WordPress has loads of features which, to a completely new user, can be down right annoying – especially when you already know you’ll likely never mess with most of it. WordPress tries to show you everything it thinks you’ll probably need, but it doesn’t always do the best job. Thankfully, they have provided a simple feature to customize your experience when using WordPress called Screen Options. This simple feature is on nearly every page of your WordPress Dashboard, but is overlooked by just about everyone – even a seasoned WordPress user forgets about this feature.
To access Screen Options, simply look at the top right of your WordPress Dashboard for a little button which reads Screen Options:
Once you’ve found the button, click on it to bring down a huge list of options. (How huge depends on how many display enabled plugins you have installed).
In this example we will be working with the WordPress Dashboard Overview to remove an annoying RSS feed installed by a plugin, as shown below:
The dashboard overview is without a doubt the most polluted area of WordPress. Occasionally a plugin developer makes the decision that their plugin is going to be so exceptionally vital to your websites usage that they believe you need a widget showing you updates from them and their plugin every time you login to WordPress.
In my example, I’ve got a wonderful plugin that I use daily to help optimize the SEO on my blog. However, the plugin maker has decided to sneak in a widget on my dashboard, which displays a RSS feed of the companies latest news – not necessarily something I care to see.
The widget I am looking to remove is shown below:
To remove this pesky news widget, I simply return to the Screen Options button in the top right corner of my WordPress Dashboard to bring down my list of removable options. Once in the options screen, I will locate the name of the widget in the list and uncheck it. In this example, the widget is called The Latest news from Yoast:
Immediately after I uncheck this option, the news widget has vanished – not even a refresh is needed!
Just like that, I’ve managed to trim a little of the extra fat on my WordPress Dashboard. As you’ve been using WordPress over time, you too have probably gathered a few pesky widgets you’d rather do away with. Using the Screen Options feature you can create your own unique WordPress experience by removing plugin nagware or even pointless core WordPress features (heres to you QuickPress!)
