ThemeGrill EditorialWondering how to create a custom user registration form in WordPress? If you answer yes, this article is just the thing for you.
User registration is one of the essential features that every WordPress website needs to grow and be successful. But the default way WordPress provides isn’t flexible enough to create beautiful and powerful user registration forms.
No need to worry; WordPress professionals have developed multiple solutions for creating custom user registration forms easily.
Hence, this post is a complete tutorial for creating custom user registration forms/pages in WordPress, especially for beginners.
So, let’s start by knowing what WordPress user registration is.
What is WordPress User Registration?
Simply put, WordPress user registration is a useful functionality for membership options provided in WordPress.
It allows your website visitors to register on your site as subscribers or other. As a website owner, you can decide what particular user role to assign to the newly registered users.
Undoubtedly, your website visitors are the most valuable assets you can have; their opinions matter most. So, providing a separate user space to them is surely rewarding.
Thus, the general logic of user registration is to provide some specific space to your loyal visitors on your website. So that you can make your site more interactive and user-friendly.
Through user registration, you can provide visitors a kind of membership to your site and also allow certain actions (commenting on posts, contributing articles, reviews, etc.)
Besides, you can collect user emails and send some exciting content to registered users. It can be a simple newsletter welcoming them to your network, some discount coupons, the festival offers, information about your recent product launch, etc.
This way, it helps to strengthen the bond between you and your site users to grow your online business.
In the next section, we’ll explain more about why WordPress user registration is essential.
Why Allow Users to Register on Your WordPress Site?
As discussed above, the most fundamental reason to allow user registration is to allow the membership feature on a WordPress site.
But that’s not all. You can do a lot more with virtually powerful user registration forms. However, such forms need to be custom created.
For instance, with the custom-created WooCommerce user registration forms, you can also allow your users to include shipping and billing addresses.
Thus, registering users for your WooCommerce site with custom registration forms can eliminate the inconvenience of a lengthy checkout process for them. Preventing cart abandonment is extremely beneficial if you own an online store.
Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So let’s quickly check out what are the other benefits of creating powerful user registration forms/pages here.
i) Grow Your Email List
A beautifully designed custom user registration page can play a vital role to convince your website visitors, including new ones, to register to your site.
And as your email list grows, you can leverage the email list for marketing purposes. You can create beautiful newsletters and send them to registered users.
That way, you can reach out to users and promote your site simultaneously.
ii) Engage Your Users and Increase Interaction
An ideal custom registration form also provides an exclusive space for the registered users.
For instance, they can create a user profile of their own, manage their details, and contribute to your site in the possible ways as far as the assigned user role allows.
This way, users get more engaged with your site, ultimately improving interaction.
iii) Know Your Visitors Better to Improve Your Site
You can create multiple fields and collect more user information with a custom user registration form. Such collected information helps you to know your site visitors better.
Thus, you can make informed decisions for the improvement of your site.
iv) Ideal for Guest Blogging
If you want some content contributions on your site, user registration is an ideal way for doing that. All you need to do is provide the Contributor role to the selected users, and they’ll be able to submit the content.
How to Enable User Registration in WordPress? (Default Method)
Before anything else, you must allow users to register via frontend forms. This option is disabled by default.
So, to enable it, from your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings>>General from your dashboard.
Now, you’ll see the Membership option on the General Settings page. So, all you need to do is checkmark the Anyone can register option.
Likewise, you’ll find the New User Default Role option just below the Membership option. Thus, using the drop-down menus, you can define the specific role of your users.
However, it’s best to leave the role of ‘Subscriber’ for the new users.
After making the changes, don’t forget to hit the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page.
With that, your users can now register to your WordPress site.
However, one problem with the default user registration form is users must find the WP login URL to find the default registration option.
Hence, it can be an uphill task for the users if they don’t know how to find the login page.
Nevertheless, there is a way to show the register link at the front end of your website using the Meta widget. So, you can follow the steps below to have the link on the front end.
First, go to Appearance >> Widgets. It’ll display all the sections where you can place the meta widget. Now, press on the Plus icon of the section of your choice, search for the Meta widget, and click it.
But you need to remember that the available sections can differ depending on your current WordPress theme.
Next, give a title to the widget and hit the Update button at the top.
After that, you’ll see that the footer of your website has a brand new widget with the Register link.
Now, whenever the visitor clicks on the link, it’ll lead them to a page with the registration form.
So, once they provide their username and email address, they’ll receive a confirmation email to log in. That’s it.
Default WordPress Registration vs. Custom Registration (What Do You Need?)
Are you confused about which WordPress registration forms (default or custom) to use to register users on your site? No need to worry. We’ve got you covered.
Fortunately, WordPress has a default user registration feature to register your users quickly and easily. It’s a simple built-in user registration method that doesn’t require any third-party tools and plugins.
The pros and cons of using the default user registration form are as follows:
Pros
- It’s a simple, easy, and quick method to register users.
- You don’t need to create registration and login forms manually.
- No need to install third-party plugins and tools to build registration forms.
Cons
- It only allows you to collect the username and user email address. You cannot add extra form fields to collect additional user information.
- You cannot customize registration and login forms unless and until you’re a proficient developer.
- It doesn’t permit you to add the registration form to the section or page of your interest.
Contrarily, WordPress also allows you to create powerful custom registration forms in WordPress by using registration plugins.
The benefits and drawbacks of creating custom registration forms are as follows:
Pros
- Custom user registration forms enable you to collect additional user information using custom form fields. This helps to understand your user better before registering them on your site. Further, custom WooCommerce registration forms can even help simplify the checkout process for users.
- Custom registration forms also empower site visitors to upload their files and profile images easily.
- You get the complete freedom to customize your user registration form to your heart’s content.
- You get to display your custom registration forms anywhere on your site.
- Well-designed custom registration forms are vital to lure your website visitors, including new visitors, to register for your site.
Cons
- You must depend on third-party plugins and tools to create a custom user registration form in WordPress.
With that said, now you must be clear about which user registration form you need for your site.
You can use the default user registration form on your WordPress site if you want something simple. But, if you want multiple fields and more options, you must create a form independently.
Hence, it’s time to go to the step-by-step guide on creating custom user registration in WordPress. So, let’s dive in!
How to Create Custom User Registration Forms in WordPress?
Step 1: Choose the Best Plugin for Custom Registration Forms
First, you must choose the best plugin to create custom registration forms in WordPress.
And when we talk about WordPress registration plugins, one of the names that come to the top is none other than User Registration plugins by WPEverest.
User Registration is a leading drag-and-drop form builder plugin to build amazing custom registration and login forms.
It’s highly user-friendly and simple. So, even a beginner with no coding skills can use this plugin to create beautiful registration forms in WordPress within a few minutes.
Most importantly, the plugin offers arrays of custom fields (dropdown, multichoice, checkboxes, etc.) that you can add to your registration form without any limitations.
Moreover, the availability of the WooCommerce Integration addon makes this plugin fully WooCommerce-ready.
It enables you to create a comprehensive WooCommerce registration form with additional user information like billing and shipping addresses.
Thus, it makes the checkout process easy for your registered users as their address data is automatically retrieved.
The other reasons why you should choose the User Registration plugin are as below:
- In-built login form
- Free and premium pre-built templates for registration forms
- Well-designed user profile account
- Assign user roles and capabilities
- Email notifications for both admin and users
- Google reCaptcha for spam protection
Furthermore, User Registration is a freemium plugin, i.e., it’s available in both free and premium versions.
You can easily download the free version from the WordPress plugin repository and purchase the premium one from the official site. Its cheapest price starts from $99/year.
Step 2: Install and Activate the User Registration Plugin
Now that you know which plugin to use, it’s time to install the plugin on your site. So, go to Plugins>> Add New from your dashboard.
Then, type User Registration in the search bar at the top right. Once the plugin appears, click on the Install Now button.
Soon after the successful installation, click the Activate Plugin button to activate the plugin on your site.
There’s an alternative method to install the plugin as well. For this, you need to download the plugin file from WordPress.org on your local computer first. It downloads as a zip file.
Afterward, go to Plugins>>Add New and click the Upload Plugin button.
Next, choose the zip file you downloaded earlier and hit the Install Now button.
Finally, you need to activate the plugin.
Step 3. Configure the User Registration Set-Up Page
Soon after you install and activate the User Registration plugin, you’ll see a Welcome page. This page gives you three different options to choose from. They are:
- Get Started
- Create a First Form
- Skip to Dashboard
Now, if you choose the Get Started option, it’ll take you through the series of set-up configurations.
Alternatively, you can also choose to start creating your first form or skip to the dashboard at your convenience.
However, we suggest going through the complete plugin setup process if you are a new user.
Install Pages
As you can see, the Default Registration Form comes pre-installed with the User Registration plugin.
Similarly, you can install the Registration Page and My Account Page if you don’t want to build them from the ground. So, click on Install & Proceed and hit the Next button.
General Settings
From the General Settings page, you can enable anyone to register on your site. Remember, users won’t be able to fill up the form and register on your site if you don’t enable this function.
So, even if you skip the plugin setup process, make sure to enable this function from the WordPress dashboard.
All you have to do is go to Settings>> General and checkmark the Anyone can register option, as mentioned in the earlier section.
Additionally, you can also implement different user approval and login options and even prevent WordPress dashboard access to certain user roles.
Registration Settings
From this page, you can choose the desired registration form template and default role for users. Besides, enabling a strong password can also be done.
Login Settings
Next, you can configure the login settings. You can select the login form template and choose to enable or disable the lost password, remember me, and hide/show password field.
My Account Settings
From the My Account Settings page, you can select the My Account page layout. Also, you can disable the default profile picture feature.
Further, hitting the Next button finishes the set-up process. So, you can go to the dashboard now.
Step 4: Create a Custom User Registration Form
Since you’ve completed the setup process, it’s time to create a custom user registration form now. The User Registration plugin allows you to create a registration form in WordPress using two different methods:
Method I. Using the Pre-made Form Templates
One of the perks of using User Registration is that it comes with several built-in registration form templates.
Thus, in case you’re short of time, you can use any one of the suitable templates to create registration forms immediately.
However, you must purchase the premium version ‘User Registration Pro‘ to unlock some form templates.
For now, we’ll show you how to create a registration form in WordPress using an available free template. So, firstly, go to User Registration>>Add New from your dashboard.
Then, from the Add New Form page, hover your mouse over the desired form template and click on the Get Started button.
After that, give a suitable name to your form and hit the Continue button.
This will open up your pre-built registration form.
Not to mention, the pre-built form template can also be easily tweaked as per your site’s requirements. So, you can either add the extra form fields or delete the unwanted fields to prepare your form quickly.
Method II. Creating a New Registration Form from Scratch
No matter whether you use pre-built templates or start from scratch, creating a registration form with User Registration is a breeze.
Hence, to create a form from scratch, click on the Start From Scratch option.
After that, give a name to your form and click Continue.
Then, a form builder window will open up. Here, you can see that the four obligatory form fields: Username, User Email, User Password, and Confirm Password, are already added for your ease.
Now, you can click the Add New button to add the new form fields of your interests.
Not to mention this plugin also enables you to select from three different grid-column options. For now, we’ll go with a single grid.
The Fields tab of the User Registration plugin has a total of six sections with variable form fields. However, the free version only lets you use the two sections, namely Default User Fields and Extra Fields.
So, now you can use the drag-and-drop functionality of the plugin to create a form. You can drag the required form fields from the left and drop them to the right.
Further, the drag-and-drop feature also makes reordering the form fields easy.
Another perk of using the User Registration plugin is that you can use the form fields as many times as you want without any restrictions.
It’s true for the form fields apart from the mandatory form fields that have already been added.
Additionally, the plugin also offers plenty of field options for each field. In order to customize the field, you must select it by clicking.
Then, the Field Options tab will open, where you can configure the General and Advanced settings.
Under the General Settings, you can edit the Label, Description, Placeholder, Required, Hide Label options, etc.
Similarly, from the Advanced Settings, you can add a Custom CSS class, set a Default value, and do much more.
Once you finish creating your form, don’t forget to click the Update form button at the top.
Also, if you want to see how your form looks from the front end, click the Preview option. So, if you aren’t satisfied with your form, you can further edit your form.
This is how your registration form looks with the Zakra theme. But remember, how your registration form looks may vary depending on the theme you’re using on your site.
Step 5: Configure the User Registration Form Settings
Next, from the Form Setting tab, you can configure the General Settings options for your form.
From here, you can choose from four different user approval and login options. The options are:
- Auto approval and manual login
- Auto approval and auto-login
- Admin approval
- Auto approval after email confirmation
Likewise, you can also specify the default user roles for the registered users. And the different user roles you can choose from are:
- Administrator
- Admin
- Author
- Contributor
- Subscriber
Moreover, you can enable strong passwords, set minimum password strength, and add a redirect URL. On top of that, the form submit button label and form submit button CSS class can also be added.
Further, you can select the success message position, enable captcha support, choose a form template, and add form class names.
After making the necessary changes, make sure to click on the Update form button at the top.
Step 6: Configure Additional User Registration Form Settings
Now, if you’ve skipped the plugin setup before or you want to configure the additional form settings, you can do that easily from User Registration>>Settings.
As you can see, there are five different tabs: General, Integration, Emails, Import/Export, and Misc.
They offer different setting options as follows.
- General: From here, you can prevent dashboard access, customize my account section, endpoint section, login options, and frontend messages.
- Integrations: It enables you to integrate different captcha types (reCaptcha v2, reCaptcha v3, hCaptcha) for spam prevention.
- Emails: From here, you can customize email sender options and send a test email. It’s also possible to disable email notifications sent from user registration entirely.
- Import/Export: It enables you to export the user data as CSV files.
- Misc: This setting allows you to remove all the User Registration plugin data in case you delete the plugin.
Once you’re done with the settings, click the Save Changes button to save all your changes.
Step 7. How and Where to Display the New User Registration Form?
Now that your user registration form is ready, we’ll discuss how and where to display the form next.
Since the plugin uses the shortcode method, you can easily display your form anywhere on your WordPress site, including widget areas, pages, and posts.
Here, in this tutorial, we’ll show you how to display your form on a page. So, go to User Registration>>All Forms and copy the registration form shortcode first.
Then, navigate to Pages>>Add New.
Now, paste it into a shortcode block, add a suitable title to your page, and hit Publish.
Alternatively, you can also use the block method.
For this, click on the Plus icon, type User Registration in the search bar, and click it.
Select the custom registration form we created from the dropdown menu, and hit Publish. That’s all!
Wrapping Up!
Well, that ends our article on creating a registration form in WordPress.
Creating powerful custom registration WordPress forms becomes as easy as ABC when you have a plugin like a User Registration. So, we’re sure you’ll now be able to create a custom registration form in WordPress without a hitch.
Further, if you own an eCommerce site, this plugin lets you add custom field forms for shipping, payments, and more.
Thus, it’ll make the checkout process much easier and smoother for your customers, thereby reducing cart abandonment.
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