Many WordPress users don't care much about having an admin theme because they see it as unnecessary. However those developing sites for clients or with multiple users, will find these themes as a great way to add a custom touch and branding to the site. Here's a look at some of the best free admin themes and plugins for WordPress.

<h2>Are WordPress Admin Themes just Admin Color Schemes?</h2>

A WordPress admin theme isn't a color scheme. With a color scheme, a user can log in and change the color of the admin area through their profile page. However, they cannot change the spacing, height, width or padding of the WordPress admin UI.

With a WordPress admin theme, you will be able to change the width, margin, borders and padding of the WordPress admin area. They come in many different styles and you can change the appearance of elements, such as links, buttons, menus and typography. 

All admin themes will need to be installed like plugins. Here are a few of the best choices.

<h2>White Label CMS</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WhiteLabelCMS.png" alt="White Label CMS" width="749" height="228" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8249" />

Even though it's not an admin theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/white-label-cms/">White Label CMS</a> will allow you to rebrand and customize the WordPress admin area. You will be able to remove WordPress logos and make many other changes to fit your specific needs. This is a great choice for those developing websites for clients.

<h2>Blue Admin</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BlueAdmin.png" alt="Blue Admin" width="765" height="243" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8250" />

When you install and activate <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/blue-admin/">Blue Admin</a> you will be given a simple admin theme for WordPress. It uses blue as the primary color and will change the admin bar on the right to white. Many consider this to be one of the best choices for a simple customization to the admin area in WordPress.

<h2>Tamed Admin Theme</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TamedAdminTheme.png" alt="Tamed Admin Theme" width="647" height="246" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8251" />

Making things very simple, the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/tamed-admin-theme/">Tamed Admin Theme</a> makes the WordPress admin area simple. It's a minimalistic theme and provides a calmer and soothing set of colors. You will still maintain a very clean look and it will be very familiar to any WordPress user.

<h2>Admin Color Schemer</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AdminColorSchemer.png" alt="Admin Color Schemer" width="559" height="243" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8252" />

Another plugin that isn't an actual admin theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-color-schemer/">Admin Color Schemer</a> allows for the color scheme to be changed in WordPress. You can use an unlimited number of color combinations to set up the admin area with this plugin.

<h2>Fancy Admin UI</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FancyAdminUI.png" alt="Fancy Admin UI" width="754" height="232" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8253" />

This WordPress admin theme will provide a blue top admin bar with soft gray menus.  <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/fancy-admin-ui/">Fancy Admin UI</a> allow for the changing of the colors and provides a very clean look right out of the box.

<h2>Slate Admin Theme</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SlateAdminTheme.png" alt="Slate Admin Theme" width="739" height="227" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8254" />

The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/slate-admin-theme/">Slate Admin Theme</a> plugin will allow you to use a clean looking and very simple WordPress admin area. It takes the visual design and makes it very simple for content writing. This may be the best choices on the list for bloggers or those doing a large amount of content creation for their website.

These are some of the top choices when it comes to admin themes for WordPress. All you have to do is install and activate most of them, but you can make some changes with some of these choices, as well.
