How to Customize WordPress Login Page

If you are the owner of a self-hosted WordPress website, you might realize that there comes a time when the generic login page is just not enough. Be it due to you starting your brand or simply because the visitors do not like the generic login page. Then what to do? As we already know, WordPress is one of the most customizable website creators and CMS. Hence, it is somewhat obvious, that the platform has a solution to this issue. And that’s why today, our article will focus on how to customize a WordPress Login Page and also explore the various methods to do so.

An overview to the WordPress CMS (For beginners)

First, let us address what WordPress is, especially for those who are new to the topic. In simple terms, WordPress is a website creator or content management system that allows users to create and customize their websites. It is an open-source and free-to-use service that only serves to add to its potency.

But getting somewhat technical, a CMS or a Content Management System is the correct term to define WordPress. A CMS can control what goes onto the website from the backend, even without any thorough programming knowledge. And WordPress is popular because it uses the PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) language, which is well suited for web development and HTML application.

The platform was created as a standalone back in the year 2003 as an offshoot of a previous project, namely b2/cafelog. Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little are credited for its development. To know more about WordPress, check our article on What is WordPress.

Why is there a need to customize the WordPress login page?

The answer to the question, “Why the need to customize the login page” is multi-faceted. Inarguably, WordPress is a powerful CMS. Hence, users can employ it for creating e-commerce websites, digital stores, blogs, and such. Now, the login page initially shows the WordPress logo and branding, which isn’t that big a deal, if you want to use the website for personal purposes.

However, when there is a need to register more users on the website or allow users to create and manage their accounts, the generic logo seems to cause a loss of confidence as you do not appear authentic or aren’t taken as seriously.

From a branding and marketing point of view, too, the generic WordPress login page is a disaster. Especially if your clients want the premium feel after spending money. Other times it can also come down to simple issues such as a custom login page will enhance user experience which is something you might pursue if the motive behind the website is commercial.

Methods to Customize the Login Page

Method 1. Using Plugins to customize the login page

The easiest and most time-saving method is to simply use a plugin to handle the customization. WordPress offers various said plugins, some free and some not. While most of these plugins vary in their customization and features, they all share one thing in common. And that is the fact that it is simple to install a plugin viz-a-viz customizing a login page can be done directly via the WordPress Dashboard.

Given below are a few said plugins that stand out:

With Theme My Login

It is a free plugin, that can change your WordPress login according to your selected theme. Although not so customizable, it gets the job done. Given below are the steps that can customize your Login page:

1. First, install the Theme My Login plugin.
2. Activate it from the dashboard.
3. Here, the plugin will automatically create different URL links for different modifiable actions, such as custom login, logout, registration, forgot password, and reset password.
4. To view these links, go to General. And then scroll down to the Slugs section.
5. The good thing about Theme My Login is that it allows users to customize the page using the Shortcodes function.
6. Thus, on the Dashboard, go to Pages and click on Add New.
7. Now, use the [ theme-my-login ] shortcode.
8. When you preview the page, you can see the login page.
9. Then repeat the process for the next action.

With SeedProd

SeedProd is yet another plugin that can modify the WordPress login page. Not only that, but it can also create a custom 404 page, maintenance mode page, coming soon page, and other landing pages as per the situation. Here’s how you can customize your login page:

1. Install and activate the SeedProd plugin.
2. Users need to purchase a pro subscription in order to utilize the login page customization feature.
3. Then, create a custom landing page using the provided templates.
4. Now, you can customize the pre-built login page template.
5. The SeedProd works almost similar to WordPress Block editor. Hence, you can exact total control over the page.
6. After making said changes, click on the Save button in the top right corner of the screen.
7. Finally, activate the login page.

With WPForms

The last plugin to cover is WPForms. Although it doesn’t offer comprehensive visual customization, users can still easily customize other aspects of the login page. There are not only custom fields like drop down menus and checkboxes, but also security features such as reCAPTCHA. All in all it is a powerful plugin, though free-to-use, one has to pay a premium subscription fee to utilize the login page customization features. The required steps are described below:

1. Start with installing and activating the plugin.
2. Go to the WPForms page.
3. Then click on Add New.
4. Here, you are required to name the login page.
5. Now go to templates and select User Login Form.
6. Then make the changes according to your taste.
7. Finally, save your page.

Method 2. Manually customize the WordPress Login page using CSS codes

Although ill-advised for beginners, there is another method that can change the look and feel of your WordPress Login Page, and that too without using plugins. And while this particular method is much more versatile than any plugins, it does require a fair command of HTML before diving deep into said customization.

Note – It is seriously advised to back up your site before attempting this method, as a wrong entry can corrupt your entire website.

1. First, access your website’s theme folder via FTP.
2. Then create a folder and move the new logo to that folder.
3. After that, double-click on the functions.php file in the active theme folder.
4. Then use the following code. Be sure to paste it before ?>

function change_login_logo() { ?>
    <style type="text/css">
        #login h1 a, .login h1 a {
            background-image: url(https://www.example.com/imag-url.jpg);
            height:200px;
            width:200px;
            background-size: 200px 200px;
            background-repeat: no-repeat;
            padding-bottom: 10px;
        }
    </style>
<?php }
add_action( 'login_enqueue_scripts', 'change_login_logo' );

Then save the file using the disk icon in the top right corner.

This is merely an example of adding a simple logo to the Login page. What you can do with it is beyond imagination. Make sure that you are playing around with it in a local development environment. Do not try new things in production.