It’s been awhile since we’ve conducted a poll on WPTavern. This time, it’s a simple question. Do you prefer the left administration menu in the backend of WordPress to be expanded or collapsed? Personally, I prefer it be collapsed. I use a 23 inch monitor so I don’t have as much horizontal screen real estate as I’d like. I asked this same question on Twitter and so far, many of our followers responded that they use the menu expanded.
I may be in the minority, but my laptop screen real estate is precious: I always collapse the admin menu.
@Chip Bennett – Based on the quick Twitter poll and the results so far in this poll, the collapsed users are definitely the minority.
Expanded, especially since MP6 (and 3.8) will collapse as my screen gets too small :D
@Jeffro –
Based on the quick Twitter poll and the results so far in this poll, the collapsed users are definitely the minority.
Yeah, I’m cool with that – as long as I have to option to keep my menu collapsed. :)
I chose “expanded”, but it entirely depends on how much space I have in my browser. If the browser window is small, I definitely prefer it collapsed.
Definitely collapsed (it’s supposed to be sufficient in itself if the various icons are well-thought enough)! Even with a large screen, I prefer more ‘vital’ info being displayed larger. An expanded menu is definitely at the expense of more important stuff imo
Expanded
I think mostly this is not a question of what the user likes better it is about how much screen real estate has to waste.
For me with a resolution of 2560×1440 I even have my bookmarks sidebar open at all times.
I think it’s more of a question what kind of user you are. New users may prefer the open menu that shouldn’t both names and icons. Me, I see myself more as an advanced user, and can navigate my way around the backend by memory.
I always choose collapsed. I see no reason to give up the screen real estate when I know what everything is anyway. Expanded just clutters the screen unnecessarily in my opinion. I totally understand someone new to WordPress needing it expanded but that’s the only reason I can think of.
um, yes. ;)
@Keith Davis -I agree! And maybe I don’t want to learn another set of symbols? Or is that just plain lazy…
Sometimes it’s fun to be in the minority! For years I’ve had the menu expanded but recently changed. It took me a while to get used to it but, since I use much the same areas time and time again, it has managed to work its way into my mind now.
I like that it’s collapsible for those rare times that I need all the screen real estate I can get, but I almost always keep it expanded. I manage many sites using many different plugins, many of which add their own items to the side menu. Often times the icons they use seem more to grab attention than representative of the plugin they’re supposed to indicate.
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Expanded Jeff
Don’t know why but it makes me nervous when I can’t see it.
Only 4 votes in at the moment but 75% plays 25% on expanded.