Title: Dashboard quick links widget
Author: Hem Thapa
Published: September 20, 2016
Last modified: January 23, 2026
---
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# Dashboard quick links widget
By [Hem Thapa](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hemthapa/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget.1.6.0.zip)
* [Details](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/#installation)
* [Development](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/)
## Description
A lightweight plugin to allows admins to create an admin dashboard widget with frequently
accessed links for quick access.
I originally developed this plugin after spending hours creating client/user documentation
for every WordPress project. Instead of writing step-by-step navigation documentation,
I used this plugin to organise all necessary links on the single widget for non-
technical users. As a developer, I also use this script myself to organise frequently
accessed links for quick access.
#### Links format
Each link should be entered in a separate line in the following format
(the fourth
parameter, i.e. font awesome icon class is optional)
**`Link text|Button link|Button text|font-awesome icon class`**
#### Examples
```
Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post blog
Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post blog|fa fa-cog
Post blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php newtab|Post blog|fa fa-cog`
```
If you have any feedback or queries please contact me at [hemthapa.com](http://hemthapa.com?ref=wp_dqlw"hemthapa.com")
## Screenshots
* [[
* Dashboard widget preview
* [[
* plugin settings dialog
## Installation
1. Install the plugin from within the Dashboard or upload the directory `dashboard-
quick-link-widget` and all of its contents to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
of your website
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Configure the widget options and links on Settings->Dashboard links widget.
4. Preview and confirm the dashboard widget.
5. That’s all, Now users can simply click on the button in the dashboard widget to
access the page.
## FAQ
### How to format the list of the links?
You need to list each link in a separate line in the following format
**`Link text
|Button link|Button text|font-awesome icon class`**
(fourth parameter, i.e. Font Awesome icon class is optional)
Example:
```
Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Create new post|fa fa-cog
```
### How to open links in new tab?
By default, all links open in the same tab, if you want to open all the links on
the widget in a new tab tick the ‘Open all links in a new tab’ box.
However, if you want to open only selected links in a new tab, add the keyword ‘
newtab’ after the link.
Example:
```
Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php newtab|Post new blog
```
### How to add a divider or additional info in between the links?
If you need to add any text, divider or any plain or HTML content in between the
links, please add the new line with ‘#’ in the front. Any new lines starting with#
are rendered as it is in the widget. You can add any HTML tags in this line.
Example:
# Section title Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php
|Post new blog #
Post new blog|/wp-admin/post-new.php|Post new blog
### Why Font Awesome icons is not working properly?
Please make sure correct the Font Awesome version is selected.
## Reviews
### [Great plugin!!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-38416/)
[rrvoigt](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rrvoigt/) February 5, 2024
Just what we needed!! Hopefully this plugin gets updated on a regular basis. Currently
while writing not supported by the latest WP version 6.4.3 (but it works). Also
maybe an improvement suggestion – for me i would have liked an option to make all
buttons the same length. So they sit more evenly, but that is a personal preference.
Great work !!!
### [Wish I could include an external post](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wish-i-could-include-an-external-post/)
[ixoyewarrior](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ixoyewarrior/) January 23, 2024
Our site uses sub domains but I have no way to post a link to anything external.
### [Awesome Plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/awesome-plugin-6665/)
[herchen](https://profiles.wordpress.org/herchen/) November 14, 2022
I manage many WordPress sites and it’s often a pain to find a frequently used menu
item buried within tons of options. I actually developed my own plugin for that
reason (called Admin Menu Search), but even then I got tired of typing in the filter
to find the menu item I wanted. I found this plugin by searching for “Admin Links”
and after a little bit of setup, it’s really handy!! Excellent plugin idea and very
useful! Thank You!
### [Very good – Does exactly what it says!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/very-good-does-exactly-what-it-says/)
[NETT.PRO](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nettpro/) June 23, 2022
Nice, simple plugin. Solved my problem. Could not find it when searching from within
WordPress, but downloaded and installed and everything works. Thanks.
### [Just what I needed](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/just-what-i-needed-1080/)
[tolkodelo](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tolkodelo/) February 25, 2021
This is my first plugin review. Plugins like AIOSEOP, Jetpack – why would I even
bother rating them? But this little plugin is so simple, specific and handy, that
I just can’t help saying thank you to the author. I’ve got a couple of pages that
I update almost daily, and I thought hey, on my dashboard there are a bunch of blocks
I never use, why not put something useful there, like some direct page edit links.
It would save me a couple minutes every single time. Hey, and there must be a plugin
for this, right? ) And here it is ) Took me a couple of minutes to set up, works
great. If you ever write another plugin like this one, let us know!
### [Simple and amazing!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/simple-and-amazing-28/)
[roadtrip28](https://profiles.wordpress.org/roadtrip28/) January 26, 2021
A great and EASY plugin which work without any problems. 1 thing which you can probably
add: new tab for custom links (possible atm for all but not for single links). Thanks
for making it and keep it up!!
[ Read all 8 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Dashboard quick links widget” is open source software. The following people have
contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Hem Thapa ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hemthapa/)
[Translate “Dashboard quick links widget” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/dashboard-quick-link-widget/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/dashboard-quick-link-widget/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/dashboard-quick-link-widget/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/dashboard-quick-link-widget/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.6.0
_4 Sep 2023_
* Support for custom HTML block is added to add text, space or whatever you like
in between the links to categorise and manage the links block
* Support for multiple version of Font Awesome icon is added
* Individual links can now be set to open in a new tab
## Meta
* Version **1.6.0**
* Last updated **3 months ago**
* Active installations **700+**
* WordPress version ** 3.0 or higher **
* Tested up to **6.9.4**
* PHP version ** 7.3 or higher **
* Language
* [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/)
* Tags
* [admin](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/admin/)[dashboard](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/dashboard/)
[links](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/links/)[widget](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/widget/)
* [Advanced View](https://wol.wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-quick-link-widget/advanced/)
## Ratings
5 out of 5 stars.
* [ 8 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/?filter=1)
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Hem Thapa ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hemthapa/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/dashboard-quick-link-widget/)
## Donate
Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?
[ Donate to this plugin ](http://www.hemthapa.com)