Ad Inserter
94Manage Google AdSense ads, banners, ad rotation, sticky widgets, AMP ads, ads.txt, tracking, header and footer...
Free
300k+ installs 4.9★ (2,428)
Selfish Fresh Start
Built to run on EVERY WordPress install, selfish fresh start removes unneeded admin and html meta clutter.
The facts
- Rating
- 4★ from 5
- Active installs
- 30+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 20 Aug 2026
- Added
- Sep 2011
- Requires WP
- 7.0
- Tested up to
- WP 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 7.4
- Downloads
- 8,817
Our analysis
AI-assistedSelfish Fresh Start is a WordPress plugin designed to streamline and clean up the WordPress dashboard by removing unnecessary elements. It eliminates dashboard widgets, metaboxes, and various header tags that are typically not used on most sites, providing a cleaner starting point for users.
The plugin operates without any configuration needed; once activated, it automatically performs its functions. It is suitable for users who want a simplified admin interface and helps prevent clients from accessing certain settings that could lead to issues.
Best for: This plugin is best for WordPress site owners looking for a simplified admin experience.
What it does well
- ✓Removes unneeded dashboard widgets and metaboxes
- ✓Cleans up header tags and settings
- ✓No configuration required upon activation
- ✓Helps keep clients out of file editors
- ✓Generalized for safe use on any WordPress site
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on additional features or customisation options
Verdict
Selfish Fresh Start provides a straightforward solution for cleaning up the WordPress dashboard, making it a useful tool for those wanting to streamline their admin interface.
From the developer
Chuck Reynolds's own description of Selfish Fresh Start, lightly tidied.
This plugin strips out the dashboard widgets, metaboxes, header tags and default settings that most WordPress sites never use. It fixes curly quotes and other mangled characters pasted in from Word, checks for and removes Hello Dolly, hides update notices from users who cannot act on them, stops your site pinging itself, and locks down the built-in file editors.
There is nothing to configure. Activate it and it works. It is deliberately generalized so it is safe to drop onto any WordPress site as a clean starting point, and it helps keep clients out of the plugin and theme file editors.
Current Operations
- Removed: clean up unneeded header tags including:
- rsd links
- wordpress generator
- shortlink in head and the shortlink HTTP header
- core: quick draft / your recent drafts
- core: wordpress events and news
- core: the welcome panel
- plugin: yoast seo posts overview
- plugin: the events calendar news
- plugin: all in one seo news
- trackbacks
- comments box
- discussion box
Additional Functionality
- Emojis scripts and support removal? I almost included it in this plugin but just use this plugin: Disable Emojis
- Want to remove the Tools Menu? There’s a plugin for that: Remove Tools Menu
- Want the post/page slug visible in the admin list? Admin Slug Column
- Want the posts list to default to Published instead of All? Filter Admin Published Default
Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue: GitHub Issues
* Built in Chandler AZ, Updated in San Francisco, CA. I always used a lot of these functions on every site to help clean up the admin stuff and do some basic settings and based on some twitter replies others wanted this too as a public plugin. So… here we go. Bugs and ideas go here: GitHub Issues
Tagged as
Alternatives
Other plugins for custom content structures.
ACF helps customize WordPress with powerful, professional and intuitive fields. Proudly powering over 2 millio...
Free
2M+ installs 4.5★ (1,438)
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce – The best WooCommerce checkout manager plugin to man...
Free
400k+ installs 4.9★ (1,056)
Easily reorder posts, pages, custom post types, and taxonomies with intuitive drag-and-drop sorting in the Wor...
Free
300k+ installs 4.8★ (569)
The #1 user-rated activity log plugin for event logging, activity monitoring and change tracking.
Free
300k+ installs 4.7★ (488)
Admin UI for creating custom content types like post types and taxonomies
Free
1M+ installs 4.6★ (276)