Title: broken admin bar Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # broken admin bar * [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/) * Hi. * site: [http://www.budestrings.co.uk](http://www.budestrings.co.uk) * when i am logged into admin the site displays normally, but when viewing the site without logging in, the admin bar appears as an unstyled list behind the page content – see screenshot [http://s1138.photobucket.com/albums/n540/janimalism/?action=view¤t=scrshot.jpg](http://s1138.photobucket.com/albums/n540/janimalism/?action=view¤t=scrshot.jpg) * i have tried disabling plugins, i have also changed themes – this removes the problem, but when i reinstall the theme i want the problem returns. * i have also tried hiding the admin bar by means of a plugin – this makes no difference either. * any help please? Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 24 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/page/2/?output_format=md) * [David Gwyer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dgwyer/) * (@dgwyer) * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2027957) * Sounds like the problem is with the theme you are using. You might want to try and find out if it is compatible with WordPress 3.1. * Thread Starter [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2027965) * it did seem to be laright for the first week or so of editing the site and adding plugins. the problem pretty much occured overnight, so maybe there is a problem with the css import rules? * Thread Starter [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028092) * anyone else?? * [Kristy LaPorte](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kristy-laporte/) * (@kristy-laporte) * [15 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028169) * Oh, I just solved this problem on a site I’m working on too. * There’s a “hook” that you need to have in your header.php file. Make sure you’re not missing it. Add this code JUST BEFORE your `` tag. * ``` * tag of your theme, or you will break many plugins, which * generally use this hook to add elements to such * as styles, scripts, and meta tags. */ wp_head(); ?> ``` * Thread Starter [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [15 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028170) * didn’t work for me. the tag was already in my header.php code anyway. hmmm. * i have been using an admin bar plugin which causes the bar to be displayed at all times – this kind of fixes the problem as long as the plugin is activated. its not ideal though because i’d rather lose the bar for non logged in users. * [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/) * (@esmi) * [15 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028171) * Ensure that you have `` just before the closing `` tag in your theme’s footer.php template file. * Thread Starter [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [15 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028172) * i’ve inserted that tag and the problem still persists. i do however now have a prettier restyled admin bar at the top of the page when the plugin is activated– which at least looks better… 🙂 * [iamjanco](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iamjanco/) * (@iamjanco) * [14 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028191) * Has anyone made any more headway with this issue? The list items in my adminbar just started showing up in the broken fashion like the one described above. I can turn them off of course by installing the show/hide admin bar plugin, but that’s not really optimal. The hooks in my header and footer php files are fine, and it’s not being caused by a plugin. I could restore the dbase (which is where I think the problem is because of a couple of broken links that shows up in the broken adminbar), but stupid me only has an older copy of the dbase… which I’ll now resolve by backing up the dbase on a regular basis. I also noticed that when logged in, the html for the adminbar is added below the javascripts are the bottom of the page, just before the last closing tags. * Thread Starter [budestrings](https://wordpress.org/support/users/budestrings/) * (@budestrings) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028192) * I’m pretty sure the issue is down to messy code in the theme css, because the problem disappears when i change themes. which theme are you using? * [Kristy LaPorte](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kristy-laporte/) * (@kristy-laporte) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028193) * For me, the issue was that I was missing one of the hooks, either the header or footer one. I believe both need to be put in the proper place for the admin bar to work. * See this: [http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_head](http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_head) and this: [http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_footer](http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_footer) * Until I had these hooks in place in my theme, the admin bar was always a broken mess. Once I put the hooks in, it worked perfectly. * [Kristy LaPorte](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kristy-laporte/) * (@kristy-laporte) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028194) * (Aside from the hooks, I unfortunately have no idea, unless there’s some CSS somewhere that’s styling it wrong? :/) * [iamjanco](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iamjanco/) * (@iamjanco) * [14 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-admin-bar/#post-2028195) * I actually solved the mystery last night. Turns out that the problem was actually my fault (isn’t it always?)… * When I added the typical “site design by