Commandbar

This module adds an extendable command bar to the Drupal 8 administrative toolbar. The base functionality provides an ajax menu search autocomplete widget to quickly discover and jump to any page in the administrative menu, but it can be extended by other modules to add additional functionality such as searching users and content, or performing administrative actions like clearing the cache.

This module was created to answer a couple of usability issues with Drupal, as outlined in #1781422: Add search/jump/command functionality to toolbar:

1. New users should be able to map existing knowledge to the Drupal 8 information architecture. These users may be coming from older versions of Drupal, or from other software. Being able to search not only the titles of menu items, but also the descriptions, allows for this mapping. For example, you can search for 'modules' and reveal the 'Extend' menu link.

2. Discovery of new pages is a challenge. Major improvements have been made to this in Drupal 8, but it's often still difficult to find a particular page, especially after installing a module. A menu search allows you rapidly discover what new pages might have been added and explore them. The default administration menu then gives you a solid 'you are here' marker when you get to any of those pages.

Another important purpose of this module is to create an established interface element that can be extended to provide powerful functionality by contributed modules. For example, administrative users may be able to create custom shortcuts that will trigger actions like clearing the cache, creating a new users or publishing content. Other modules can provide auto-suggestions and implement their own actions when the form gets submitted.

I have been speaking with several contributors about the possibility of adding this to Drupal 8 core, but wanted to post this project for people to test around with while that discussion goes on.