Display Active Plugins First reorganizes the plugins list to show all active plugins at the top, separated from inactive plugins by a visual divider. This improves the workflow when managing sites with many installed plugins.
What this feature does
WordPress displays plugins in the order they are installed, with no visual distinction between active and inactive. On sites with dozens of plugins, finding active ones means scrolling and scanning through the entire list. When this feature is enabled, all active plugins are sorted to the top in alphabetical order, followed by a prominent blue divider line, then all inactive plugins below also in alphabetical order.
This is purely a display change. No plugins are activated or deactivated; only the sort order of the list table is modified. The feature applies only to the "All" plugins view. When you filter by status (Active, Inactive, Recently Activated, Must-Use), the list already shows a single type, so no reordering occurs.
How to enable it
- Open AdminEase > Plugins.
- Toggle Display active plugins first on.
- Save. Go to the Plugins page in WordPress. Active plugins now appear at the top with a blue divider below them.
Settings reference
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Display active plugins first | Reorganizes the plugins list table so active plugins appear first in alphabetical order, followed by a visual divider, then inactive plugins in alphabetical order. Applies only to the All view. | Off |
What happens behind the scenes
AdminEase hooks admin_head-plugins.php to access the global $wp_list_table->items array after WordPress has built the final list. It then uses uksort() with a custom callback that checks each plugin's active status using is_plugin_active(). Active plugins are sorted first, inactive last; within each group, plugins are sorted alphabetically by name. The last active plugin row is tracked, and a footer script applies the CSS class adminease-last-active-plugin to that row, which renders the blue divider border below it.
Troubleshooting
Active plugins aren't appearing at the top
Confirm the setting is enabled in AdminEase > Plugins. The reordering only happens on the "All" view. If you are on a filtered view (Active, Inactive, etc.), the list only contains one type and will not reorder. Also note that must-use plugins and network-activated plugins have special status and may appear in their own section.
The blue divider line doesn't appear
Make sure at least one plugin is active and at least one is inactive. If all plugins are active or all are inactive, there is no divider to show. Once you have both active and inactive plugins, reload the page and the divider should appear below the last active plugin.
Does this affect plugin performance?
No. The reordering is purely visual and happens only when the plugins.php page loads. There is no ongoing performance impact, and the sorting does not change how plugins are executed or loaded on the front-end.