Creating Custom Dashboards for WordPress Admins with React

The traditional WordPress admin dashboard serves a broad range of users, but it’s not always ideal for specific workflows. Whether you’re building a site for editors, marketers, or store managers, the native interface can sometimes feel overwhelming or cluttered.

That’s where custom dashboards come in.

With React, the JavaScript library that powers the Gutenberg editor, you can build fast, modular, and interactive admin interfaces tailored to your users’ exact needs. React integrates seamlessly with WordPress and allows developers to craft modern UIs while still leveraging the platform’s powerful backend.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of creating a custom WordPress admin dashboard using React, from basic setup to advanced integration and best practices.

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What Is React?

React is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook for building user interfaces. It’s fast, component-based, and perfect for building interactive admin dashboards that feel like native apps.

Why Use React in WordPress?

WordPress already uses React in the Gutenberg block editor, so it’s well-suited for backend UIs too. Benefits include:

• Better performance with virtual DOM
• Cleaner UI logic with components
• Easier state management and dynamic behavior

How Does React Fit Into wp-admin?

In WordPress, you can:

• Register a custom admin page using add_menu_page()
• Load your React app by enqueueing a compiled JavaScript file
• Use REST API or GraphQL to fetch data

This lets you embed React-powered interfaces directly inside the admin.

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Setting Up a React App with Webpack

Use a custom Webpack config or create-react-app (ejected or customized) to build your app.

Your folder structure might look like:

my-plugin/
├── admin/
│   ├── build/
│   ├── src/
│   └── index.js
├── my-plugin.php

Compile your React code into /admin/build/ and enqueue it in WordPress.

Registering a Custom Admin Page

In your plugin’s PHP file:

add_action('admin_menu', 'my_plugin_register_admin_page');

function my_plugin_register_admin_page() {
    add_menu_page(
        'Custom Dashboard',
        'Dashboard',
        'manage_options',
        'my-react-dashboard',
        'my_plugin_render_admin_page',
        'dashicons-admin-generic',
        3
    );
}

function my_plugin_render_admin_page() {
    echo '<div id="my-dashboard-root"></div>';
}

Enqueuing React in Admin

add_action('admin_enqueue_scripts', 'my_plugin_enqueue_admin_scripts');

function my_plugin_enqueue_admin_scripts($hook) {
    if ($hook !== 'toplevel_page_my-react-dashboard') return;

    wp_enqueue_script(
        'my-react-dashboard',
        plugin_dir_url(__FILE__) . 'admin/build/index.js',
        ['wp-element'], // if using wp.element / React from WordPress
        filemtime(plugin_dir_path(__FILE__) . 'admin/build/index.js'),
        true
    );
}

Fetching Data with REST or GraphQL

Your React component can call the WordPress REST API:

useEffect(() => {
  fetch('/wp-json/wp/v2/posts')
    .then(res => res.json())
    .then(data => setPosts(data));
}, []);

Or with GraphQL (if using WPGraphQL):

const query = `
  query {
    posts {
      nodes {
        title
        date
      }
    }
  }
`;

fetch('/graphql', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ query }),
})
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => setPosts(data.data.posts.nodes));

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Sample React Component

import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';

function Dashboard() {
  const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('/wp-json/wp/v2/posts')
      .then((res) => res.json())
      .then((data) => setPosts(data));
  }, []);

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Latest Posts</h2>
      <ul>
        {posts.map(post => (
          <li key={post.id}>{post.title.rendered}</li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  );
}

export default Dashboard;

Render this component into the WordPress dashboard container:

import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client';
import Dashboard from './Dashboard';

const root = createRoot(document.getElementById('my-dashboard-root'));
root.render(<Dashboard />);

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Best Practices

✅ Use Nonces for Secure Requests

Always include and verify WordPress nonces when sending data via API.

✅ Scope Your Assets

Only load your JavaScript and styles when the specific dashboard page is being viewed.

✅ Keep Components Modular

Break your dashboard into reusable components for maintainability.

✅ Use Lazy Loading

Load expensive components only when needed to improve performance.

✅ Use WordPress APIs

Where possible, use WordPress’s built-in REST API or GraphQL layer rather than creating your own endpoints.

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Conclusion

Creating a custom admin dashboard in WordPress with React empowers developers to craft UIs tailored to specific users and workflows. You get:

• A clean, modern interface
• Faster and more focused admin experiences
• Scalability for complex business logic

Whether you’re managing content-heavy sites, eCommerce stores, or internal tools, React-based dashboards bring the flexibility and performance today’s users expect.

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🚀 How Sitebox Makes React Dashboards Easy

Sitebox streamlines the process of building custom WordPress dashboards with React:

• Preconfigured React + WordPress environments
• Hot-reloading development mode for admin UIs
• Built-in GraphQL and REST integration
• Secure and scalable deploy previews

With Sitebox, developers can focus on the UX and logic—not the setup. From local dev to production deployment, custom dashboards are faster to build, test, and launch.

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Ready to level up your WordPress admin experience? Start building with React and let Sitebox handle the heavy lifting.