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Starred Plugins

Boost plugins to the top of your admin screen for easy access.

by Developer · github.com/flexseth/starred-plugins · website

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/flexseth/starred-plugins/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Readme

Starred Plugins

Star your favorite WordPress plugins to pin them to the top of the Plugins admin list.

Description

Starred Plugins does one thing well: it lets you star plugins so they always appear first in your Plugins list. Managing a site with many plugins? Star the ones you use most so they're always at the top — no more scrolling.

Features

  • One-click starring — Click the star icon on any plugin to pin it to the top of the list.
  • Per-user favorites — Each admin has their own starred plugins, stored independently.
  • Inline SVG star — Clean, lightweight star icon with no font or image dependencies.
  • Top-right placement — Star sits in the far-right cell of each plugin row, out of the way.
  • Visual row highlight — Starred plugins get a subtle gold left border and tinted background.
  • AJAX-powered — Toggle stars instantly with no page reload.
  • Optimistic UI — Immediate visual feedback; reverts gracefully on failure.
  • Lightweight — No settings pages, no database tables, no front-end overhead.
  • Clean uninstall — All user meta is removed when the plugin is deleted.
  • Secure — Nonce verification, capability checks, and input sanitization on every request.
  • Translation-ready — Fully internationalized with a text domain and language directory.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0 or higher
  • PHP 7.4 or higher

Installation

From the WordPress Admin

  1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
  2. Upload the starred-plugins.zip file.
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

Manual Installation

  1. Download or clone this repository.
  2. Upload the starred-plugins folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
  3. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress.

Via Symlink (Development)

ln -s /path/to/starred-plugins /path/to/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/starred-plugins

Usage

  1. Navigate to Plugins in the WordPress admin.
  2. Hover over any plugin row — a star icon appears in the top-right corner of the last column.
  3. Click the star to pin the plugin to the top of the list.
  4. Click again to unstar.
  5. Refresh the page — starred plugins appear first.

File Structure

starred-plugins/
├── starred-plugins.php           # Main plugin bootstrap
├── readme.txt                    # WordPress.org readme
├── uninstall.php                 # Cleans up user meta on delete
├── includes/
│   └── class-starred-plugins.php # Core plugin logic
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── admin.css             # Star icon and row highlight styles
│   └── js/
│       └── admin.js              # AJAX toggle and DOM injection
├── languages/                    # Translation files
├── CHANGELOG.md                  # Version history
├── LICENSE                       # GPL-2.0-or-later full text
└── LICENSE.txt                   # GPL-2.0-or-later full text

Frequently Asked Questions

Does each user have their own starred plugins? Yes. Starred state is stored in user meta, so each admin manages their own list.

Will this slow down my site? No. Assets only load on the plugins.php admin page. There is zero front-end impact.

What happens when I delete the plugin? All starred_plugins user meta is removed from the database via uninstall.php.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 or later.

See LICENSE for the full license text.

Read the full README on GitHub →