Title: OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin
Author: Daniel López Sánchez
Published: 7 mai 2026
Last modified: 14 Agost 2026
---
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# OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin
Per [Daniel López Sánchez](https://profiles.wordpress.org/allterraindeveloper/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/desktop-mode.1.1.0.zip)
[Live Preview](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/?preview=1)
* [Details](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/#description)
* [Reviews](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/#installation)
* [Development](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/)
## Descripcion
**wp-admin forgets. OpenStation doesn’t.**
You know the moment. You’re deep in a post and you need one image from the Media
Library. You click over, find it, click back, and everything you had going is gone.
Your scroll position, your half-typed thought, the three other things you had queued
up in your head.
That’s not a bug you hit. That’s the design. wp-admin shows you one screen at a
time, and every navigation throws the last one away. It has worked this way since
2003, like a fridge that empties itself every time you close the door.
WordPress has rebuilt almost everything else. The editor, the site editor, the patterns,
the styles. The admin’s one-screen-at-a-time model is the layer nobody touched.
OpenStation touches it.
Install it and admin screens become draggable, resizable windows. Edit a post while
the Media Library sits open next to it. Drag an image from one window straight into
the other. Keep comments open in the corner. Reload the browser and your window
layout — open pages, positions, sizes, and window states — comes back where you
left it.
OpenStation itself is free, GPL, and opt-in per user. One click in the admin bar
turns it on for you. One click turns it off. Nobody else on your site sees anything
change, and deactivating the plugin restores the classic admin exactly. No Core
patches and no lock-in. Optional AI providers may charge for their service.
Built and maintained by [Automattic](https://automattic.com), the company behind
WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce, and Tumblr.
#### Work on more than one thing at once
Admin pages open as windows, including pages added by most other plugins. Drag them,
resize them, snap them, tile them, minimize them to a taskbar. The admin menu becomes
a dock of icons. Two editors open at once is one click away.
#### Never lose your place
Moving between open windows leaves each page in place. Across reloads, OpenStation
remembers your open pages, window positions, sizes and states, virtual desktops,
and focus. Closing a window with unsaved changes warns you first.
#### A desk you can actually put things on
Drop posts, media, and links right onto the wallpaper. Sort them into folders. Trash
them to a Trash that actually holds things. The stuff you’re working on this week
can just sit out where you can see it.
#### One desktop per job
Virtual desktops, the way your operating system does them. One for writing. One
for the store. One for comment triage. One for that redesign you keep poking at.
Switch between them without closing anything.
#### Find anything with Cmd+K
The full WordPress command palette, plus slash commands from your plugins, all under
one keystroke. Turn on the optional AI assistant and you can ask it things like «
which post had the comment asking for the recipe? » and it searches your own content
to answer. (Requires an AI provider configured in Settings Connectors on WordPress
7.0+. Details under « External services » below.)
#### See how your site fits together
The Corkboard is an interactive, zoomable map of how your posts, pages, and products
link to each other. Pan around it. Find the orphans. Find the hubs.
#### Running a store?
Orders, Products, Coupons, and Customers become browsable folders with stock and
sale ribbons. Open a customer to see their lifetime spend and what they buy most.
Follow a product to its buyers, or a coupon to who redeemed it.
#### Make it yours
Wallpapers, from color presets to animated scenes to your own photo. Live widgets
pinned to the desktop: drafts, stats, recent comments, a focus timer. Uploadable
desktop themes, including a built-in Legacy theme that brings the old WordPress
blue back in one click. And Mio, a soft-body desk companion that drifts across your
wallpaper and gets bumped around by your windows. Off by default. You’ll turn it
on.
#### For developers
Extend OpenStation through documented PHP and JavaScript APIs. Register windows,
icons, wallpapers, widgets, commands, and settings tabs through stable `openstation_register_*`
PHP APIs and a typed JavaScript API; customize dock items through documented hooks;
add AI tools with the WordPress Abilities API. Copy-paste examples live in the [developer docs on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/openstation/tree/trunk/docs).
#### External services
No external service is required for OpenStation’s desktop interface. The optional
AI Assistant and two user-initiated enrichment features make the external requests
described below.
**AI Assistant**
The optional AI Assistant sends data to the **AI provider you configure in WordPress’s
Settings Connectors** (for example OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google). Generation is
routed through WordPress 7.0’s built-in AI Client, which supplies the credentials
stored in Connectors. The plugin never handles an API key itself. With no provider
configured in Connectors, no external AI requests are made.
When the AI Assistant is enabled and a user invokes it (via Cmd+K or the slash-command
palette):
* **What is sent:** the user’s prompt, the conversation history for the active
session, and tool-call metadata. The plugin’s built-in tools (`search_posts`,`
search_pages`, `search_comments`) run WordPress’s native keyword search and may
include excerpts of the matching posts/pages/comments in tool results, which
are then sent back to the provider as part of the agentic loop.
* **When it is sent:** on user-initiated AI requests, and (if an administrator
enables « Score new comments with AI ») on comment-save hooks for spam analysis.
Posts, pages, and taxonomy terms are not sent automatically.
* **Why it is sent:** to obtain model completions and tool-call decisions that
drive the AI Assistant.
* **Who provides the service:** whichever provider you configured in Settings
Connectors. Which provider (and endpoint) receives the data depends entirely
on that configuration. Review the chosen provider’s own terms and privacy policy(
e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google).
**URL shortcut favicons**
When an authorized user creates a desktop shortcut to an external URL, OpenStation
asks that URL for its page HTML and favicon so the shortcut can display the site’s
icon. The request is made from your WordPress server and sends the requested URL,
the server’s IP address, an OpenStation user-agent string, and normal HTTP request
metadata to the operator of that site. This happens only when a user creates the
shortcut. The destination site’s terms and privacy policy apply.
**WordPress.org plugin information**
When an authorized user opens or refreshes parts of OpenStation’s Plugins window,
OpenStation may request public plugin details, update metadata, and review excerpts
from WordPress.org. These requests send plugin slugs, the site’s locale, and normal
HTTP request metadata to WordPress.org. This information is used only to display
and manage plugins. Review the [WordPress.org Privacy Policy](https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/).
OpenStation’s OAuth relay does not contact a service by itself. Third-party plugins
that configure the relay may contact their own providers and are responsible for
disclosing those services.
### Credits
OpenStation is brought to you by [Automattic](https://automattic.com). The plugin
is open source under GPLv2-or-later; contributions are welcome on [GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/openstation).
#### Third-party libraries
The plugin bundles the following third-party JavaScript library, loaded on demand
only when a feature that needs it is in use:
* **[PixiJS](https://pixijs.com/)** (MIT License) — used by the interactive **OpenStation
Preferences About** scene, the **Corkboard** window, built-in canvas wallpapers(
e.g. the animated WordPress logo), and the **Inkfall** typing game. PixiJS is
loaded from the plugin’s own `assets/vendor/` directory; no CDN requests are
made.
#### Data files
The **Inkfall** game’s word list (`assets/games/inkfall/words.txt`) is generated
from the following sources (attribution also ships in the file’s header):
* **[FrequencyWords](https://github.com/hermitdave/FrequencyWords)** by Hermit
Dave (CC-BY-SA 4.0) — English word-frequency ranking derived from the OpenSubtitles
corpus.
* **[english-words](https://github.com/dwyl/english-words)** by dwyl (Unlicense)—
used as a validity filter.
* **[LDNOOBW English list](https://github.com/LDNOOBW/List-of-Dirty-Naughty-Obscene-and-Otherwise-Bad-Words)**(
CC-BY 4.0) — used as an exclusion filter.
## Screenshots
[⌊Real multitasking: Users, Media, and a post you're editing, open side by side
as windows.⌉⌊Real multitasking: Users, Media, and a post you're editing, open side
by side as windows.⌉[
Real multitasking: Users, Media, and a post you’re editing, open side by side as
windows.
[⌊Your admin, your desktop: custom wallpapers and live widgets registered by plugins.⌉⌊
Your admin, your desktop: custom wallpapers and live widgets registered by plugins
.⌉[
Your admin, your desktop: custom wallpapers and live widgets registered by plugins.
[⌊Ask the AI Assistant (Cmd+K) about your own posts, pages, and comments.⌉⌊Ask the
AI Assistant (Cmd+K) about your own posts, pages, and comments.⌉[
Ask the AI Assistant (Cmd+K) about your own posts, pages, and comments.
[⌊Corkboard: a zoomable map of how your content links together.⌉⌊Corkboard: a zoomable
map of how your content links together.⌉[
Corkboard: a zoomable map of how your content links together.
[⌊OpenStation Preferences: wallpaper presets, animated scenes, or your own image.⌉⌊
OpenStation Preferences: wallpaper presets, animated scenes, or your own image.⌉[
OpenStation Preferences: wallpaper presets, animated scenes, or your own image.
[⌊Files on the desktop: drag posts, media, and links onto the wallpaper and into
folders.⌉⌊Files on the desktop: drag posts, media, and links onto the wallpaper
and into folders.⌉[
Files on the desktop: drag posts, media, and links onto the wallpaper and into folders.
[⌊The Trash collects trashed posts, media, folders, and shortcuts in one window.⌉⌊
The Trash collects trashed posts, media, folders, and shortcuts in one window.⌉[
The Trash collects trashed posts, media, folders, and shortcuts in one window.
## Installacion
1. Install via **Plugins Add New** (search for « OpenStation »), or upload the plugin
folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`.
2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** screen.
3. Click the **desktop** icon in the admin bar’s top-right corner. The admin reloads
inside the desktop shell.
4. Click the same icon again at any time to return to the classic admin.
#### Optional: enable the AI Assistant
1. In **Settings Connectors**, set up an AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google).
Requires WordPress 7.0+.
2. In OpenStation, open **OpenStation Preferences Features** and turn on **AI assistant**(
it’s off by default).
3. Press **Cmd+K** (or **Ctrl+K**) anywhere in OpenStation to open the AI assistant.
## FAQ
### Isn’t this just a gimmick?
The desktop look is the visible part, so it’s a fair question. But the look is a
consequence, and the mechanism underneath is the point: windows hold their state,
so switching tasks stops costing you your place. wp-admin is a single-document interface
where every navigation destroys the last screen. OpenStation replaces that with
the same concurrency model your operating system has used for decades. The research
behind it goes back to Henderson and Card’s « Rooms » paper at Xerox PARC in 1986.
The wallpaper is just what that model looks like when you build it.
### Will this slow down my site?
OpenStation’s desktop interface and browser assets are loaded only inside wp-admin,
and only for users who have turned it on. Its PHP integration still participates
in normal WordPress request handling where needed, including tracking content changes,
but visitors never receive the desktop UI.
### Does this change anything for users who don’t opt in?
No. The classic admin is untouched until a user toggles OpenStation on for themselves.
Deactivating the plugin restores vanilla Core exactly.
### Does it work with my other plugins?
Most plugin admin pages open as windows without special integration. Plugins that
depend on running in the top-level browser context or use unusual navigation may
need compatibility work. Plugins can also register their own native windows, widgets,
and commands for a deeper integration.
### Does the plugin require an external service to function?
No. The desktop shell, windowing, dock, taskbar, virtual desktops, widgets, wallpapers,
and extension APIs work without an external service. The optional AI Assistant requires
a configured AI provider. OpenStation also makes limited, user-initiated requests
to resolve URL-shortcut favicons and display WordPress.org plugin information. See«
External services » in the description.
### Does it patch WordPress core?
No. Every feature is wired through public WordPress actions and filters.
### How do I turn OpenStation off for my user?
Click the desktop icon in the admin bar a second time. The plugin can also be deactivated
globally from the Plugins screen.
### Where is the developer documentation?
In `docs/` inside the plugin, and on [GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/openstation/tree/trunk/docs).
The hook reference, JavaScript reference, bridge protocol, and copy-paste examples
all live there.
## Reviews
### [Powerful feature for WordPress Power Users](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/nice-feature-for-power-wordpress-users/)
[nysc](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nysc/) 18 julhet 2026
If you have a lot of custom post types, pages, posts, etc., and you’re working on
many of them simultaneously, this is a God-send. Even better if you have a large
monitor. Well done.
### [One word… Wow!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/one-word-wow-7/)
[MauroS](https://profiles.wordpress.org/maurosp91/) 4 junh 2026
This plugin blowed my mind. It turns your wordpress admin in such a beautiful dashboard.
What an experience. Contratulations to the owners of the project!
### [Modern and creative admin experience](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/modern-and-creative-admin-experience/)
[Rami Obeidat](https://profiles.wordpress.org/obeidat/) 28 mai 2026
Really interesting concept and one of the more unique WordPress admin experience
plugins I’ve tested recently. I especially like the desktop/workspace direction
and the overall creativity behind the UI. I spend a lot of time testing modern admin/
workspace plugins and Desktop Mode definitely stands out with its own approach.
Looking forward to seeing how the project evolves 👌
### [Homebase](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/home-base/)
[speff](https://profiles.wordpress.org/speff/) 26 mai 2026 1 reply
This is a really neat idea. WP core’s been giving me similar vibes to Tiddlywiki
in its capability towards extensibility and this plugin solidifies that idea in
my mind. I’d be interested in having other providers available for use with quick
search – and even an option to fall back to the normal Ctrl+K behavior. But this
is a great enhancement of WP Admin for my personal use-case as-is and really makes
my personal site feel like home.
### [Interesting…](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/interesting-60/)
[karelv92](https://profiles.wordpress.org/karelv92/) 25 mai 2026
Very interesting idea. It makes working in WP somewhat more productive…
### [Super interesting](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/super-interesting/)
[tickastudios](https://profiles.wordpress.org/tickastudios/) 24 mai 2026 3 replies
It’s a cool project. Very much creative. I wouldn’t have ever thought about turning
WP admin into a desktop-like interface. How did you come up with it?
[ Read all 22 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin” is open source
software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Daniel López Sánchez ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/allterraindeveloper/)
* [ Automattic ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/automattic/)
* [ Roberto Aranda ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/epeicher/)
* [ Miguel Torres ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmtr86/)
* [ Nick Hamze ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nickhamze/)
“OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin” has been translated
into 2 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/desktop-mode/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “OpenStation: Desktop Windows, Dock & Virtual Desktops for WP Admin” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/desktop-mode)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/desktop-mode/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/desktop-mode/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/desktop-mode/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/desktop-mode/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.1.0
* Consolidate navigation into a single dock
* Notes: Merge the sticky-notes into pinned notes
* Confirm dialog: route Enter to the focused button, trap and restore focus
* Posts window: Pluralize the bulk-action confirm text
* Windows: Fix the accessibility semantics of controls, tabs and loading
* Make the active window tab a frosted plate that slides
* A11y: keep actionable toasts alive while attended, trap focus in first-run dialogs
* Add the missing Domain Path header
* AI: Internationalize the assistant overlay
* Dashboard: Stop the welcome panel dismiss opening a stray window
* Shell: exit OpenStation when the plugin stops being active
* AI: Drop the SSE transport and answer over a single request
* Activity indicator: settle on the response, not on the promise
* Native windows: Remove the first-open intro modals
* Woo relations: a refund is not a purchase; user tiles: carry their key
* Settings: Redesign of this panel and regrouping
* Refresh folder share action on settings save
* Fixes: silent settings loss, folder-sharing visibility, and wallpaper shortcuts
* Dock: Move the admin bar’s jobs into the dock and a notch
* Trash: Drop the desktop icon, and let a placeable tile choose its rail
#### 1.0.1
* AI: the assistant answers over a single request again; live progress streaming
is gone
* Tile contrast, comments-window styling, Overview clicks, and preview refreshes
* Always show the Agents section in WP Explorer
* Windows: Preserve fullscreen state after leaving Overview
* Decode HTML entities in plugin install toast
* Settle a pending Overview exit before re-entering
* AI: surface an empty final answer as an error instead of a silent success
* Experimental: Set OpenStation windows free into real OS windows (Electron adapter)
#### 1.0.0
* Desktop Mode is now OpenStation — new name, new look, same plugin. Settings,
files, sessions and desktop layouts carry over untouched.
* The site folder is now WP Explorer, and OS Settings is now OpenStation Preferences.
* A new palette and typography, with four wallpapers: Galaxy (the new default),
Space, Holomesh and Pulsemesh.
* Desktop Mode (Legacy) — a built-in desktop theme that puts the previous look
back in one click, WordPress blue included.
* Mio — a soft-body desk companion that drifts across the wallpaper and gets pushed
around by your windows. Off by default; turn it on from the dock.
* Holographic controls, a new Switch component, and a searchable Components tab
in OpenStation Preferences.
* Multi-select everywhere: click, Ctrl-click, Shift-click, marquee and Cmd+A, with
WordPress’s own bulk actions and multi-item drag.
* Custom post types now appear in WP Explorer, grouped by the plugin or theme that
registered them.
* Post tiles show their featured image instead of a generic icon.
* WooCommerce — Orders, Products, Coupons and Customers as browsable folders, with
stock and sale ribbons, customer lifetime spend, and coupon redemption views.
* The editor’s preview companion follows your typing in the classic editor too,
and opens straight away instead of waiting on a save.
* Many fixes: Media Library uploads, context menus near the screen edge, Quick
Edit after list refreshes, revisions opening in-window, window state across refreshes.
* The portal URL moved from `/desktop-mode/` to `/openstation/`. Reinstall the
app if you added OpenStation to your home screen.
* For plugin authors: `wp.desktop` is now `wp.os`, `` components are ``, PHP functions and hooks use the `openstation_` prefix, and activity channels
moved to `os/`. Stored data — options, meta, custom tables, REST namespaces
and the WordPress.org slug — is unchanged.
#### 0.9.8
* Desktop Themes — uploadable ZIP theme system
* Drafts widget with an AI writing assistant, window corner-radius setting, live
split-view editor preview
* AI Agents framework: agents as WordPress users, abilities runner, chat with persisted
conversations
* Redesigned two-pane Comments window, Aero Peek dock previews, window reveal animations
* Security: closed privilege-escalation and session-bypass paths; strict structured-
output schemas at the provider boundary
* Many smaller fixes and polish
Earlier releases are on the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/WordPress/openstation/releases).
## Mèta
* Version **1.1.0**
* Last updated **20 oras ago**
* Active installations **2 000+**
* WordPress version ** 6.0 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.0.4**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Languages
* [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/), [Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/)
e .[Turkish](https://tr.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/desktop-mode)
* Tags
* [admin](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/admin/)[AI](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/ai/)
[dashboard](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/dashboard/)[desktop](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/desktop/)
[productivity](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/productivity/)
* [Advanced View](https://oci.wordpress.org/plugins/desktop-mode/advanced/)
## Ratings
5 out of 5 stars.
* [ 20 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/?filter=1)
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Daniel López Sánchez ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/allterraindeveloper/)
* [ Automattic ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/automattic/)
* [ Roberto Aranda ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/epeicher/)
* [ Miguel Torres ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmtr86/)
* [ Nick Hamze ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nickhamze/)
## Support
Issues resolved in last two months:
1 out of 2
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/desktop-mode/)