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WordPress

Joe Consterdine
Joe Consterdine
13,965 Points

How do you edit 'wp-admin' files without editing them directly?

Hey,

I installed a WP theme and I want to edit something in 'wp-admin'. It's basically to edit a title that appears on a dropdown menu.

It's not a template file so it's not a case of duplicating for a child theme. It's in the core.

I don't want to edit the core files directly as that's bad practise.

Is there another way?

Thanks

Felix Yakubov
Felix Yakubov
17,475 Points

Depends on what you want to change. If its a way the admin menu is displayed you can use a plugin like this: https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-menu-editor/ If its a function you can add it to the functions.php but you have to know which object you are changing

1 Answer

Jeremy Castanza
Jeremy Castanza
12,081 Points

Generally speaking, you should never modify core files for two reasons. 1) You could create a security issue. 2) Your changes will be over written when you upgrade WordPress. Not upgrading WordPress means you could have a vulnerable version that's susceptible to hacking. What you're trying to do should be accomplished using a plugin or theme. It may be worth reaching out to the developer of your existing theme to see if they are willing to assist or maybe even willing to provide this as a feature in their next release.