OmniBar
A unified search and navigation bar for WordPress.com — one input to find anything, go anywhere, and take action across the entire platform.
The challenge
WordPress.com's interface had grown to include hundreds of settings, pages, and tools spread across multiple navigation layers. Users — especially power users managing multiple sites — needed a faster way to find things, navigate, and take action without digging through menus.
The approach
I designed the OmniBar as a single, universal entry point: type to search content, navigate to any page, or trigger actions directly. The interaction model draws from command palettes in code editors — fast, keyboard-first, but equally accessible via mouse. The bar surfaces contextual suggestions based on where the user is and what they've done recently.
Key decisions
The ranking algorithm blends recency, frequency, and context to surface the most relevant results first. We designed a type-ahead system that distinguishes between content search, navigation, and commands through subtle visual cues rather than explicit mode switching. The OmniBar needed to work across every WordPress.com surface — dashboard, editor, reader — with consistent behavior but contextual awareness.