Building a WordPress Frontend User Profile

Building a WordPress front-end user profile using ProfilePress can greatly enhance the user experience on your website. The frontend user profile displays users’ profile information or account details on the front end of your website.

ProfilePress is a robust membership and profile management plugin for WordPress that can be used to create user profiles and custom frontend forms, including login forms, registration forms, password reset forms, and edit profile forms.

This article outlines a step-by-step guide on creating a front-end user profile using the ProfilePress plugin.

Using The Drag & Drop Builder

Navigate to ProfilePress>>Forms & Profiles and click the Add New button.

Here, you can choose between the Drag & Drop Builder and the Shortcode Builder. In this section, we will cover using the Drag & Drop Builder, so go ahead and click on the “Get Started” button beneath it.

Type in the desired name for your profile and click on the User Profile tab.

Next, select your desired template and use the drag & drop builder to customize the form using the intuitive drag & drop builder. This powerful tool allows you to effortlessly rearrange the form elements, such as text fields, checkboxes, dropdown menus, and more, simply by dragging and dropping them into place.

You can preview how the profile will look like by clicking on the “Live Preview” button.

Customize Your User Profile

In Form Settings, you can completely customize various aspects of your form to align with your preferences. You can effortlessly modify the header text and display the user’s bio in the header.

Additionally, you can select the profile menu tabs that will be visible on the profile and turn on/off the social links in the profile header.

Once you have finished customizing your profile, click on the “Save Changes” button to save your profile.

After saving the form, it is crucial to copy the shortcode that is conveniently displayed directly below the form title. This shortcode will be used in the next step, allowing you to seamlessly embed the form into any desired location on your website.

Using the Shortcode Builder

If you want more control over the form’s design, the shortcode builder allows you to add custom code to the form while using our field shortcodes to build your form. Please follow these steps to create the structure.

Navigate to ProfilePress>>Forms & Profiles and click the Add New button.

In this section, we will cover using the Shortcode Builder, so go ahead and click on the “Build Now” button beneath it.

Drag and drop builder

Type in the desired name for your profile and click on the User Profile tab.

Next, select your desired template and use the shortcode builder to build and customize the profile using shortcodes.

The shortcode builder gives you unparalleled freedom to construct and personalize your profile precisely to your liking. You can use the full potential of HTML and CSS, giving you total control of the profile to achieve your desired visual and functional outcomes.

The advanced builder provides you with several shortcodes you can use to add fields to your profile. These shortcodes simplify incorporating profile elements such as name, nickname, website, biography, and more.

By leveraging these shortcodes, you can effortlessly include the necessary elements while retaining complete control over the design and placement of the remaining profile elements.

Once you have finished customizing your form, click on the “Save Changes” button to save your form.

NB: It is important to remember that when using the shortcode builder in ProfilePress, you should refrain from using a <form> tag. The inclusion and handling of the <form> tag are automatically managed by ProfilePress, eliminating the need for manual implementation.

After saving the form, it is crucial to copy the shortcode that is conveniently displayed directly below the form title. This shortcode will be used in the next step, allowing you to seamlessly embed the form into any desired location on your website.

Creating the Frontend User Profile Page

To showcase your newly created frontend user profile on your WordPress website, you’ll need to embed it into a new page. Follow these step-by-step instructions to create a new page:

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Pages>>Add New

Type in a suitable name for the User profile page and paste the user profile shortcode you previously copied above.

Click on the ‘Publish‘ button to save your page.

Setting the User Profile Page as Default

After saving your user profile, you need to make it the default in ProfilePress so your website users can use it when viewing their profile.

To use the newly created profile as the user profile page, navigate to ProfilePress >> Settings >> General, then click on “Frontend Profile” in the vertical tabs.

Locate the “Page with profile shortcode” drop-down menu and choose the recently created page from the options. Finally, save your changes.

Having done that, Users will see the newly created user profile when they visit their profile. This means when they visit  https://yoursite.com/profile/john, where “john” is a user’s username.

NB: Please save your permalinks after this last step for the settings to take effect. You can do so by navigating to Dashboard>>Settings>>Permalinks and just clicking on the “Save Changes” button.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a front-end user profile in WordPress is a valuable feature that enhances the user experience by providing registered users with a dedicated space to showcase their online identity and connect with others. This is made easy using the ProfilePress plugin and following the step-by-step instructions above.

You can design and customize the user profile to align perfectly with your unique requirements and branding. Whether through the drag & drop builder or advanced shortcode builder, ProfilePress gives you the flexibility and creative freedom to build your profile to your heart’s content.