Searching with the Command Palette

The Command Palette

The main feature of Turbo Admin is the "command palette". This is a fast-action, searchable, keyboard-driven list of all/most of the things that you can do in the WordPress Dashboard.

To open the command palette you will need to use the keyboard shortcut that is set in your user profile (if you're using the WordPress plugin version of Turbo Admin) or in the browser extension settings (if you're using the extension version). By default the shortcut is Cmd-Alt-Shift-P on a Mac and Ctrl-Alt-Shift-P on Windows/Linux. It's complicated to avoid clashing with other browser or operating system keyboard shortcuts. You can set it to something simpler though.

Note: When changing settings in either version, be sure to save! The pop-up settings panel in the browser extension has a Save Settings button. Be sure to use it!

Overview of controls

Here's a quick reference/guide to how to use the command palette.

Key	Function
Shortcut keys specified in settings	Open/close command palette
Esc	Close palette or exit search mode/sub-menu
Up-arrow / Down-arrow (or use mouse)	Scroll through items
Enter (or mouse click)	Select item / take action / open sub-menu
Cmd/Ctrl + Enter (or with mouse click)	Select item / take action in new Window Note: You may need to allow your browser to open pop-ups for each site.
Tab (or colon - :)	Enters a "search mode" if you have typed a search keyword

Searching menus/commands

When the command palette opens it's in its default mode, which allows you to search through WordPress commands.

Turbo Admin gathers up all of the commands from the left-hand menu in the dashboard, adds some more for convenience, and presents them to you in a searchable list.

The up-arrow and down-arrow keys let you select items, and pressing enter selects a command. This is just the same as clicking the same item in the WordPress menu.

Depending on what you are selecting, selecting a command may:

• Open a page in the WordPress dashboard
• Open a sub-menu with more options

Opening in a new tab

You can open the selected item in a new window by holding the Cmd key in MacOS, or the Ctrl key on Windows when you select it with the mouse or enter key.

Note: Some browsers prevent scripts like Turbo Admin from opening windows in new tabs like this, so the first time you do this on a site you may be prompted for permission.

Closing the palette

You can close the palette with the Esc key or using the same keyboard shortcut you used to open it, or by clicking your mouse outside of it.

In "search modes" or sub-menus (read on for more!) the Esc key takes you out of the current mode to where you were before.

Sub-menus

Some types of item have sub-menus with further options. For example, a content item like a post has options to view, edit or copy the link to the clipboard.

Press esc to close a sub-menu and return to where you were before.

Search modes and keywords

Turbo Admin has a number of "search modes" that allow you to search and quickly access content on your site.

Search modes are activated by typing in a "keyword" and then pressing either the tab key or the colon (:) key.

You will be shown when you have typed a complete keyword and a search mode is available.

When you enter a search mode (with the tab or colon key) the palette will display what you are searching.

Don't forget you can press escape to return to the main command palette.

Available search modes

The following search modes are available:

Keyword(s)	Search mode	Description
id	Post ID search	Search for any post ID of any post type. This search only works with numbers. Due to API restrictions, this search mode does not display any further information about the post when it is found.
find / search	All post types search	Search for posts of any post type.
<any post type> e.g. "post", "page", etc	Post Type search	Search any public post type using a string. This makes use of the standard WordPress search API. These keywords are dynamically generated based on the post types registered on the current site.
user	User search	Search WordPress users.
plugin	Plugin search	Search plugins. Gives you a sub-menu with various actions you can take.
order	WooCommerce Order Search	Search WooCommerce orders. This can be done with a string or a number. If a number is used then we quickly retrieve that order number. String search is slower. Only works if WooCommerce is installed.
customer	WooCommerce Customer Search	Search WooCommerce customers using a string. Only works if WooCommerce is installed.
form	Gravity Forms form search	Search Gravity Forms forms. Gives you a sub-menu with various action you can take. Only works if Gravity Forms is installed.
site	Multi-site site search	Searches for sites in the multi-site site menu. Only works in WordPress Multi-Site.