Hiding the WordPress Dashboard for Non-Admin Users

There are two plugins out there that I have found that help customize your WordPress install by removing the dashboard. Why would you want to do this? Well, perhaps you have installed and customized WordPress for a client who really doesn’t need the dashboard, or you don’t want users who login to see the dashboard. Either way, there are options. Something like this is best left to a plugin so that when you upgrade is still functions and you don’t have to go in and change everything.

Deep Wave has created a plugin called Hide Dashboard. It allows Admins to see the dashboard and removes it for regular users. There are a few options like allowing Authors and Editors to see the dashboard. I tried using this plugin on WordPress 2.7 and it did remove the dashboard for non-Admin users, but when they logged in it brought them straight to the dashboard even though the link was removed. Not really what you want.

Il Filosofo created a small plugin called Remove the Dashboard which worked great but hasn’t yet been updated for 2.7. I went in and made a few changes to get it to do what I wanted. Here is the original plugin code written by Austin Matzko and full credit is given to him for figuring it all out.

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Filosofo Remove Dashboard
Plugin URI: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/
Description: Make the Dashboard, that page that takes forever to load when you log in, disappear.
Version: 1.0
Author: Austin Matzko
Author URI: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/
*/

/*  Copyright 2006  Austin Matzko  (email : if.website at gmail.com)

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
*/

function remove_the_dashboard () {
global $menu, $submenu, $user_ID;
$the_user = new WP_User($user_ID);
reset($menu); $page = key($menu);
while ((__('Dashboard') != $menu[$page][0]) && next($menu))
$page = key($menu);
if (__('Dashboard') == $menu[$page][0]) unset($menu[$page]);
reset($menu); $page = key($menu);
while (!$the_user->has_cap($menu[$page][1]) && next($menu))
$page = key($menu);
if (preg_match('#wp-admin/?(index.php)?$#',$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) && ('index.php' != $menu[$page][2]))
wp_redirect(get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-admin/' . $menu[$page][2]);
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'remove_the_dashboard');
?>

I made some minor changes so that now it works in WordPress 2.7 and Admins have the ability to view the dashboard when they login.

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Filosofo Remove Dashboard
Plugin URI: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/
Description: Make the Dashboard, that page that takes forever to load when you log in, disappear.
Version: 1.0
Author: Austin Matzko
Author URI: http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/
*/

/*  Copyright 2006  Austin Matzko  (email : if.website at gmail.com)

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

*/

/*	

Update 12/12/2008

Modified by c.bavota of http://bavotasan.com for WordPress 2.7 and to allow the dashboard for Admins.

*/

function remove_the_dashboard () {
	if (current_user_can('level_10')) {
		return;
	} else {

global $menu, $submenu, $user_ID;
        $the_user = new WP_User($user_ID);
        reset($menu); $page = key($menu);
        while ((__('Dashboard') != $menu[$page][0]) && next($menu))
                $page = key($menu);
        if (__('Dashboard') == $menu[$page][0]) unset($menu[$page]);
        reset($menu); $page = key($menu);
        while (!$the_user->has_cap($menu[$page][1]) && next($menu))
                $page = key($menu);
        if (preg_match('#wp-admin/?(index.php)?$#',$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) && ('index.php' != $menu[$page][2]))
                wp_redirect(get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-admin/post-new.php');
}
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'remove_the_dashboard');
?>