • http://www.frusketing.com Ruben Ricart

    Hey Jack!

    wow that’s great! Thanks for sharing.
    I found the side menu complicated as well and It always took longer to find things that were at my finger tips in the previous menu setup.

    You’re the Man Jack!

    Ruben Ricarts last blog post..2009blogging.jpg

  • http://WealthCatalyst.net Joanne

    Ahh! Thank you. I much prefer the navigation at the top.

  • http://marketingwithbigal.com Alan Taylor

    Hi Jack,

    As always thank’s for the great advice and information. I personally find the sidebar navigation a bit confusing. And I tend not to use them on sites where they are installed.

    Thank’s again Jack.

    Alan…

    Alan Taylors last blog post..Video On Utube

  • http://www.garyspeer.com Gary Speer

    Hey, Jack, thanks. This WP 2.7 plugin is just what I’d been hoping for. I like several of the 2.7 features. But, like you, after struggling with the sidebar silliness for a month, I longed for a way to get everything back on top, where it belongs. (If God had intended for WP dashboard navigation in a sidebar, He would have tilted our heads radically to the side, I say.)

    Gary Speers last blog post..Quick tip with link for all you WordPress bloggers out there

  • http://www.MoreInStoreMarketing.com Stephanie Trahd

    You read my mind! I’m usually all for change – except when when it cuts down on my functionality. Can’t wait to install this one. Thanks Jack!

  • http://www.tributebandreviews.co.uk Tribute Bands

    wordpress 2.7 is really dull to look at, why can’t you customize the colour? who picked grey anyway…got to be some geeky tech head!

    Putting the menu bar down the side really winds me up because I keep having to scroll down the page and I’m using a 17 inch screen. I much prefer having the menu bar at the top, why change something that is so much more user friendly…who makes these design decisions anyway?

    Then along comes J.H. with a plugin that can put the menu bar back where it should be…on top!

    What can I say Jack…you seem to know what’s going on in my mind and then you provide solutions to things that I’ve been thinking about and annoying the life out of me.

    John O’Hara
    United Kingdom

    Tribute Bandss last blog post..David Essex Tribute Acts: Christopher Nott

  • http://www.octisage.com Susan Owen-Thursfield

    Thanks Jack –
    Another greatpiece of information! I loathed the side menu layout – whatever made them change? However, I had to uninstall and go back to 2.6 because I couldn’t login past the wp-admin page, although the site was fine and people could still leave comments I couldn’t edit!
    BTW – I just checked the link above to download the plug-in and it doesn’t seem to work. Maybe the server’s down or something?
    Cheers
    Susan

    Susan Owen-Thursfields last blog post..Video Marketing – How to Make Your First Video

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Susan – the site must have been down when you tried. Just checked and it’s coming up now. Thanks for your comment!

  • http://ridhuan.co.cc/blog Ridhuan

    I believe top menu is the better to navigate. I wonder why wordpress used the side menu since almost everybody are using widescreen LCDs either for laptops or pc. By using 15″ widescreen with my laptop, I have to scroll up and down everytime I want to click on menus. The wide top area is left empty maybe just for aesthetic purpose. I’ll try the plugin, thanks.

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