How to Add Front-End Login Page and Widgets in WordPress

The default WordPress login page doesn’t provide the best experience and can even confuse your users. That’s why we recommend adding a front-end login page to allow users to log in directly from the main part of your website.

This improves accessibility and overall user satisfaction. Plus, it is convenient, allowing users to access login forms from various parts of your site, such as sidebars or footers.

We have created multiple online stores and websites where we offer this functionality for better usability. This has taught us what works and what doesn’t for front-end login pages.

In this article, we will show you how to easily add a front-end login page and widgets in WordPress.

Why and When Do You Need Front-End Login in WordPress?

By default, the WordPress login page will show the WordPress branding and usually won’t match the design of your current WordPress website.

This works for smaller WordPress blogs and websites.

However, if you have a membership site, online store, or another site where users can register and log in, then adding a front-end login page and widget offers a better experience for your users.

You can even customize this page with your branding or add a simple login form to your WordPress sidebar.

That being said, let’s see how to easily add a front-end login page and login widget in WordPress. For this tutorial, we will show you the 3 easiest ways to do this, and you can you the links below to jump to the method of your choice:

Method 1: Add a Front-End Login Page and Widgets in WordPress With WPForms

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market, used by over 6 million websites. It lets you easily create a custom front-end login page and login widget on your website.

At WPBeginner, we have used it to create contact forms and annual surveys and have had an excellent experience. To learn more, see our detailed WPForms review.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For detailed instructions, please see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, visit the WPForms » Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar to enter your license key.

You can get this key from your account on the WPForms website.

Once you’ve done that, head over to the WPForms » Addons page from the WordPress dashboard to locate the User Registration Addon.

Next, click the ‘Install Addon’ button to download and activate it on your website.

Upon the activation of the User Registration addon, head over to the WPForms » Add New screen from the admin sidebar to launch the form builder.

From here, start by typing a name for the form that you are about to create. After that, simply choose the ‘User Login Form’ template to start making your user login form.

This will launch the template in the form builder, where you will notice a form preview on the right and a column of available fields on the left.

Now, simply drag and drop the fields from the left column to create your login form. For more details, see our guide on how to create a custom login page for WordPress.

Once you are satisfied with your settings, just click the ‘Save’ button to store your changes.

Add Login Form to a Page/Post

Now, to add your login form to a page or post, open the page/post of your choice in the WordPress block editor from the admin area.

Once you are there, click the ‘+’ button to open the block menu and add the WPForms block.

After that, choose the login form that you created from the dropdown menu in the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button to store your settings.

Add Login Form to Website Sidebar

If you want to add the login form to your website’s sidebar, then visit the Appearance » Widgets page from the WordPress dashboard.

Here, click the ‘+’ button in the top left corner of the screen to open the block menu.

From here, you need to find and add the WPForms block to the sidebar.

Once you’ve done that, choose the login form from the dropdown menu in the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Update’ button to store your settings. For more details, see our guide on how to add a login form in your WordPress sidebar.

Now, you can visit your WordPress site to view the login form in the sidebar.

Add Login Form in Full Site Editor

If you are using a block-based theme, then you won’t be able to add your login to the website sidebar using the method above.

To add a login form in FSE, visit the Appearance » Editor page from the WordPress dashboard.

This will launch the FSE, where you have to click the ‘+’ button to open the block menu.

From here, locate and add the WPForms block to any place you like on your website.

After that, choose the login form that you created from the dropdown menu in the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

Bonus Tip: To further customize your login form, you can see our tutorial on how to style your WordPress forms.

Method 2: Add a Front-End Login Page in WordPress With SeedProd

SeedProd is the best WordPress drag-and-drop page builder on the market, used by over 1 million websites.

It lets you create a completely custom login page that can match the design of your current website or be something unique.

It’s very beginner-friendly and comes with a ton of professionally designed login page templates that you can use to build your login page.

Several of our partner brands have designed their entire websites including login pages with this tool. For more details, see our full SeedProd review.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, visit the SeedProd » Landing Pages screen from the WordPress admin sidebar and select the ‘Login Page’ option by clicking the ‘Set up a Login Page’ button.

This will direct you to the ‘Templates’ screen, where you can choose a template and use the drag-and-drop builder to customize the page.

Using a blank template, you can even design a custom front-end login page from scratch.

Upon selecting a template of your choice, you’ll be asked to enter a Page Name. SeedProd will then use the page name as the URL for your login form landing page.

Once you’ve done that, click the ‘Save and Start Editing the Page’ button to continue.

This will launch SeedProd’s drag-and-drop builder, where you’ll see a login page preview on the right with available fields on the left.

From here, you can add any block to the page by simply dragging it from the left menu and placing it anywhere you like.

For more details, see our guide on how to create a custom WordPress login page.

Once you are done designing your page, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button in the dropdown menu at the top to store your settings.

Method 3: Add a Front-End Login Page and Widgets in WordPress With Theme My Login

If you want to add a very simple front-end login page to your site, then you can use the free Theme My Login plugin.

First, you need to install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will automatically create pages for login, logout, forget password, and registration.

You can navigate to the Theme My Login » General page from the admin menu and view the plugin settings.

First, you can set the login type. The ‘Default’ setting is the most secure since it asks for an email and password to log in.

Next, you can choose your Registration settings. We kept the default settings here since they require both email and password to log in.

You can also check the ‘Passwords’ box to let users create their own passwords and the ‘Auto-Login’ box, which automatically logs in users after they register.

After that, you can change your login and registration URLs in the’ Slugs’ settings.

These automatically create redirects. So, the standard “yoursite.com/wp-admin” login URL will redirect to “yoursite.com/login”.

You can keep these URLs the same or change them.

Once you are done making changes, make sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

You can’t add much more advanced functionality unless you upgrade to use their premium extensions.

Still, it is a good solution for users on a budget who want to create a simple front-end login page.

Add the Login Form to a Page/Post

Now, to add the login form created by Theme My Login, open a page/post in the WordPress block editor.

From here, click the ‘+’ button to open the block menu and add the Shortcode block to the page.

After that, add the following shortcode into the block:

[theme-my-login]

Finally, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

Now, visit your website to view the login form.

Add Login Form to a Widget Area

You can also add a login form to your WordPress widget areas using the Theme My Login block.

Simply navigate to the Appearance » Widgets page and open the block menu by clicking the ‘+’ button.

From here, you must find and add the Theme My Login block to the widget area of your choice.

After that, choose the form that you want to add from the dropdown menu in the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Update’ button to store your settings. Now, visit your WordPress site to view the login form in the widget area.

Expert Tip: Add a Login Button in Your WordPress Site Menu

Now that you’ve created a front-end login page, we recommend making it easily accessible by adding a login button to your navigation menu.

This ensures that users can find and access their accounts without searching for the login page.

To add a login button to your site menu, simply visit the Appearance » Menus page from the WordPress dashboard.

Here, expand the ‘Custom Links’ tab from the left column and add the URL of your frontend login page. You can also add the link text for the login button.

Go ahead and click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.

After that, click the ‘Save Menu’ button.

Now visit your WordPress site to see the Login button in action. When users click on it, they will automatically be taken to your frontend login form page.

However, the method above won’t work if you are using a block theme.

In that case, head over to the Appearance » Editor page from the WordPress admin sidebar. This will launch the full site editor where you can click the ‘Navigation’ link from the left.

Doing this will open your navigation menu in the full site editor. Here, click the ‘+’ button next to it. This will open a prompt where you have to type the name of your frotend login page.

Once it shows up in the results, click on it to add the link to the navigation menu.

Next, switch to the ‘Block’ tab from the panel on the left.

You can now change the anchor text for the login button according to your liking.

Once you are done, just click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

Now visit your website to see the login button in action.

Bonus: Add CAPTCHA in the WordPress Login Form

Once you have added a custom login form, it is a good idea to add CAPTCHA to it because this page is often a target for hackers and spammers.

Adding CAPTCHA can block spambots and secure your website. You can easily do this with WPForms.

Upon plugin activation, simply visit the WPForms » Settings page from the WordPress dashboard and switch to the ‘CAPTCHA’ tab.

After that, select the ‘reCAPTCHA’ option as your CAPTCHA type.

Once you do that, you must visit the Google reCAPTCHA website to create a site key and secret key. These keys will help integrate reCAPTCHA on your WordPress site.

After adding these keys, simply edit the WordPress form that you created earlier and switch to the ‘Settings’ tab.

Then, select the ‘Spam Protection and Security’ option and toggle on the ‘Enable Google v3 reCAPTCHA’ switch. Next, click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

You have now successfully added CAPTCHA to your WordPress login form and made it completely secure. For more detailed instructions, you can see our tutorial on how to add CAPTCHA to WordPress login and registration forms.

Video Tutorial

If you don’t prefer written instructions, then just watch our video tutorial:

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We hope this article helped you add a front-end login page and widgets in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert picks of the best WordPress login page plugins and our guide on how to add a custom login URL in WordPress.

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