New admin panel 3.8 is terrible

There are color options. Go to your user profile and pick a different one. I like Ecto.

See also these plugins:

More colors: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-color-schemes/

Design your own: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-color-schemer/

Wow – it’s not about the colors. Once I fix that problem, there are so many, others, which I don’t have the ability, inclination or time to deal with. Like the typeface and the flatness (lack of 3D which makes a page readable). I have no interest in ‘designing’ and admin panel, I want to work on my blog and not waste time ‘customizing’ something that is fundamentally bad to begin with.

This user stated the problems much more eloquently than I ever could

Indeed, the admin theme changes are grotesque. It makes one wonder how so many precious man-hours could be devoted to mucking around with such superficial concerns, particularly when the existing look and feel of the previous admin was visually pleasing and well defined. Adding features is one thing, but dictating personal taste is another.

Consider the statement posted on the WP site that defends the creation of this ugly theme: “Gone are overbearing gradients and dozens of shades of grey— bring on a bigger, bolder, more colorful design!” Wow! “Overbearing”? Really?–Orwell would love that one. The previous admin theme was subtle, perhaps a bit boring, but “overbearing???!” — give us a break.

Then there is the flat-is-cool virus that seems to have infected the coding community. There seems to be some fantasy about how elegant and beautiful flat, featureless, boxes on a stark background are to the viewer. My two year old son draws like that, but I would not call it elegant.

We need the folks at WP to work on improving security, load times, efficiency and other important improvements under-the-hood–not in your face. The admin area is a work space that needs to be functional well defined and easy on the eyes. The stark, flat, police-cruiser motif of 3.8 really is “OVERBEARING.” And the ability to choose other colors really doesn’t help much because the design is aesthetically juvenile. Admin themes are the domain of plugins, not the WP core.

Wait, what? You have to download a plugin to change the appearance of the admin panel? L O Freakin’ L! You cannot be serious!

You’ve always had to use a plugin to change the appearance of the admin panel, past what comes default.

There are plugins to add 3D back in, ones to adjust color and font-size, etc etc. What this version of the admin dashboard has that the older one did not was, surprisingly, extendability ?? You now have the ability to change it FAR more easily than the old way.

It’s no more ‘designing’ your admin panel than you ‘design’ your computer desktop when you configure its colors, sizes, and layout to fit your usecase.

Hate the new 3.8 admin look. Added the plugin WP-Admin Classic and the Woocommerce Mystile footer widgets just disappear from the admin widget page.

In order to edit these footer widgets, I have to deactivate WP-Admin Classic, edit the widgets in the absolutely HORRIBLE new admin look where I can’t even find anything because nothing looks familiar, then go back to the plugins and activate WP-Admin Classic.

Pain in the butt!

I really wish I could just roll back to 3.7. Obviously somebody liked this new look, but to force it on the rest of us is extremely annoying and troublesome.

I’m finally getting to upgrading some of my own sites (not client sites), and as I’m doing so, I realized how much I really really hate the new interface. So I’m leaving some feedback now. Please listen to the massive amount of feedback you are receiving and allow (not just through plugins) for people to use a skin of the old interface.

If WordPress were a company, a TV or radio station, etc. and they got this level of negative feedback, they wouldn’t tell them to shut the * up and use a plugin, even going so far as deleting complaints — editing the feedback to further justify their actions against community feedback. They’d respond to those complaints. Please please please, respond and make it in core to use the old interface.

I’m looking at the old interface, and it is quaint and a bit cute. Even the “Howdy” greeting is too!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WordPress is making a very very grave mistake if they do not listen to these complaints and not being community driven at all.

Please put the old skin and fonts in core.

Many thanks.

No one is telling anyone to shut up. You’re all entitled to your own opinions ??

We’re only deleting comments when people are derailing legit support topics with complaints (well and the ones that are outright abusive and calling people names).

There are plugins to add 3D back in, ones to adjust color and font-size, etc etc. What this version of the admin dashboard has that the older one did not was, surprisingly, extendability ?? You now have the ability to change it FAR more easily than the old way.

I looked at those two plugins you provided links for and I don’t see anything except variations of white typeface on a dark background. No 3D, no thin space between boxes, no normal typeface that doesn’t take up twice the space and is so thin it’s barely readable. Where’s the black on grey, 3D, narrow space between boxes, old typeface, etc?

I didn’t want to change it before so the fact that it was difficult to do so before is meaningless to me.
How about a ‘plug-in’ for going back to pre-3.8 exactly as it was before, where’s that?

It’s no more ‘designing’ your admin panel than you ‘design’ your computer desktop when you configure its colors, sizes, and layout to fit your usecase.

I’ve already spent way more time on this than I have whether you want to call it ‘designing’ or not, I still can’t see what I’m doing in the admin panel. Do I have to search through thousands of plugins to find a way to customize my desktop? NO! How about doing what the previous commenter suggested and providing the ‘go back to 3.7 plugin’.

I’ve already spent way more time on this than I have

Have you then considered hiring someone to resolve this for you?
https://jobs.wordpress.net
https://directory.codepoet.com

You may want to try this: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-interface-by-avenue-factory

It breaks about sections a little differently

How about a ‘plug-in’ for going back to pre-3.8 exactly as it was before, where’s that?

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-admin-classic/

You may want to try this: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-interface-by-avenue-factory

It breaks about sections a little differently

The description of this plugin says ‘restores balance and visual tactility’. If these are known problems why were they created with this ‘update’? I looked at this plugin and it says there are unsolved ‘issues’

Issue list:

RTL Languages are not yet supported!!!

Post edit form turns blue (as a result for fixing https://1?ver=3.8 issue)

Admin bar is not displayed properly on front-end with standard Twenty Thirteen, Twenty Fourteen (updated themes).

and ask for help in fixing them. This is not my private blog, it’s a website I set up for a large organization and I’m not keen on experimenting with and discovering and creating new problems and fielding calls for problems.

I would suggest that you install and test on a local blog until you find the fix that is 100% perfect for your situation then. That’s generally what I suggest any dev do, mind you.

I don’t have a ‘local’ blog to test on. I still am not hearing an explanation why this major snafu was created and I have to invest countless hours of my time trying to ‘fix’ it. Is it your purpose to create major problems and then tell people to go and figure out how to ‘fix’ them? If you hadn’t wasted untold hours of time making these inexplicable changes I wouldn’t be having this problem, would I? Tell me again, what problem did this solve?

I just realized this comment is from a mod so I’ll address it

Have you then considered hiring someone to resolve this for you?

Is this a serious suggestion? Is your ‘improvement’ to WordPress Admin Panel a ‘make work’ project? You spend how much resources undoing a perfectly good interface and I’m supposed to now hire someone to fix the problems you created? This is a website I created, volunteering my time for free, for a non profit organization that runs entirely on volunteer help and collects no revenue whatsoever. So now I’m supposed to in addition to donating my time, hire someone to fix problems that you created for no apparent good reason?

And why remove all the comments that were also suggesting the Admin Panel doesn’t work? I guess if you remove their comments, it’s not a problem.

*Does the hand time out thing*

I don’t think anything negative was meant by suggesting seeking paid help. Honest. [Andrew gives thumbs up]

*Scrolling up to the top reads “New admin panel 3.8 is terrible”*

How about a ‘plug-in’ for going back to pre-3.8 exactly as it was before, where’s that?

There are plugins that will bring back the 3.7.x admin experience. I don’t have the links to those plugins but I’m sure you can locate them in the repo. I think one of them was named wp-admin classic and there are others.

If it’s the color scheme only then there plugins that can help you from above.

More colors: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-color-schemes/

Design your own: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/admin-color-schemer/

I guess if you remove their comments, it’s not a problem.

Some topics do seem to bring out inflammatory comments and those just don’t help anyone. Sometimes those comments do get deleted.

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Forum_Welcome#Deleting_.2F_Editing_Posts

to fix problems that you created for no apparent good reason?

I get that you’re unhappy but don’t you think that’s a little accusatory? Please keep in mind that I am not trying to wind you up.

While it’s not always possible to please everyone (many people including myself really enjoy the 3.8 admin GUI changes) please keep in mind that the development of WordPress does not take place in a vacuum.

If you want to contribute to the development of WordPress then there are many ways to do that.

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Contributing_to_WordPress

For now I think that one of those plugins may provide you with a fix to your problem.