How to Add Author Info Box in a WordPress Post
Do you want to learn how to add author bio box in a WordPress post? If yes then this post is for you. The author bio box is the section below your posts where you display information about the person who wrote the post. The best thing is that most WordPress themes will allow you to do this easily using the default features. But do you really know how to go about it?
Why is the author info box important?
Seeing the actual person that wrote the post helps build credibility and subsequently strengthens your website’s authority among your target audience. If yours is a single-author blog you can simply add an about me page. However, if multi-authors are involved you should learn how to add author info box in your WordPress post. This enables the readers to learn more about the author and offers readers more incentive to contribute and interact with the readers. The author info box will compel more writers to contribute to your blog.
Adding the author bio using the WordPress theme
If your WordPress theme comes with an author information box you should consider using it. To do this you need to visit Users>>All Users page from the admin area. Edit the user that you wish to change then scroll down to the ‘Biographical Info’. HTML can be used when editing the author’s bio to add links to the author’s social media profiles. The author’s image is fetched using Gravatar. You can also ask users to upload their custom profile photo by editing their user profile. Save the changes and you are done.
Adding the author bio using WordPress plugins
If your WordPress theme doesn’t support author bios then you need to add that function with a plugin. The best plugin for this is the Author Bio Box plugin. Install and activate it. You then need to go to Settings>>Author Bio Box page and configure the plugin’s settings. Save the changes after. After that head to Users>>All Users page and click ‘Edit’ link below the user you wish to add a bio box for. Scroll to the ‘Contact Info’ section and add the info you want. Click on ‘Update user’ button once you are done.
Display the author info in the sidebar widget
It is possible to add author info box in the sidebar widget. For this you need to install and activate the Meks Smart Author widget plugin. Go to Appearance>>Widgets page to locate the Meks Smart Author. Add the widget to the sidebar where you wish to display the author info. Choose the options you want and select ‘Automatically detect author’ option. Save the changes to store the widget settings.
You can also add the info box manually. This option requires coding and is thus for the advanced users. The aforementioned methods will, however, get you started without any issue.