---
title: 'WordPress Explorations: Application Menu'
description: In this post, I reflect on the concept of an application menu for WordPress, aiming to streamline user interactions and enhance confidence in content manag
doc_version: current
last_updated: '2026-04-06T18:29:31.000Z'
date: '2025-11-19T13:09:16.000Z'
author: Rich Tabor
summary: In this post, I reflect on the concept of an application menu for WordPress, aiming to streamline user interactions and enhance confidence in content manag
tags:
  - Design
  - Gutenberg
  - Product
  - WordPress
published: true
type: blog
url: /application-menu
canonical: https://richtabor.com/application-menu
id: 7204
---

This is part of my WordPress Explorations series, where I’m exploring new, far-out ideas about WordPress.

[See the full series→](/wordpress-explorations/)

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## Application Menu

WordPress gives you a bunch of ways to interact with your content. That flexibility has always been part of its strength. But it also means actions live in different places depending on what you’re doing, which can make it tricky to know where to look first.

That had me thinking: what if the editor had one place to browse everything you can do? Cue the application menu.

An application menu would act as a consistent anchor—an always-present spot where you can see the full range of available actions. Not a replacement for other controls, and not a move to strip the interface down.

It’s more like a map. A way to explore what’s available without having to guess where something might be hiding.

At the top, it would open with a command palette. Below that, quick access to the major areas of the site editor: Styles, Templates, Patterns, and Media.

![A dark-themed WordPress UI showing an open application menu on the left and a contextual edit menu on the right. The left menu lists options like Styles, Templates, Patterns, Media, Document, Edit, View, Layout, Plugins, and Help. The Edit submenu is highlighted. On the right, the contextual menu includes actions such as Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste styles, Duplicate, Delete, and Select options. A partially visible website canvas with a green header labeled “Site Title” and a cropped painting image sits behind the menus.](https://i0.wp.com/rich.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CleanShot-2025-11-19-at-13.04.12.png?ssl=1&resize=1332%2C1392)

Then below that controls for most anything. Like locking blocks, creating patterns, swapping between the code, visual, and text editors (_the text editor is the content view without a template applied — also another idea I’m brewing up_).

You can turn on different UI settings, like block outlines, breadcrumbs, even accessibility settings like text-only buttons and a possible high-contrast editor theme.

The idea is that everything is available and organized.

## Why This Matters

Because when you always know where things live, you’re more confident. You get more done. And WordPress feels less like something you have to learn, and more like something that supports you.

Thoughts? Leave a comment or [join the conversation on X](https://x.com/richtabor/status/1991207527477104916).

* * *

You may have noticed there are other ideas baked into this that I’m still exploring—I’ll share more as I work through them. Again, consider this “thinking out loud”, not a formal proposal.

Check out the [WordPress Explorations series](/wordpress-explorations/) to see what else I’m thinking about.

## Sitemap

[Full site index](/sitemap.md)