Tips on How to Add WordPress Author Box With or Without a Plugin

An author box is displayed on top or bottom of the post content. It includes the author’s bio, photo, internal or/and external links associated with the author’s social media accounts, or landing pages of websites.

Reasons to use author box

The author box is added to every single post. It is essential for those who manage or own a multi-author website. It helps the readers distinguish between several authors that write for your blog.

The information posted in the WordPress author box is crucial to build trust as well as create a personal connection with the targeted readers. It is the stepping stone for building the Author’s Authority.

There is more possibility that the readers will return to the blogs run by genuine people, rather than visiting those operated by admins or bot behind the curtain.

Author box helps to craft an encouraging environment, but some websites cannot attract readers because their designs are not catchy, only authors name is available, there is hardly any information, and social profile links are very less. Besides, even the content quality, lots of popup ads, web page speed, etc. even account for people not getting engaged.

You need to fix this!

Tips to add an impressive WP author box 

While adding an author bio box in WordPress, you need to remember a list of things.

• Add an impressive author box on every single post to start building reputation and credibility.
• Add the author’s real first and last name.
• Add the author’s avatar.
• Add the author’s bio including what they do, what they love, what else they write. Keep it short and sweet. [30 to 40 words].
• Add the author’s email, because interested readers may have some queries or share their feedback. If comments are not allowed on the post, then add the author’s email address.
• Add the author’s social media links, so you can get good exposure and credibility with social presence.
• Add a like or dislike icon or a tweet button – a unique feedback option.
• Add the author’s number of posts – The number of articles written shows the author’s engagement and experience with the blog. It creates an optimistic impression on the visitors.

How to add a WP author box without a plugin?

If you know how to edit WP theme files then this option is for you. You need to add some coding lines to the WP theme file.

• Create a child theme. It prevents the complete site collapses if something goes haywire.
• Create a single.php file in the child theme folder using a plugin.
• Now, you will need to add the code snippet in the created single.php file. [The author box code can be copied from online].
• You will also add the CSS code in style.css file of the child theme [The CSS code for author box is also available online]
• You have a customized author box added to your WP theme.
• To configure the Authors profile visit – Dashboard > Users> Your Profile.
• Add details in the Users section [name, about, and contact info].
• Save the changes clicking on Update.
• Clear the cache.
• Check your custom Author Box in the post.

Add WP author box with a plugin

You can choose the most popular Simple Author Box pro WP plugin by Macho Themes. The plugin allows you to add multiple authors, it creates responsive author boxes, author box gets added without impacting the page speed, and it flawlessly functions with latest WordPress versions.