UI Clean-up is an advanced module which will attempt to hide plugin updates / annoying nag / review / upsell banners that clutter your admin dashboard, preventing users from getting on with their day to day work.
For less technical users these banners can cause confusion and lead to support tickets asking their service provider why they keep appearing. No one wants to pay hide and seek for the “Upload Plugin” button that is hidden between multiple notices.
Key Features
- Three Blocking Modes: Normal, Extreme, or Custom selector management
- Hidden Viewer: Preview what’s being hidden via admin bar lightbulb icon
- Custom Selectors: Add your own CSS selectors for site-specific notices
- CSV Import/Export: Backup and share selector configurations
- Security Validation: Prevents hiding critical WordPress UI elements
- Page Builder Compatible: Automatically skips Elementor, Divi, and others
How It Works
- Choose your global blocking mode (Normal, Extreme, or Custom)
- Selectors are automatically applied to hide matching elements
- Click the lightbulb in the admin bar to see what’s hidden
- Manage selectors under Admin Toolkit → UI Clean-up Selectors
💡 Pro Tip: Start with Normal mode and only switch to Extreme if needed. You can always add custom selectors for site-specific notices!
The UI Clean-up Settings screen allows you to control the global options.
“Blocking Mode” sets the default mode for all users. Individual users can have their own mode set via the User Profiles screen.
“Show hidden notifications view in admin bar” will show an “eye” icon which can hide / show a side panel. This is the best of both as it keeps the UI clean while still allowing users to see what might be hidden. Any links contained in notices / banners remain usable so you can still leave reviews for plugins on your own terms.
“Enable element selector” is an advanced feature which enables an “eye dropper” style selector after 3 seconds. This can be used to target new notices that aren’t currently blocked to extract their details. Any element selected this way is added to the “Custom” mode. All values are used by all users on the site, no need to block a nag on a per user basis.
“Allow users to hide the viewer menu” enables the option on the User profile screen. Individual users can decide if they want the ability to toggle the clean up mode. Some users may never need to switch and this can be hidden from them to avoid any UI confusion with red dots showing updates.
“Disable on page builders” will attempt to prevent UI clean-up from occurring on pages edited by popular page builders. This may need fine turning over time.
“Manage Selectors” will take you to a dedicated screen where Normal / Extreme / Custom modes can be managed.
The Manage Selectors screen will tell you the total, how many are active and your current blocking mode.
You can manually add new selectors based on their ID or CLASS, setting the relevant mode each time.
Each individual selector can be seen in the table. They can be swapped between modes by using the drop down, edited (copied to the panel above), deactivated or deleted.
They are grouped by mode. If you can’t find one check it isn’t in a different mode.
For users with the setting enabled, they will see “UI Clean-up” on the admin bar. Hovering over that will provide an easy way to swap modes.
Clicking the “eye” will toggle the Hidden Notifications side panel. Next to that is the grab element selector.
Click the selector and wait a couple of seconds for it to activate while you move your mouse to the item you wish to hide. Your cursor will be swapped to a cross-hair and a red dotted outline will be shown around the current element on the screen.
The Manage Selectors screen has 3 test notices for you to practice with. They have their own ID so each can be used. Enable the selector and click the “Normal Mode”. Once that has been added update its mode from Custom to Normal. Now enable normal mode blocking from the admin bar. Scroll back and see that the notice is no longer there. Toggle the side panel and you can see it there.
Press ESC to stop the selection mode and return to normal. I have attempted to restrict the selection of any standard part of the WordPress dashboard, so menus etc cannot be hidden. Attempting this will show an error message saying it isn’t possible.
Please note that other plugins or page builders may add their own elements to the page which are important but not restricted. If by some chance you manage to block a vital part of your site and can’t get to the Manage Selectors screen, add the below to your domain name to swap to “Off”. You should now be able to return to the Manage Selectors screen and remove the offending selector.
/wp-admin/admin.php?page=uic-selectors&uic_switch_mode=offIt would be handy to know which elements cause problem so the block list can be improved over time.
Per User Settings
Each user will have a “UI Clean-up Settings” section. From here the site administrator can override the default blocking mode or set it back to global (which uses the site default setting). Individual users can also have the admin bar menu hidden from them.
