Have you noticed the new WordPress ‘Screen Options’ button on the dashboard of your blog?
At first, it wasn’t very noticeable to me, but I now find myself using it everyday because it has some great features.
Where can I find the ‘Screen Options’ button?
You’ll find the ‘Screen Options‘ button in the top righthand corner of your screen when viewing ‘Posts,’ ‘Pages’, ‘Media’ or ‘Comments’ on the dashboard of your blog. Please note that It doesn’t yet seem to be available on the WordPress App.
I am able to see the button when using WordPress on my desktop computer, laptop, iPad and iPhone using Safari and Chrome.
What does the ‘Screen Options’ button do?
It’s a quick way to switch between the new WordPress ‘Default’ view and the old ‘Classic’ view of your blog’s dashboard.
Clicking on the button gives users two choices when viewing information on the ‘Posts’, ‘Pages’ and ‘Comments’ section on their blog’s dashboard.
‘Default’ view is the one I’ve been using for the last couple of months. Here are two screenshots of what my blog’s ‘posts’ page looks like with the ‘Default’ view and the ‘Classic’ view.
Many users may recognise the old-style ‘Classic’ view. However, did you know that it now contains more options? Clicking on the ‘Screen Options’ button again will disclose the options. I’ve highlighted some of them on the following image.
Not only can you choose which columns to display under ‘posts,’ but you can also choose how many of your posts you want to see on the dashboard.
If you make any chances, click the ‘Apply’ button to save them.
What does the ‘view mode’ option do?
Changing the ‘view mode’ option to ‘Extended view’ will show a little more information under your posts.
In my case, I was able to see the excerpt for each of my posts.
Reminder – click the ‘Apply’ button if you make any changes.
The ‘Classic’ view also has a gateway to the old Classic editor, where you can draft new blog posts. However, WordPress may remove this at any time.
Struggling with spam? Use the Classic option
As I use the Block editor, I use the ‘Default’ version. However, I use the ‘Classic’ option for specific functions that the ‘Default’ option doesn’t yet do. For example, I use the ‘Classic’ option for deleting all spam from my WordPress spam folder with just one click.
Don’t allow spam to cause you any problems or to allow you to make any harsh decisions. It can easily be dealt with.
Although the ‘Default’ option offers an option to bulk delete spam, you can only delete 20 spam comments at any one time.
So using the ‘Classic’ option helps save me time when dealing with hundreds of spam comments daily.
I’ve not yet discovered a way of marking comments that end up in the spam folder by mistake as genuine (not spam) in the ‘Default’ version. So, again, I use the ‘Classic’ version for performing this task.
While using ‘Classic’ view, if at any time you want to go back to using the new ‘Default’ (WordPress.com view) option, click the button.
The ‘Screen Options’ function may only be available with specific WordPress plans.
Let’s wrap it up
- The new ‘Screen Options’ button can be found on the ‘Posts,’ ‘Pages’, ‘Media’ and ‘Comments’ pages of the dashboard of your WordPress blog.
- ‘Classic’ view option has more options when viewing posts and comments.
- Delete spam with one click when using ‘Classic’ view.
- ‘Default’ view only allows bulk action (20 comments) when deleting spam.
- Works on desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones.
- Does not work via the WordPress app.
Have you been using the new ‘Screen Options’ button? Have I missed out anything you’ve discovered it does? If you have any questions about the ‘Screen Options’ button leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Click the ‘Diversity with a Twist’ image to check out my latest post over on my column at the Carrot Ranch
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Hugh's Views & News 
Noticed WordPress new screen options. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome.
Hi Hugh,
You are right! There are many new options. Thanks for letting us know.
Your post won the Inspire Me Monday Linky Party. You will be featured on my site tomorrow. Congratulations!
Janice
Thanks for the great news, Janice.
Have a lovely week.
I will have to check my site to see if this is available, although when having a quick check I did not see this. It will be interesting to see if I can find it. Thanks anyway for all the tips, and again it is so useful to learn all these new additions. Thanks for sharing it at SeniorSalon weekly linkup
I’m not sure how this works with self-hosted blogs, Esmé. However, there may be a plugin you can install to get the screen options button.
I will check it out Hugh, thanks so much.
As another superb lesson gets pinned another piece oh dear Hugh disappears😉😍 Thank you again.
Another excellent tutorial Hugh xx
Thanks Hugh and very useful and clear information that I am sure many may have missed. I have shared in the blogger daily later today.. hugsx
Hi Sally. Thanks so much for sharing this post in your upcoming Blogger Daily. I hope the post goes on to help many others.
I am sure it will Hugh, very helpful especially as it seems those who are self-hosted are having problems keeping up with WP changes to the block editor. xx
My tutorials are more for those on WordPress.Com rather than self-hosted blogs, Sally. I’ve been tempted to go self-hosted but never made the leap. I’m happier knowing I have good support at the end of the line when I need it. But it’s good to hear that WordPress are making improvements and changes to the block editor for self-hosters too. They shouldn’t be left out. WordPress is certainly making lots of improvements to the Block editor on the WordPress.com platform. Far better than it was when it was first launched (when I disliked it). Thanks again for adding my post to the Blogger Daily feature. I’ve lots more of these tutorials lined up.
Great Hugh and I know that they are extremely useful for a great many… enjoy the rest of the week..hugsxx
When my brain is a bit less scrambled than it is now I think this will be very helpful, Hugh. However, when I first saw the title I thought it was going to be WP adding buttons such as ‘Don’tLike’ as many of my followers have not wanted to ‘Like’ a post but wanted to show they read it 🙂
There is a rating button for blog posts where people can vote the post down, but I’ve never seen the point of it, Mary. It’s a little like not writing a one-star review for a book. I could never do that to any writer. There was talk of Twitter adding a ‘don’t like’ button, but I think they decided against it.
I think Facebook do better buttons 🙂
Thanks for the explanation of the different options, Hugh. I appreciate the tip about deleting spam especially. I’ve found deleting only 20 spam messages at a time to be frustrating. Now I know how to make it easier.
Yes, unless you have less than 20 spam comments, the bulk action button isn’t much good, Norah. Thank goodness the ‘Classic option includes the ‘Delete spam’ button that deletes all spam in one go.
I was surprised when that option no longer existed. Why take away something that works efficiently?
The Classic view has always been available, Norah. So the ‘Delete Spam’ button has always been there. I wouldn’t be surprised if WordPress move it over to the ‘Default’ view. From what I’ve seen in the forums, it’s something users want to keep.
I just stuck with the new view and haven’t gone backwards and forwards, Hugh. That’s why I’m grateful to you for pointing it out.
Ahh, okay, that’s good to know, Norah. I’m glad you’re using the newer view and are not getting left behind by only using the old Classic dashboard.
Thats very interesting! Thank you for sharing, Hugh! Best wishes, Michael
You’re welcome, Michael. And thank you so much for sharing and reblogging the post with your readers.
Have a great day.
Thank you as well, Hugh! You are very kind providing so useful information, for a better understanding of this software. Have a great day as well, and enjoy a beautiful week! xx Michael
Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet and commented:
Best to Check this out!!!!!
Thanks Hugh, I’ve re-blogged this.
Stevie, thanks so much for reblogging and sharing this post about the new screen options button with your readers. It’s a great little feature that I’m sure many will find useful when switching between the two options it offers.
I hadn’t even noticed it!
I only came across it quite by chance about a month ago. They sneaked it in without saying anything (unless I missed the announcement).
I can’t find my spam folder anymore. Where do you go to see yours?
In the ‘Default’ view, it’s in the first box – All – Pending – Approved – Spam – Trash
In the ‘Classic’ view, it’s on the line under Comments – All – Mine – Pending – Approved – Spam – Trash
You’ll see it on the screenshots in my post. I hope that helps?
Ah thanks. It used to be in a category entitled ‘Admin’ but I don’t seem to have that anymore.
WordPress removed the WP Admin button some time ago. Just about everything that used to be under that button has now been moved to the new dashboard.
Thanks Hugh.
Reblogged this on Stevie Turner and commented:
Thanks to Hugh’s Views & News for this info regarding the new WordPress ‘Screen Option’s button. I must admit, I hadn’t even noticed this button!
I had discovered it accidentally but with your post, it makes so much more sense now. Thanks, Hugh.
I’m glad this post has helped. The screen options button is a great little feature that WordPress doesn’t seem to be shouting much about to its users.
I agree. I just used it to change the look and feel of my blog. Thank you again so much.
I was going potty in the default version trying to find and old image in my media library. I knew it was there because I could see it in a post back in 2015 but the only way to retrieve it would have been to manually scroll back through from today in the media library. I asked the happiness engineer who introduced me to screen options and the access to classic editor. Bingo I can search by date – this applies to old posts too. And there was my picture that I could include in my post.
Well done Hugh. Great bit of education.
I tend to use the search bar in the media library when looking for certain photos and images. And I use the search bar on my own blog when looking for certain posts. However, thanks for mentioning the Media library, Geoff, as it wasn’t something I checked if the screen options button was on (I’ve updated this post). I see it has lots of options too.
Really helpful and informative. Beautifully presented with detailed and exact information. Thankyou so much for this great share it is going to help me and other bloggers like me 🙂
I’m glad to hear it and thank you for the great feedback.
Again, you have the coolest tips, Hugh. I did not notice at all. But I just emptied my spam folder with one click. Thank you so much for that.
Good to hear, Erika. That one click of emptying everything in the spam folder is handy.
It is awesome! Again, thank you so much, that was a huge help!
Can’t wait to try this out! I can’t believe WordPress hasn’t hired you on as a consultant. Your help is so much easier to follow than theirs.
Thank you, Jan. I enjoy testing all these options out and sharing the findings with you all.
Thanks for the update, Hugh. I think I blog by rote these days never taking the time to investigate new bells and whistles. I appreciate your detailed look into the new features.
You’re welcome, Maggie. You just never know when you might need to use these new features. If you do, you’ll know how this one works.
I had noticed the search box. But didn’t fully use it. Thank you for explaining how you switch between the two to gets task done; that is really helpful.
I really feel wordpress are really enhancing wordpress and it is great stuff.
Thank you for a great post as always
Yes, I agree, Bella. WordPress seems to be adding lots of new features and making it an even better place to blog. I think an overhaul of the dashboard was well overdue. It’s nice to see the changes they are making. I’m sure they still have lots to do.
Yes lots for them to do.
I saw some of these features, I may have gotten an email from WordPress unless I dreamed it, Hugh 🙂 This is very helpful. For some reason, I prefer the classic view of the dashboard probably from when I self-hosted in 2016. When it appeared to go away, I was a little annoyed but was learning to adjust. Such a great help with this detail. For some bloggers this detail could make or break their love of blogging!
At first, I stuck more with the ‘Classic’ view, but now I find myself using the ‘Default’ option more, Terri. It’s a great new tool for switching between both options, especially as you no longer have to keep going to your blog’s ‘Account Settings’ page to switch between them both. The ‘Classic’ version is best for dealing with spam, but the ‘Default’ version offers some extra options for Posts and Pages not on the ‘Classic’ version. It’s definitely worth exploring them and switching between them both if you find you like them both.
I asked WordPress if they were keeping the ‘Classic’ view option, but they wouldn’t commit to an answer. In the back of my mind, I keep remembering the announcement they made at the end of 2019 that said by the end of 2022, they would cease supporting the Classic editor.
I’ve just recently discovered the screen options, Hugh, and haven’t yet realised all the features, so thanks for this!
You’re welcome, Cathy. I should have mentioned in the post that the ‘Default’ view offers more options to users on Posts and Pages. It’s worth checking them out.
I hadn’t spotted that button but I’ve now checked it out thanks to your post. However it doesn’t give me the option of the ‘default view’, I only see the classic one. But I can choose the columns for my posts list and can opt for the extended view. Would mine be different because I have a self-hosted .org blog?
Yes, if your blog is self-hosted, these options may not all be available to you. However, if you want the ‘Default’ view, there may be a plugin available for it. If not, I’m sure WordPress is working on one.
I’ll look out for something on those lines – thanks Hugh 🙂
You’re welcome, Sarah.
I hadn’t noticed this option – I’ve been using the classic view without really knowing there was anything else available. Not sure at the moment whether I want to change to the default view but I’ll test it out for a while before making a decision.
It took me a few weeks to get used to the ‘Default’ view, and now I’m liking it more. The ‘Default’ view has a few more features, such as sharing a post straight to social media from the ‘Posts’ page, which the Classic view doesn’t have. However, as I mentioned in the post, the ‘Classic’ view is better at dealing with spam. So the ‘Screen Options’ button is a great new tool for those wanting to use both options.
Very informative..thank you.
🙏🙏🙏
You’re welcome.
Thanks for pointing this out, Hugh. I need to look into some of these features.
I think this one went unannounced, but I like what it does, Dan. It’s an easy way to switch between the two views we currently have, although I can’t help but think that the ‘Classic’ view will one day disappear.
I’m sure. As long as they keep the good features, I wouldn’t mind. But, that’s unlike them…
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Some of us may know how to use a word processor better than most people, but we’re completely clueless when it comes to stuff like this.
You’re welcome. I enjoying testing stuff out, so when WordPress introduces something new, I’m usually on it and sharing it with you all. I didn’t see them announcing this new feature, so I was rather surprised when I saw it. Then again, I may have missed the communication from them about it.
The all-white screen hurts my light sensitive eyes, and I need that extra dark area (side bar) that is found in the classic WP pages. Every time there is a change and I see an all-white screen, I have to ask WP never to get rid of the classic. I’m happy to see they found a way to make the choice easier.