What Problem Does Toolbar Extras Solve?

In general, the Toolbar in WordPress (also known as the Admin Bar) is great. And useful. However, by default it has some absurdities and too few items if you think about it for a moment. There are not the same items on the Admin side as on the frontend side of the Toolbar, at least within the Site Group. And that makes absolutely no sense. Also, for example, why is no plugin installer quick link at hand when you need it? As Administrator, website owner or Site Builder you are installing plugins on a regular basis therefore such a quick link would go a long way.

The Toolbar is used quite less in my opinion because it was not done the right way as it is by default. There are some missing pieces. But that is also a great thing, if you think further about it: WordPress wouldn’t be WordPress if it hadn’t a lively plugin ecosystem which can come to rescue in those moments.

Toolbar Extras solves these issues by mirroring the exact same Toolbar items on the Admin side and on the frontend side – wherever possible. Plus, it adds a lot more items to the Toolbar but in a smart way. By default only one new top-level item (Build Group – main item) is added to the Toolbar which controls almost all additional items, together with the Site Group.

A lot of items which Toolbar Extras brings additionally to the Toolbar are somewhat dynamic. That means they appear only if certain conditions are met – under the hood. Which is fully understandable given the fact that a Toolbar quick link should never land on a 404 page or give a permission error. So all these items were thought out precisely.

The integrations and plugins and themes which Toolbar Extras supports work after the exact same principle. The secret behind the whole plugin is, it was developed when wearing a Site Builder’s, Administrator’s or developer’s hat. So it was possible to create a better user experience. The reviews the plugin got so far speak for themselves in this regard. There is no better testimonial for its “problem solving” being successful than to read through all those awesome user reviews.