Default Admin Color Scheme
by Plugin Pizza · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 6 other plugins · 1.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Select a default admin color scheme for new and existing users. Optionally disable the color scheme picker to force a color scheme for all users.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
800+
≈900 estimated
Momentum
+7%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “admin”, “branding” and “custom dashboard” for “admin branding”, “color” and “disable admin toolbar”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “admin branding” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “branding” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “color” sits at #9 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “custom dashboard” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “disable admin toolbar” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
83 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →5.4%
of downloads still active
At least 800 of 15K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,189 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 9 reviews to 2026-06-08Reviewers say it does exactly what it promises, and the newest one is glad it's there after the 7.0 admin colour changes, with one older complaint that the front-end toolbar stays dark.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 148 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.7★ over 9 reviews, smoothed to 4.19★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
17%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| scheme | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| color scheme your tag | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| admin color scheme | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| color schemes | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| admin color schemes | #1 | #3 | — |
| admin color | #3 | #6 | 0 |
| default | #5 | #9 | 0 |
| admin branding | #4 | #13 | up 1 |
| admin colors | #4 | #8 | 0 |
| color | #9 | #15 | down 2 |
| branding admin | #4 | #13 | up 2 |
| color admin | #4 | #8 | 0 |
| color picker | #5 | #13 | 0 |
| colors | #13 | #17 | down 3 |
| disable admin toolbar | #18 | #20 | up 1 |
| admin toolbar | #22 | #20 | up 1 |
| custom color | #20 | #21 | down 1 |
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| branding your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| custom dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
27 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 17 listed. 10 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “admin”, “branding” and “custom dashboard” for “admin branding”, “color” and “disable admin toolbar”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “admin branding” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “branding” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “color” sits at #9 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “custom dashboard” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “disable admin toolbar” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 336 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v1.0.3 · 6 Jun 2026
1
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “800+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 900.
At the current install trend, crossing 900+ in roughly 131 days.
Install history since 21 Apr 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ dzso5mo ago
Now that the 7.0 admin colours have been f*ed up, I’m so happy this exists. <3 Thank you! This topic was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by dzso.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ blahblah1.7y ago
This works great. Thanks for making this plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ TobiasR9.4y ago
Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ eeeMan10.8y ago
Работает только в админке, если перейти на сайт, то верхний бар также остается черным Works only in the admin, if we go to the site, the top bar also stays black
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ John10.9y ago
Works like a charm and gets the job done as described. Many thanks for your work!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ linasslepikas11.3y ago
Works as promised and gets the job done.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kalico11.9y ago
I’m managing a network of WP sites (WPMU) by myself and was getting very confused about which admin pages I’m looking at, since they are all the same color. With this little gem, the admin environment for each site is a different color, and I always have that visual cue to know where I am. Thank you!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ master41216012.4y ago
Quite useful.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.4.8 · WP 5.9.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 130 languages, 1 at 90% or more
Plus 106 more locales with partial translations.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
0 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("The admin bar color has not changed when I visit my site").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 2 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 844 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("branding", "custom dashboard", "dashboard" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-30 900+ → 800+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-29 800+ → 900+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-28 900+ → 800+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-27 800+ → 900+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-25 900+ → 800+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2026-10-19 800+ → 900+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-18 900+ → 800+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2026-10-14 800+ → 900+ up after 3 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
White Label CMS 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags A -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Display PHP Version 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D -
Widget Disable 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Custom Login 10K+ installs · 3.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Erident Custom Login and Dashboard 7K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags C
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Default Admin Color Scheme into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/default-admin-color-scheme" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Default Admin Color Scheme — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Default Admin Color Scheme: 800+ active installs, 4.7★ (9 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/default-admin-color-scheme
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