OpenStation Blog: OpenStation: turn wp-admin into a desktop, and try it in 30 seconds

OpenStation is a free WordPress plugin that turns wp-admin into a desktop. Every admin screen opens in its own window that you can move, resize and keep open next to the others. You can try it in your browser right now, with nothing to install.

Can’t see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

Why we built it

Most of us spend the day jumping between screens in wp-admin. You open a post, go back to the list, check the media library, then go back again. With OpenStation, those screens stay open side by side, so you don’t lose your place.

What you get

• A window for every admin page: posts, media, settings, plugins
• A dock with your whole admin menu, including your other plugins
• Several desktops, for example one for writing and one for site settings
• Wallpapers, widgets and accent colors
• Cmd+K to jump anywhere fast
• Your windows are still open when you come back

Try it in your browser

Go to the OpenStation page on WordPress.org and click Live Preview. It runs a full WordPress site with OpenStation in your browser tab, so you can’t break anything.

Install it on your site

1. In your admin, go to Plugins → Add New and search for “OpenStation”
2. Click Install Now, then Activate
3. Click the desktop icon in the top-right corner of the admin bar

It’s safe to try

OpenStation is opt-in for each user, so the rest of your team keeps the normal admin. Click the same icon to go back to the classic view. If you deactivate the plugin, wp-admin goes back to exactly how it was. It doesn’t change WordPress core.

Tell us what you think

Have a question? Ask in the support forum. Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub.