Management dashboards can help you manage all your sites in bulk to increase your efficiency and productivity, saving you oodles of time. But with so many options out there, which one should you choose?
Dashboards for WordPress sites list all of your sites, plugins and themes in one super convenient location. They also let you update everything in one or two clicks, whereas if you didn’t use a dashboard, you would have to visit each of your sites individually to make updates.
Seems simple enough until you realize each option out there has different features and settings. It can quickly get dizzying, so to alleviate some of that overwhelm, this post covers:
- What you need to know about management dashboard for WordPress and how they differ from Multisite
- The benefits and drawbacks
- Criteria you should keep in mind to help you choose the best option for you
- A review of the top six management dashboards currently available
- A comparison of all of the reviewed dashboard managers
All of these details should help you make an informed decision so without further ado, let’s get to it.
Click here to go straight to my reviews of the top six management dashboards.
What is a WordPress Management Dashboard?
The main purpose of any management dashboard for WordPress is to provide a way for you to maintain all of your sites and the updates that become available for your plugins and themes in one place. This is done through a single page where you can connect all your sites and manage them in bulk.
The centralized location of the dashboard also lets you manage all of your sites without needing to log in to each and every time. It goes without saying that it helps boost your overall productivity and efficiency by giving you a quick way to manage your sites.
How is Multisite Different?
By now, you may be wondering “why is she describing the super admin dashboard of WordPress Multisite and calling it by a different name?” Actually, management dashboards are very different from Multisite.
While there are clear similarities, the biggest difference is that management dashboards let you manage all or your sites, whether they’re from the same or separate Multisite networks or single installs of WordPress. You can also link up sites from different servers to a management dashboard.
With Multisite, you can only manage sites within your network. Also, if you want to activate a plugin or theme on only a few of your subsites that aren’t network activated, you would need to go to each site separately and activate the plugin or theme, then go to the other sites and do the same.
With a management dashboard you can:
- Manage plugin and theme updates in bulk: You’re able to deactivate and activate plugins and themes on multiple sites at once, all from the same page.
- Access sites either externally or internally: You can manage your sites from a dashboard outside all your sites and from one that offers the management dashboard or as a plugin where you can link up all your sites to one WordPress installation.
- Push WordPress updates to a select number or all sites: In addition to being able to toggle plugin and theme updates, you can also choose to update the WordPress installations for your sites.
There are also some other features that some management dashboards have that others don’t:
- Deployment options: Install, delete, deactivate and activate plugins or themes across all your sites
- Uptime monitoring: See and get notified if your site experiences any downtime
- Backups: Backup some or all of your linked sites so you have a copy of them in case something goes wrong
- User management: Bulk manage users for your sites including adding, editing and deleting users
- SEO tracking or Google Analytics: See traffic and SEO statistics or get access to Google Analytics from the dashboard
- Security: Malware scanning or other types of security scans
- Content and comment management: Edit, delete, write or mark comments as spam for your sites in your dashboard as well as write and edit posts.
Some options do include other settings, but these are the most common features that you can usually find in different combinations for different management dashboards.
The Benefits
There are some key features which make management dashboards an excellent tool. Here are the main benefits in detail.
Centralized Interface: Being able to manage all your sites in one place, no matter where they’re hosted or what network they may be a part of is an excellent way to keep things simple and efficient. After all, it’s easier to go to only one place to handle changes rather than many separate ones.
Efficiency and Productivity: Since everything you need to manage is within your reach or well, click, you can manage your sites a lot faster and in less time.
Create Income for Your Business: If you’re a developer or theme designer. You could manage your clients’ sites easily and include maintenance as an additional service to your business to create recurring revenue without having to do so much extra work.
Minimize Amount of Plugins Needed: Since many dashboard managers have multiple features included that are duplicated in the plugins you already have installed, you could eliminate all those extra plugins. In turn, this would speed up your site for a better user experience and SERP ranking.
Lightweight: In the case of external management dashboards, they’re hosted away from your server, which means your site doesn’t have to compete with your dashboard for resources such as storage space, memory and bandwidth. It leaves a lot more wiggle room for your site to run smoothly.
The Drawbacks
Unfortunately, there are also a few reasons why using a management dashboard may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Here’s what you need to look out for in detail.
Potentially Less Secure: For external dashboards, you’re relying on the security of the company which provides the dashboard so if they’re not keeping their service secure, your sites are placed at risk as well. It’s especially riskier if you sign into your sites from the dashboard.
It’s also important to note that any external dashboard manager should not store your login credentials at any point. Doing so would pose a serious potential security risk.
On the flip side, most options have top-notch security. Still, it’s a good idea to keep this in mind when you’re considering your options.
Drain on Resources: For internal management dashboards, you’re solely responsible for allocating the resources it takes to run it. If the plugin is bloated, it could seriously weigh down your server which means your sites wouldn’t have enough breathing room to run properly and your visitors could quickly take notice.
Internal management dashboards also have the added expense of being self-hosted. If the plugin isn’t free or you need premium upgrades, it may prove to be more hassle than it’s worth.
Counter-Productivity: Some management dashboards are so robust, using them can be tricky and have a steep learning curve. If it takes you forever to figure it out and become comfortable with using it, you end up being a lot less efficient and productive. It would negate the whole reason for having a management dashboard.
You also need to make sure you’re able to carry out the bulk actions you need to for your sites. If you aren’t able to manage your sites the way you want, then this also defeats the purpose of having this kind of service.
