Last updated - July 8, 2021
WordPress has been around for a considerable time. What started as a portal for bloggers, has now become a content management system responsible for operating almost half of the world’s total websites. Its simple yet intuitive interface, and customizable designs have made it a number one choice for web developers and designers across the globe looking to build their websites from scratch.
Anyone who utilizes WordPress has an eye for detail and originality to enhance user experience and uplift their click-through rate. Most developers focus mainly on themes alone, but for membership sites and other platforms, the starting point is a login page. Picture this, if you are a newly registered member on a website and login to a screen that is similar to non-registered members, the impact is slightly dampened and leaves you feeling rather unsatisfied. However, having a WordPress login page that is customized to fit the requirements and aesthetics of your business leaves a better impression on visitors and pique’s their interest.
To help with this, we have summarized some simple guidelines to including your styles for a custom WordPress login page that visually integrates with your website design scheme.
Building a Custom WordPress Login Page without Plugin
One can make several changes to the WordPress login page by updating the source code in the function.php file of their chosen theme. Although, once you update WordPress these changes will be lost. This is because your theme stylesheet for the login page is not a part of the WordPress theme setup, which requires you to create another stylesheet for the custom login page.
Begin by creating a folder called “Login” in your theme folder and add a .txt file with the name as custom-login-style.css. From there on, you can proceed to make some basic modifications to customize and add uniqueness to the login page.
Change the Background
To update the background color of the page or a specific button, you’ll select the background-color: #222222 and change the hexa code to the color of your choice. Take the help of a color palette to select a color that compliments your business aesthetic and is visually appealing.
In addition, if you want to vary the background image of your login page, select the code line background-image: url(logo_login.png’) and replace logo_login.png, which is the name of the file with your updated image file URL.
Businesses that want their clients to remember their brand can change the WordPress logo to their custom logo. After saving the custom logo image file to your Login folder, replace the file name with your custom logo in the background-image: url(‘logo_login’) code.
Customizing the Login form by adjusting padding and margin
Developers can adjust the Login form to make their page attractive and appropriately fitting to their site’s appearance. From the padding of buttons to color and font size of labels, etc. You can add more space inside the button so the text doesn’t appear squeezed by increasing the padding; just increase the numbers in the code padding: 12px 12px 12px 12px. If you wish to create more space outside the button such that the surrounding elements aren’t tightly packed, you can do so by increasing the margin space in the code margin: 12px 12px 12px 12px. Even something as simple as adding a few white spaces can collectively have an impact on the final look of your login page and make it seem more put together.
Changing the font size and color
You can change the font size of paragraph text, links, or form fields using the code font-size: 15px by adjusting the number to the size of your liking. The same can be done for font color by updating the color in the code color: #222222 and substituting the color.
Modifying the Login Error Message
With the rise in cybercrimes and scams on the internet, web developers and business owners can’t take any chances on their websites and lose confidential data. When a user hurriedly enters the wrong login credentials, a default error message is auto-generated. While this is to signal users of this error, it can be a gap for hackers to try and crack the login data. So, the best way to keep hackers at bay is by altering the error message in the function.php file.
To wrap up, those with extensive know-how of CSS can have ultimate control over the styling and customization of their WordPress Login form. But, if your lack of coding skills and it limits your ability to create a custom login page then do not worry! There are a variety of plugin options available at your disposal in the WordPress repository to streamline the WordPress web development process and we have listed the most popular ones for you.
Login Customizer Plugin
Login Customizer is one of the most user-friendly plugins and it allows you to make changes straight from your WordPress Customizer. After a simple installation process, you can easily access it from your WordPress Dashboard in the Appearance tab. Click on Start Customizing and it will redirect you to the customizer screen where you redesign all areas according to your liking.
Colorlib Login Customizer
Colorlib Login Customizer is a resourceful and flexible tool that carries all the functionalities found in a premium plugin but offers them free of cost. Its wide range of unique features makes it the ultimate choice for web developers looking to build a custom solution for their users. This too, allows customization via WordPress Customizer so you can easily navigate and get remodeling your login page.
In Summary
In the end, there is more than one approach to customizing a login page and developers of all experience levels are welcome to try them out. What matters is that the custom WordPress login page matches and complements the aesthetics of the actual site to enhance user experience. Customizing your site’s login page is a simple yet effective way to delight clients and build a brand identity. Starting simple and building on the basics can transform a simple screen into something spectacular and offer clients a personalized online experience they’ve never seen before.
