The WordPress admin is where we spend a lot of our time, shipping pages, handling updates, and helping clients. When it feels dated or clunky, every small task costs more than it should. uiXpress is a WordPress plugin that gives the dashboard a modern UI, but it also adds practical tools that change how we move through the admin.
This post walks through what we saw in our first look, from the uiXpress site and docs to the plugin’s biggest features inside WordPress, including remote site management, a modern media library, role editing, logging, and more.
- uiXpress is a WordPress plugin that modernizes the admin UI and adds real workflow tools, not just a new look.
- Standout features include an enhanced command palette (Cmd K on Mac, Ctrl K on Windows), dark mode, modern tables, and a modern media library with built-in actions (like WebP conversion and image replace).
- uiXpress remote site management lets you switch between connected WordPress sites inside one admin, using WordPress application passwords for setup.
- Admin-focused tools include role editing, activity logging (with retention settings), a database explorer with a SQL editor, and an admin menu creator for role-based menus.
- Agencies benefit most from remote site switching, white labeling, and role-based admin menus that simplify client dashboards.
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uiXpress—First Look Video
What uiXpress Lists as Core Features
On its Features page, uiXpress positions itself as an all-in-one admin modernization tool. The feature list included:
- Advanced dashboard
- Global search
- Plugin manager
- Media library
- Modern post tables
- User management
- Admin notices
- Admin modernization
It also calls out key capabilities like faster workflows, comprehensive tools, powerful search, full customization, and the performance claim mentioned earlier. The important part is that these aren’t separate add-ons; they show up as real screens and tools once installed.
Seeing the WordPress Admin Before and After Installing uiXpress
After installing and activating uiXpress, the WordPress dashboard changed immediately. To show the difference clearly, we kept one browser tab with uiXpress active and another tab with it turned off. Even a simple comparison like the Plugins screen makes the point.
In core WordPress, the plugin table works, but it’s dense and plain. With uiXpress enabled, the same area looks cleaner and more current. We saw similar changes across the main dashboard view, where everything felt less cluttered.
One of the biggest quality-of-life improvements is theme mode. WordPress core still does not provide a dark mode toggle. If you prefer dark mode, uiXpress is an instant upgrade. It also handles light mode well, and it can default to your system preference. In our case, our system was set to dark, so uiXpress matched it automatically.
Switching modes was simple once we found it. Our eyes went to the icon in the top-right area first, and we also confirmed you can search for “dark mode” to jump right to that setting. That matters because it shows a pattern that repeats across the plugin: it’s faster to find settings, and it’s easier to change them without hunting through menus.
We also noticed uiXpress hooks into the command palette behavior. On Mac, the shortcut is Command K. On Windows, it’s Control K. With uiXpress active, that shortcut opens uiXpress’s enhanced palette. With uiXpress disabled, the shortcut returns to the default behavior of the WordPress command palette.
The Top-Right Toolbar and Command Palette Workflow
The top-right admin bar area covered a few useful actions:
- Theme switching (light, dark, system)
- Logout
- Notifications (updates and alerts)
- Visit site
- Help and support
- Screen options
- A search icon that opens the enhanced command palette
The command palette itself is one of the quickest ways to feel uiXpress’s approach. We could search for posts, users, and settings. We also saw quick actions inside the palette, and the Escape key closed it cleanly. This isn’t just about speed; it’s about reducing the mental load of remembering where everything lives in WordPress.
Screen options also stayed familiar, but uiXpress presented them in a cleaner way. Depending on the screen you’re on, you can toggle columns and display options. For example, in Media we could control fields like Author, Uploaded To, Comments, Date, and items per page.
Getting Comfortable With uiXpress Settings and Branding Options
uiXpress adds its own admin menu area, and it includes search inside its settings. That search is more than a nice touch; it changes how we work. We tested this by looking for “SQL queries” and confirmed we could jump straight to the relevant database setting.
Under General settings, we saw the usual licensing area, plus a simple way to upload branding. You can add a logo for the admin UI, including a separate logo for dark mode. We also liked that you can paste an image URL instead of always selecting from the media library.
The Theme section is where the customization starts to feel like a product built for agencies. You can:
- Force a global theme (light, dark, or off)
- Hide Screen Options and hide the Help toggle
- Set a base theme color (we tested a blue tone)
- Set an accent color (we tested a red accent to make highlights pop)
- Add Custom CSS inside the admin
- Load external stylesheets in the WordPress admin
White labeling goes further than changing a name. It includes favicon control, renaming the product, and a text replacement feature that lets you find and replace phrases in the admin UI. We tested replacements like “Dashboard” becoming “My Dashboard.” Seeing that change live was a reminder that uiXpress isn’t only for personal preference; it can also help standardize a client-facing admin experience.
We also saw menu behavior settings that control whether submenus open on hover or click. That’s a small option, but it matters when you’re training clients or setting up a consistent workflow across a team.
Remote Sites Management That Actually Works in the Real World with uiXpress
Remote site management was the feature that stopped us in our tracks. uiXpress can connect multiple WordPress sites and let us switch between them inside one admin interface instead of bouncing across tabs all day.
Setup is straightforward inside uiXpress settings:
- Add the remote site URL
- Add a username
- Add an application password (generated inside WordPress under the user profile)
WordPress application passwords are built into core. In the user profile, there’s an Application Passwords section. You name the password (for example, “uiXpress”), generate it, then copy the key into uiXpress.
After connecting a remote site, uiXpress adds a site switcher in the top-left of the admin. We could switch from local to a connected site. uiXpress clearly warns that once switched, API requests are sent to the remote site instead of the local one.
One important detail is that uiXpress needs to be installed on the remote site for many of the remote features to work properly. Once we tested with a sandbox site that had uiXpress installed and licensed, the feature made sense immediately.
Remote switching is supported on specific modern screens, including:
- Modern media page
- Modern plugins page
- Menu creator
- Activity log
We confirmed remote actions by changing a setting like dark mode on the remote site while staying in our current admin session. We also tested something more visible, creating an admin notice that appeared on the remote site.
Sending Admin Notices and Managing Users Across Sites
Admin notices are useful on a single site, but they’re even more useful when you can push them to client sites. We created a notice, set the type (we tested an error notice), targeted roles, made it dismissible, and set it active. The notice then appeared on the remote site, visible in the admin.
We also tested remote user management. After enabling the modern Users screen for remote use, we created a test user on the remote site from our local dashboard. The user appeared on the remote site right away. We then edited profile details, like adding a website URL, and confirmed the change was reflected on the remote site.
There was one moment of uncertainty around notice history and dismissal tracking, where the UI did not clearly show the past notice data the way we expected. That might be a bug or a workflow detail we missed. The bigger point stayed true: remote site switching worked, and real changes were applied to the remote site without opening a new tab.
For agencies, this is the kind of feature that can change the day-to-day experience. It’s not a report or a dashboard widget; it’s direct control.
Power Features Inside the Admin: Media, Posts, Users, and Roles
uiXpress modernizes core admin screens in ways that go beyond styling. Once enabled, the Media Library becomes a fully updated interface with sorting, filtering, and clean navigation between types like images, videos, and documents. We could switch views, apply filters like date ranges and tags, and even view unused media.
Clicking into an image opened a detailed panel with practical information, including:
- Title, alt text, caption, tags
- File URL
- File name, ID, file size, modified date, usage details
- Dimensions, path, upload data
The most surprising media tools were the built-in actions. We saw options to optimize an image and convert it to WebP, replace an image in place, and edit the image with transforms and effects (including blur). We’ve used separate plugins for some of those tasks in the past, so seeing them here was impressive.
On the Posts screen, uiXpress provided a modern table with quick actions. We could edit, view, and duplicate posts. That duplication feature is built-in, which may remove the need for a dedicated duplication plugin on some sites. We also saw a sidebar-style view that showed post details like status, author, categories, URL, and a preview.
User management also got a modern upgrade. Sorting and filtering felt easier, and we saw import and export options, plus a clean Add User flow with the option to send notifications.
Role management is handled through a dedicated Role Editor tool. Once enabled, it appeared as its own area. We could search roles, create a new one, and then assign granular capabilities. It started with no permissions, then we could add exactly what the role should be allowed to do.
Security, Activity Logging, Database Tools, and Menu Creation with uiXpress
uiXpress includes several tools that can replace standalone admin plugins.
The Activity Logger records admin actions like post changes, user updates, and plugin activity. We could set retention periods, choose a log level, and enable auto cleanup (we tested a shorter window like 30 days). Once active, the Activity Log showed entries with who performed the action, an IP address, a timestamp, and user agent details. We tested this setting by activating a plugin and confirming the log entry appeared.
The Database Explorer is another advanced tool. It allows browsing tables, viewing structure, and viewing data. It also includes a SQL editor with query history, along with controls to run queries and clear history. We browsed user data via the users table and confirmed the explorer view worked as expected. This tool is powerful, and it’s also the kind of thing we only want in the hands of trusted admins.
Menu creation was one of the most intriguing admin improvements. WordPress menus can be frustrating, especially as themes and workflows change. uiXpress includes a Menu Creator that lets us build custom admin menus, add links and separators, set icons, open links in a new tab, and hide items.
We could also apply menus to specific roles. That means we can create an admin menu that only admins see or simplify a client’s menu so it contains only what they need. Menus can be saved as drafts and then switched to active, which makes testing safer.
Admin Notices round out the toolkit, and they fit nicely with remote site management. Creating notices for local teams is useful, but pushing notices to connected client sites is where it gets interesting.
WordPress Login Customization
uiXpress also includes login screen options. We did not fully demo the visual login changes during this session, but the settings suggest you can modernize the login page, set a logo, add an optional login image, and even change the login path. There’s also a toggle to hide the language selector on the login screen.
Security-wise, uiXpress includes Cloudflare Turnstile support. When enabled, it adds a challenge to the login page.
Final Thoughts on uiXpress
uiXpress is already doing a lot: it modernizes the WordPress admin, adds a better command palette, upgrades posts, users, plugins, and media, and then goes further with remote site management, logging, role editing, database browsing, and admin menu creation. For agencies, the remote site switcher alone is hard to ignore. For DIY site owners, the updated UI and media tools can make day-to-day work feel easier.
Frequently Asked Questions About uiXpress for WordPress
What Is uiXpress for WordPress?
uiXpress is a WordPress plugin that updates the look of the WordPress admin and adds productivity tools inside the dashboard. It changes common screens like Plugins, Posts, Users, and Media, and it also adds admin tools like role editing, activity logs, and menu creation.
Does uiXpress Include Dark Mode in the WordPress Admin?
Yes. uiXpress adds theme modes (light, dark, and system). It can match your system preference, and you can also switch modes from the top-right toolbar. You can search settings like “dark mode” to jump to the right toggle faster.
How Does uiXpress Remote Site Management Work?
uiXpress can connect multiple WordPress sites, so you can switch between them inside one admin interface. Setup uses WordPress application passwords (created in the WordPress user profile), then uiXpress adds a site switcher in the top-left. When you switch sites, actions and API requests apply to the selected remote site.
Do You Need uiXpress Installed on Every Remote Site?
Yes for many of the remote features. The article notes remote switching worked best when uiXpress was installed and licensed on the remote site. Some modern screens support remote actions, including the modern media page, modern plugins page, menu creator, and activity log.
What Admin Tools Does uiXpress Add Beyond UI Changes?
uiXpress adds tools that can replace separate admin plugins, depending on your setup. Examples in the article include an Activity Logger (with retention and log levels), a Role Editor for granular capabilities, a Database Explorer with a SQL editor and query history, and a Menu Creator for custom, role-based admin menus.