{"id":341970,"date":"2026-07-23T06:52:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T06:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T07:11:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:11:03","slug":"baxtersweb-guide-dots","status":"publish","type":"plugin","link":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/","author":20535758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"version":"1.0.1","stable_tag":"1.0.1","tested":"7.0.3","requires":"6.4","requires_php":"7.4","requires_plugins":null,"header_name":"Baxtersweb Guide Dots","header_author":"Baxter Jones","header_description":"Add contextual guide dots and guidance inside the WordPress admin for client handovers, training and future maintenance.","assets_banners_color":"6d9ac2","last_updated":"2026-08-05 07:11:03","external_support_url":"","external_repository_url":"","donate_link":"","header_plugin_uri":"","header_author_uri":"https:\/\/baxtersweb.com\/","rating":0,"author_block_rating":0,"active_installs":10,"downloads":160,"num_ratings":0,"support_threads":0,"support_threads_resolved":0,"author_block_count":0,"sections":["description","installation","faq","changelog"],"tags":{"1.0.0":{"tag":"1.0.0","author":"baxterjones","date":"2026-07-23 06:52:31"},"1.0.1":{"tag":"1.0.1","author":"baxterjones","date":"2026-08-05 07:11:03"}},"upgrade_notice":[],"ratings":[],"assets_icons":{"icon-192x192.png":{"filename":"icon-192x192.png","revision":3633036,"resolution":"192x192","location":"assets","locale":"","width":192,"height":192},"icon-256x256.png":{"filename":"icon-256x256.png","revision":3633036,"resolution":"256x256","location":"assets","locale":"","width":256,"height":256}},"assets_banners":{"banner-1544-500.png":{"filename":"banner-1544-500.png","revision":3631608,"resolution":"1544x500","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1544,"height":500},"banner-772-250.png":{"filename":"banner-772-250.png","revision":3631608,"resolution":"772x250","location":"assets","locale":"","width":772,"height":250}},"assets_blueprints":{},"all_blocks":[],"tagged_versions":["1.0.0","1.0.1"],"block_files":[],"assets_screenshots":{"screenshot-1.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-1.jpg","revision":3630827,"resolution":"1","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1456,"height":815},"screenshot-2.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-2.jpg","revision":3619511,"resolution":"2","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1220,"height":858},"screenshot-3.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-3.jpg","revision":3630827,"resolution":"3","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1292,"height":771},"screenshot-4.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-4.jpg","revision":3630827,"resolution":"4","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1293,"height":638},"screenshot-5.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-5.jpg","revision":3619511,"resolution":"5","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1219,"height":859},"screenshot-6.jpg":{"filename":"screenshot-6.jpg","revision":3619511,"resolution":"6","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1381,"height":891}},"screenshots":{"1":"Guide dots placed directly on a WordPress admin screen.","2":"Adding guidance and placing a new guide dot.","3":"Managing, editing and organising guides from the Guide Dots admin area.","4":"Filter audience to reorder guides with drag and drop.","5":"Navigating through multiple guides using Previous and Next controls.","6":"Viewing all guides available on the current screen."}},"plugin_section":[],"plugin_tags":[133470,272924,12002,6941,45610],"plugin_category":[],"plugin_contributors":[271835],"plugin_business_model":[],"class_list":["post-341970","plugin","type-plugin","status-publish","hentry","plugin_tags-admin-guide","plugin_tags-client-handover","plugin_tags-contextual-help","plugin_tags-documentation","plugin_tags-onboarding","plugin_contributors-baxterjones","plugin_committers-baxterjones"],"banners":{"banner":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/banner-772-250.png?rev=3631608","banner_2x":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/banner-1544-500.png?rev=3631608","banner_rtl":false,"banner_2x_rtl":false},"icons":{"svg":false,"icon":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/icon-256x256.png?rev=3633036","icon_2x":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/icon-256x256.png?rev=3633036","generated":false},"screenshots":[{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-1.jpg?rev=3630827","caption":"Guide dots placed directly on a WordPress admin screen."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-2.jpg?rev=3619511","caption":"Adding guidance and placing a new guide dot."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-3.jpg?rev=3630827","caption":"Managing, editing and organising guides from the Guide Dots admin area."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-4.jpg?rev=3630827","caption":"Filter audience to reorder guides with drag and drop."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-5.jpg?rev=3619511","caption":"Navigating through multiple guides using Previous and Next controls."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/assets\/screenshot-6.jpg?rev=3619511","caption":"Viewing all guides available on the current screen."}],"raw_content":"<!--section=description-->\n<p>Baxtersweb Guide Dots helps agencies, developers and site owners document a WordPress website where the work actually happens: inside the admin area.<\/p>\n\n<p>Place visual guide dots beside custom fields, settings and editing controls. Selecting a dot opens the guidance attached to that position, so clients and editors can find instructions without searching through handover PDFs, emails or external documentation.<\/p>\n\n<p>Guide Dots is built for contextual WordPress admin guidance. It does not add anything to the public website frontend.<\/p>\n\n<h4>\ud83d\udccd Place guidance on the relevant admin screen<\/h4>\n\n<p>Create a guide from any WordPress admin screen, enter a short instruction, choose its audience and double-click where the dot should appear.<\/p>\n\n<p>Use guide dots to:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Explain how a custom field should be completed.<\/li>\n<li>Document an unfamiliar plugin setting.<\/li>\n<li>Guide a client through an editing process.<\/li>\n<li>Record website-specific maintenance instructions.<\/li>\n<li>Leave technical notes for future developers.<\/li>\n<li>Remind administrators about an important workflow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Guide positions are stored against the relevant admin screen, keeping each instruction connected to the interface it describes.<\/p>\n\n<h4>\ud83d\udc65 Organise guidance by audience<\/h4>\n\n<p>Group guides into audiences such as Client, Editor or Developer. Each audience has its own name and identifying colour.<\/p>\n\n<p>The plugin includes three starting audiences:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Client<\/li>\n<li>Editor<\/li>\n<li>Developer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Additional audiences can be created when a guide is added. This makes it possible to separate simple editing instructions from technical or internal documentation.<\/p>\n\n<p>Audiences organise guidance by purpose. They do not replace WordPress user roles or automatically restrict guides to particular accounts.<\/p>\n\n<h4>\ud83e\udded Create guided handover tours<\/h4>\n\n<p>Guides within an audience can be ordered into a structured tour, even when the steps appear across different WordPress admin screens.<\/p>\n\n<p>Users can move through the sequence with Previous and Next controls. Guide Dots opens the relevant admin screen and brings the active guide into view as the tour progresses.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Guide Manager provides a shareable tour link for each audience. Tour links open the guides in view-only mode, preventing recipients from editing or deleting guidance while following the sequence.<\/p>\n\n<p>Recipients must still be logged into WordPress and have access to the admin screens included in the tour.<\/p>\n\n<h4>\ud83d\uddc2 Manage guidance in one place<\/h4>\n\n<p>The Guide Manager is available under Tools &gt; Guide Dots.<\/p>\n\n<p>From the manager you can:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>View guides from across the WordPress admin.<\/li>\n<li>Filter guides by audience.<\/li>\n<li>Open or edit a guide on its original admin screen.<\/li>\n<li>Reorder guides when a single audience is selected.<\/li>\n<li>Start or share a guided tour.<\/li>\n<li>Delete individual guides or use bulk deletion.<\/li>\n<li>Choose whether plugin data should be removed on uninstall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>A screen summary also lists all guides available on the admin screen currently being viewed.<\/p>\n\n<h4>\ud83d\udc41 Show or hide guides when needed<\/h4>\n\n<p>Guide dots can be temporarily hidden from the WordPress admin bar without deleting their content.<\/p>\n\n<p>The visibility choice is stored separately for each WordPress user. Hiding guides for one administrator does not hide them for everyone else.<\/p>\n\n<h4>Suitable for<\/h4>\n\n<p>Guide Dots is particularly useful for:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Client website handovers.<\/li>\n<li>Custom WordPress builds.<\/li>\n<li>Agency and freelance development workflows.<\/li>\n<li>Content editor training.<\/li>\n<li>Internal website documentation.<\/li>\n<li>Ongoing website maintenance.<\/li>\n<li>Explaining ACF fields and custom admin interfaces.<\/li>\n<li>Recording technical implementation notes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4>Key features<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Place contextual guide dots on WordPress admin screens.<\/li>\n<li>Add plain-text instructions with line breaks.<\/li>\n<li>Create separate, colour-coded audiences.<\/li>\n<li>Add multiple guides to the same admin screen.<\/li>\n<li>View a summary of guides available on the current screen.<\/li>\n<li>Navigate ordered guides with Previous and Next controls.<\/li>\n<li>Build tours that continue across different admin screens.<\/li>\n<li>Reorder guides within a selected audience.<\/li>\n<li>Generate shareable, view-only guided-tour links.<\/li>\n<li>Edit and reposition existing guide dots.<\/li>\n<li>Temporarily hide guides for the current user.<\/li>\n<li>Manage and bulk-delete guides from one admin area.<\/li>\n<li>Retain plugin data by default when uninstalling.<\/li>\n<li>Run entirely inside the WordPress admin area.<\/li>\n<li>Require no additional plugin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4>What Guide Dots does not do<\/h4>\n\n<p>Guide Dots is deliberately focused on contextual guidance inside WordPress admin.<\/p>\n\n<p>It does not:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Display guides on the public website frontend.<\/li>\n<li>Create public product tours or marketing walkthroughs.<\/li>\n<li>Replace WordPress roles or access permissions.<\/li>\n<li>Automatically show different audiences to different user roles.<\/li>\n<li>Provide a learning management system.<\/li>\n<li>Replace broader project documentation where long-form reference material is still useful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Guide Dots works best for concise instructions that relate to a specific admin screen, setting or workflow.<\/p>\n\n<h4>Documentation and support<\/h4>\n\n<p>Documentation:\nhttps:\/\/docs.baxtersweb.com\/guide-dots<\/p>\n\n<p>For support, use the public WordPress.org support forum so questions and solutions remain available to other users:\nhttps:\/\/wordpress.org\/support\/plugin\/baxtersweb-guide-dots\/<\/p>\n\n<!--section=installation-->\n<ol>\n<li>Install and activate Baxtersweb Guide Dots.<\/li>\n<li>Open the WordPress admin screen where guidance is needed.<\/li>\n<li>Select Add Guide.<\/li>\n<li>Enter the guide text and choose an audience.<\/li>\n<li>Select Pin Guide, then double-click where the dot should appear.<\/li>\n<li>Open Tools &gt; Guide Dots to manage guides, set their order or create a guided tour.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>Guide Dots requires an administrator account with the <code>manage_options<\/code> capability to create and manage guidance.<\/p>\n\n<!--section=faq-->\n<dl>\n<dt id=\"what%20is%20a%20guide%20dot%3F\"><h3>What is a guide dot?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>A guide dot is a visual marker placed on a WordPress admin screen. Selecting it opens the contextual instruction attached to that location.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"who%20is%20guide%20dots%20intended%20for%3F\"><h3>Who is Guide Dots intended for?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Guide Dots is intended for agencies, developers, designers, site administrators and anyone responsible for handing over, documenting or maintaining a WordPress website.<\/p>\n\n<p>It can also help clients and editors who need instructions while managing website content.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"where%20do%20i%20manage%20guide%20dots%3F\"><h3>Where do I manage Guide Dots?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Open Tools &gt; Guide Dots in the WordPress admin.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Guide Manager lists guides from across the admin area and provides filtering, ordering, tour and deletion controls.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20guide%20dots%20display%20anything%20on%20the%20website%20frontend%3F\"><h3>Does Guide Dots display anything on the website frontend?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Guide Dots runs only inside the WordPress admin. Website visitors do not see the dots or their guidance.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20guide%20dots%20require%20another%20plugin%3F\"><h3>Does Guide Dots require another plugin?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. It works as a standalone WordPress plugin.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"who%20can%20create%20and%20manage%20guides%3F\"><h3>Who can create and manage guides?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>The current release requires the <code>manage_options<\/code> capability, which is normally available to WordPress administrators.<\/p>\n\n<p>Other logged-in users may follow guides only when their account already has permission to access the relevant admin screens.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"are%20audiences%20connected%20to%20wordpress%20user%20roles%3F\"><h3>Are audiences connected to WordPress user roles?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Audiences are organisational groups used to label guides and build separate tours.<\/p>\n\n<p>They do not automatically restrict a Client, Editor or Developer audience to matching WordPress roles or individual users.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20i%20create%20additional%20audiences%3F\"><h3>Can I create additional audiences?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. Select the add-audience control while creating or editing a guide, then enter the new audience name. Guide Dots assigns an identifying colour automatically.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20a%20screen%20contain%20more%20than%20one%20guide%3F\"><h3>Can a screen contain more than one guide?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. Multiple guide dots can be placed on the same WordPress admin screen.<\/p>\n\n<p>The screen summary lists all guidance available there, and users can open guides individually.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20a%20guided%20tour%20continue%20across%20different%20admin%20screens%3F\"><h3>Can a guided tour continue across different admin screens?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. Ordered guides can belong to different admin screens. Selecting Next opens the screen containing the following guide and brings it into view.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"how%20do%20i%20change%20the%20order%20of%20a%20guided%20tour%3F\"><h3>How do I change the order of a guided tour?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Open Tools &gt; Guide Dots and filter the guide list to one audience. Drag the guides into the required order, then select Save order.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20i%20share%20a%20guided%20tour%20with%20a%20client%3F\"><h3>Can I share a guided tour with a client?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. The Guide Manager generates a tour link for the selected audience.<\/p>\n\n<p>The recipient must be logged into the same WordPress website and have permission to open the admin screens included in the tour. The link opens Guide Dots in view-only mode, but it does not bypass normal WordPress access controls.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20a%20shared%20tour%20link%20give%20someone%20access%20to%20my%20website%3F\"><h3>Does a shared tour link give someone access to my website?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Guide Dots does not create user accounts, log users in or grant admin permissions.<\/p>\n\n<p>The recipient needs an existing WordPress account with suitable access.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20i%20move%20a%20guide%20after%20placing%20it%3F\"><h3>Can I move a guide after placing it?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. Open the guide and select Edit Guide to update its text, audience or position.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20i%20temporarily%20hide%20all%20guide%20dots%3F\"><h3>Can I temporarily hide all guide dots?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. Use Hide Guides in the WordPress admin bar.<\/p>\n\n<p>The setting applies only to the current user and does not delete any guides.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"what%20happens%20if%20an%20admin%20screen%20changes%3F\"><h3>What happens if an admin screen changes?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Guide positions are stored as percentages of the admin page dimensions. A guide may need to be repositioned when a plugin, theme or WordPress update significantly changes the related screen layout.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"what%20happens%20if%20an%20admin%20screen%20is%20no%20longer%20available%3F\"><h3>What happens if an admin screen is no longer available?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>The Guide Manager retains the guide but marks its screen as unavailable. The guide can still be deleted from the manager.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20guide%20dots%20support%20formatted%20html%20content%3F\"><h3>Does Guide Dots support formatted HTML content?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Guide content is stored as plain text with line breaks. This keeps the guidance focused and avoids executable or complex markup inside admin popups.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"will%20guide%20dots%20replace%20a%20complete%20website%20handover%20document%3F\"><h3>Will Guide Dots replace a complete website handover document?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>It can replace many screen-specific instructions, but broader documentation may still be useful for project context, policies, credentials, hosting information or long-form reference material.<\/p>\n\n<p>Guide Dots is strongest when the instruction belongs beside a particular WordPress control or workflow.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"is%20guide%20dots%20a%20frontend%20onboarding%20or%20product-tour%20plugin%3F\"><h3>Is Guide Dots a frontend onboarding or product-tour plugin?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. It does not create public-facing walkthroughs. Guide Dots is specifically designed for guidance inside the WordPress admin.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"is%20plugin%20data%20deleted%20when%20guide%20dots%20is%20uninstalled%3F\"><h3>Is plugin data deleted when Guide Dots is uninstalled?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Guides, audiences and settings are retained by default.<\/p>\n\n<p>To remove them during uninstall, enable Delete all Guide Dots data when the plugin is uninstalled under Tools &gt; Guide Dots before deleting the plugin.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n<!--section=changelog-->\n<h4>1.0.1<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Added manual guide ordering when a single audience is filtered in the Guide Manager.<\/li>\n<li>Added an explicit Save order action and persistent tour order.<\/li>\n<li>Added native WordPress bulk deletion for selected guides.<\/li>\n<li>Remembered the last audience selected by each guide creator.<\/li>\n<li>Opened guided-tour links in view-only mode while keeping normal guide management available to authorised users.<\/li>\n<li>Added a per-user Hide Guides toggle to the WordPress admin bar.<\/li>\n<li>Removed the global Display mode setting from the Guide Manager.<\/li>\n<li>Scrolled the admin page to bring the active guide into view during tours and guide browsing.<\/li>\n<li>Improved popup positioning near the edges of the viewport.<\/li>\n<li>Fixed guide-list items not opening their selected guide.<\/li>\n<li>Fixed tours beginning on the wrong guide.<\/li>\n<li>Prevented repeated double-clicks from creating duplicate copies of the same guide.<\/li>\n<li>Improved placement feedback while a guide is being pinned.<\/li>\n<li>Updated the documentation link to the new Guide Dots documentation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4>1.0.0<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Initial release.<\/li>\n<li>Added contextual guide dots to WordPress admin screens.<\/li>\n<li>Added multiple guide audiences with identifying colours.<\/li>\n<li>Added support for multiple guides on the same admin screen.<\/li>\n<li>Added Previous and Next navigation between guides.<\/li>\n<li>Added a summary of guides available on the current screen.<\/li>\n<li>Added shared guided tours with view-only mode.<\/li>\n<li>Added guide editing, repositioning and deletion.<\/li>\n<li>Added a per-user option to hide guide dots.<\/li>\n<li>Added central guide management under Tools.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","raw_excerpt":"Add contextual guidance, training notes and client handover instructions directly inside the WordPress admin.","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin\/341970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plugin"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341970"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/baxterjones"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plugin_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_section?post=341970"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_tags?post=341970"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_category?post=341970"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_contributors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_contributors?post=341970"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_business_model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ug.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_business_model?post=341970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}