Grade A

Remove Dashboard Access

Name: Remove Dashboard Access
Rating: 4.6 (78 reviews)
Author: TrustedLogin

⤓ Download v1.3.1 on WordPress.org ↗

by TrustedLoginupdated 2026-05-22✨The Quiet Achiever

The digital bouncer that might accidentally lock your guests out.

Healthy

86/100

It performs its core task reliably but the mandatory redirect can confuse end users.

Loved32/40

Trustworthy14/15

Fair & Honest15/15

Maintained18/18

Momentum7/12

✂️

You might not need this plugin. Its core job is small enough to live in your theme's functions.php.

Show the snippet

add_action( 'admin_init', function () {
    // Allow AJAX and CLI; change the capability and redirect URL to suit.
    if ( wp_doing_ajax() || ( defined( 'WP_CLI' ) && WP_CLI ) ) {
        return;
    }

    $required_cap  = 'edit_posts'; // e.g. 'manage_options' for admins only
    $redirect_url  = home_url( '/' );

    if ( ! current_user_can( $required_cap ) ) {
        wp_safe_redirect( $redirect_url );
        exit;
    }
} );

Keep in mind:The plugin also supports per-role redirects, allowed URL exceptions with wildcards, a custom login message, and optional AJAX blocking, none of which are replicated here.

More plugins you can skip →

Active installs

~32,000

our estimate · wp.org shows 30k+

Rating

4.6★

78 ratings

Trend · vs a year ago

+4%

Holding steady

89 → 93 installs/day

Downloads over time

real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend

2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03

organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median

Holding steady · +4% in the last year

89/day a year ago→93/day today

Reviews

what people actually say

Remove Dashboard Access is a well-regarded, simple utility plugin for restricting WordPress dashboard access by user role, appreciated for doing its job reliably out of the box, though a minority of users report compatibility conflicts and concerns about its forced redirect behavior and possible abandonment.

What people like

+Does exactly what it advertises — blocks non-admin users from accessing the WordPress dashboard×6
+Easy to set up with no complex configuration required×4
+Works well alongside complex setups, including LearnDash and other plugins×2
+Responsive developer support in the forums

Common complaints

−Forced redirect is always on with no option to disable it, causing confusion for end users who don't understand why login fails×2
−Caused site-breaking compatibility issues with other plugins for at least one user×2
−One user reported the plugin bricked their entire site immediately upon installation
−Concerns raised about possible plugin abandonment by the developer

Review trustMostly organic

4.58★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.60★
8%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
past spikeReview timing — up to 33% of all reviews landed in a single month

Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower

2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04

5★ reviews1–4★ reviews

All-time ratings · 78 total

5★

4★

3★

2★

1★

Latest reviews · 78 analyzed

2025-01-27★★★★★Very important for safety dspplug
2023-09-28★★★★★Does exactly what it says it will do SmileWP
2023-08-10★★★★★Works Perfectly Texoma
2023-05-25★★★★★Fantastic add on to any LearnDash site trainingcity
2022-06-16★★★★★Avoid lellojello
2022-03-08★★★★★5 Estrellas javigandia
2021-11-19★★★★★Great help to customize the website use Renaat
2021-07-26★★★★★A must-have!unapersona
2021-02-20★★★★★Great PLugin rusben
2021-02-20★★★★★Excelent eduardomrx

Releases

recent versions from WordPress.org SVN

2026-05-22v1.3.0
2026-05-22v1.3.1
2024-11-29v1.2.1
2024-01-30v1.2
2023-09-05v1.1.5
2022-04-19v1.1.3
2022-04-19v1.1.4
2015-02-03v1.1.2

For developers & the curious

the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary above

Download signals

Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.

114

Baseline · median of last 7 organic days

104

Prior 7-day baseline

427

Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days

3,401

Mean release-day peak (30d)

426

Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)

+9.6%

Week-over-week organic trend

Review signals

Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.

33%

Max month share · biggest single 30-day window

3.27

Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty

85%

5★ share in analyzed sample

Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity

—

Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo

4.59 → 4.58★

Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered