Hey there, WordPress site owner! If you allow visitors to register and become members of your website, displaying those recently registered users can be a game-changer for growing your community.
Why? Because showcasing real people who‘ve just joined your site provides powerful social proof that your brand is active, thriving, and trusted. It shows potential members that they won‘t be alone if they sign up. In fact, 88% of consumers trust user reviews and user-generated content as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
Seeing those new faces can also motivate your existing users to welcome and interact with members, sparking valuable discussions and connections. An active community helps with retention too – members who feel engaged are more likely to stick around and even become champions for your brand.
Sold on the benefits of displaying your recently registered users? Let‘s walk through three methods you can use in WordPress to make it happen.
Method 1: The Customizable Way (Using Formidable Forms)
My top recommendation for showcasing new members is the powerful Formidable Forms plugin. While it‘s known as one of the most flexible form builders and membership plugins for WordPress, it also boasts a User Directory feature that lets you display user profiles on the front-end of your site any way you wish.
With Formidable Forms, you‘re in complete control over:
- What user data fields are collected during registration
- Which fields are displayed publicly in the user directory
- How the user profiles are filtered and searched
- The overall look and layout of your user directory
Plus, it integrates seamlessly with membership plugins like MemberPress.
Ready to get started? Here‘s how:
Install and activate the Formidable Forms plugin on your WordPress site. If you need guidance, check out this step-by-step guide to installing WordPress plugins.
Enter your license key under the Formidable → Global Settings page to unlock the full functionality. Then head to the Formidable → Add-Ons page and install the User Directory add-on.
Open the User Directory wizard under Formidable → Global Settings → User Directory.
Choose the "User/Member" option as the profile type to display your registered WordPress users and members:
- Select a layout for the directory and enter a name for the directory page. This is where your user profiles will appear on the front-end of your site. Also name the form that will collect user info during registration. Then click the "Create Now" button.
Formidable Forms will generate the necessary pages, views, and forms in the background. The directory page will remain unpublished until you‘re ready to customize and launch it.
Next, you can configure exactly what information shows up on your user profiles by editing the Directory view. Go to Formidable → Views and click to edit your new view:
In the view editor, you‘ll see the default fields that will display for each user, like their bio and avatar. You can add or remove fields, enable searching/filtering, change the profile order, and much more:
Feel free to style your user directory with custom CSS as well. When you‘re satisfied, publish the directory page under Pages → All Pages.
Now, when a user completes the associated registration form you created, they‘ll automatically appear in the directory:
One important thing to note – Formidable Forms won‘t automatically include every single WordPress user who registers. To show up in the directory, the user needs to submit the registration form you set up. This extra step is actually great for privacy and letting users control what personal details they share publicly.
To modify the registration form fields, go to Formidable → Forms and edit your form:
You can drag and drop to add, remove, and rearrange the fields. Just make sure to include an email field so users can be notified of their submission.
After finalizing your form, publish it on your registration page. That‘s it! You‘ve now set up an automated system to attractively display your recently registered users.
Method 2: The Simplified Way (Using WP User Manager)
If you don‘t need the advanced customization options of Formidable Forms, a simpler solution is the free WP User Manager plugin. It creates a straightforward user directory that you can insert anywhere with a shortcode.
After installing the plugin, navigate to Users → User Directory. Adjust the settings to your liking:
The options let you set the number of profiles per page, their sort order, which user roles to include/exclude, and more. Further down the page, you can pick the exact user fields to show for each profile:
Once you‘ve configured the settings, copy the shortcode at the top of the page. Paste this shortcode into the post or page where you want the user directory to appear.
When you publish the page, you‘ll see a tidy grid of your recently registered users:
And that‘s all it takes! Whenever a new member signs up, they‘ll be added to the directory automatically. This method may not have as many features as Formidable Forms, but it‘s a quick way to implement a functional WordPress user directory.
Method 3: The Code-Friendly Way
If you‘re comfortable with a little coding, you can create your own simple list of recently registered users with a custom WordPress function or shortcode.
First, add this code snippet to your theme‘s functions.php file or via the Code Snippets plugin:
function wpb_recently_registered_users() {
global $wpdb;
$recentusers = ‘<ul class="recently-user">‘;
$usernames = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT user_nicename, user_url, user_email FROM $wpdb->users ORDER BY ID DESC LIMIT 5");
foreach ($usernames as $username) {
if (!$username->user_url) :
$recentusers .= ‘<li>‘ .get_avatar($username->user_email, 45) .$username->user_nicename.‘</li>‘;
else :
$recentusers .= ‘<li>‘ .get_avatar($username->user_email, 45).‘<a href="‘.$username->user_url.‘">‘.$username->user_nicename.‘</a></li>‘;
endif;
}
$recentusers .= ‘</ul>‘;
return $recentusers;
}This function pulls the 5 most recently registered users from the WordPress database and displays their username and avatar in an unordered list. To show the user list in your theme, call the function directly in a template file like sidebar.php:
<?php echo wpb_recently_registered_users(); ?>Want to use a shortcode instead? Just add this line below the previous function:
add_shortcode(‘wpb_newusers‘, ‘wpb_recently_registered_users‘);Then you can output the recently registered users on any post or page by typing:
[wpb_newusers]The result will be a simple unordered list of avatars and usernames:
Feel free to style the list with your own CSS. While this method doesn‘t let you customize the user data fields, it‘s an easy, lightweight option for a basic display of new members.
Bonus Tips: Get More Signups and Engage New Members
Whichever method you use to showcase your recently registered users, you‘ll maximize the impact by optimizing the process of getting people to sign up in the first place.
Some proven tactics to increase registrations:
- Keep your signup form short and only ask for essential info at first
- Offer an incentive for registering, like an exclusive download or coupon code
- Display testimonials or user count near the registration form for social proof
- Allow popular social logins to simplify signups
- Enable one-click registration during checkout if you sell products/memberships
- Conduct user testing to identify and eliminate points of friction
Once you‘ve captured those new member registrations, keep the momentum going with a positive onboarding experience. You want to make each new user feel warmly welcomed and pumped to participate.
Image source: UserGuiding
Try these techniques to engage new users from day one:
- Send a friendly welcome email with their next steps and ways to get started
- Suggest relevant content/products based on their registration responses
- Invite them to introduce themselves in a community forum and get involved
- Provide special offers or perks for their first purchase or contribution
- Ask what they hope to gain from joining and how you can help them succeed
The key is to make new members feel like your brand is invested in supporting them as individuals.
You‘ve Got This!
Armed with these insights, you‘re well on your way to showcasing your recently registered WordPress users like a pro.
Whether you use a flexible plugin solution like Formidable Forms, a simpler plugin approach with WP User Manager, or custom code, displaying new members is a powerful way to build trust, community, and engagement on your site.
Experiment to find the user directory style that fits your brand, and don‘t forget to make the registration process itself as seamless as possible. Proactively welcome and support your new users, and you‘ll be rewarded with an active, thriving membership.
Now get out there and build an amazing WordPress community! And for more tips to amplify your site‘s growth, read our guide on embedding social proof notifications and user-generated content.
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