Halcyon Admin — Reduced Motion & Resizable Sidebar

Halcyon Admin tunes the WordPress admin for people who prefer a steady, low-distraction workspace. It doesn’t add a settings page, a dashboard widget, or a notice — it just changes three things wp-admin does by default, and gets out of the way.

What it does

• Resizable admin menu — drag the right edge of the left menu to resize; width is saved per user and honored by the block editor.
• Reduced motion by default — disables CSS transitions, jQuery animations, and the WordPress 7 view transitions for users who haven’t opted in. Honors prefers-reduced-motion.
• Sensible default — sets Fresh as the default admin color scheme for new users. Users can pick a different scheme through WordPress’s standard profile color-scheme picker.

All preferences are per-user and stored as user meta. There is no global settings page, no telemetry, and no external network calls.

Why “Halcyon”?

Halcyon means calm and peaceful. The plugin’s only job is to make wp-admin feel that way.

In professional administrative environments, efficiency, focus, and predictability are the priorities. The WordPress 7.0 upgrade introduced several new admin animations and transitions. While modern design enhancements can offer visual interest, they can also make the dashboard feel busy, less professional, and more distracting during routine editing work.

Furthermore, animation is a core accessibility concern. Extra motion in menus, panels, and transitions can be uncomfortable or problematic for users sensitive to motion. Halcyon Admin believes that:

1. Accessibility is a baseline — Operating system preferences like prefers-reduced-motion must be respected comprehensively throughout the admin area.
2. User control is paramount — Existing users shouldn’t be forced into a more animated and busy interface by default. Users, particularly those managing client sites or spending hours in the dashboard, deserve a clear, clean, and distraction-free workspace.
3. Usability matches innovation — Visual improvements are welcome, but they should enhance productivity and focus, not compete with them.

Halcyon Admin provides a quiet compromise: it restores a classic, steady dashboard experience by default, but stays completely out of the way for users who prefer standard settings.

Must-use install

To load Halcyon Admin as a must-use plugin (no activation needed, no update prompts):

1. Copy the halcyon-admin/ folder to wp-content/mu-plugins/halcyon-admin/.

2. Create a new file at wp-content/mu-plugins/halcyon-admin-loader.php containing:

   <?php /**

   • Plugin Name: Halcyon Admin (mu-plugin loader)
   • Description: Loads Halcyon Admin from a mu-plugins subdirectory. */

   defined( ‘ABSPATH’ ) || exit;

   require_once DIR . ‘/halcyon-admin/halcyon-admin.php’;

Halcyon Admin will be loaded automatically on every request and won’t appear in the Plugins screen.