How to Showcase Your Authors in WordPress (2 Easy Methods)

Hey there! If you run a multi-author WordPress blog, you absolutely must highlight your talented contributors. Giving your authors a proper spotlight has so many benefits:

• Builds trust and connection with readers. Seeing the faces behind the content makes your blog more relatable and engaging. In fact, a study by BrightLocal found that 73% of readers say a bio and photo increase their trust in an author.

• Helps readers discover more relevant content. When readers find an author they like, they‘ll want to see everything else they‘ve written. Author archives make that easy and keep people on your site longer.

• Boosts your blog‘s authority and credibility. A diverse team of expert authors makes your blog look more authoritative in your niche. It shows you have multiple knowledgeable voices contributing.

• Attracts more high-quality guest authors. If prospective contributors see that you give authors recognition, they‘ll be more likely to want to write for you. It‘s a great incentive!

Sold on the importance of showcasing your blog authors? Excellent! Let‘s look at two easy ways to create an author list in WordPress:

Method 1: Use the Author Avatars List Plugin

The simplest way to display all your authors is with a plugin like Author Avatars List. It automatically generates a grid or list of authors with their photos, names, bios, and links to their archives. Zero coding required!

Here‘s how to set it up:

1. Install and activate the free Author Avatars List plugin.
2. In the WordPress editor, add the "Author Avatars" block where you want the list to appear.
3. Choose what user roles to include and what info to display for each author.
4. Customize the avatar size, style, and layout.
5. Publish the page or post!

The Author Avatars block is super flexible. You can insert it in any post or page. It‘s also available as a widget to put in your sidebar, footer, or other widget areas.

By default, it uses each author‘s Gravatar image. But you can have them upload custom photos instead. We have a guide on how to add author photos in WordPress.

Tips for Using Author Avatars List

• Include author bios and links to their websites/social profiles. It lets readers get to know them better.
• Use a template tag to insert the author list automatically across your site.
• Create a dedicated "Meet the Team" page to really spotlight your authors.
• Style the avatars and layout to match your theme. The plugin offers lots of visual customization options.
• Lazy load the avatars for better page speed and performance.

Method 2: Manually Code It in Your Theme Files

If you‘re comfortable editing your WordPress theme files, you can code your own author list from scratch. This gives you total control over the functionality and design.

Here‘s a basic example using the wp_list_authors() function:

<ul class="author-list">
  <?php wp_list_authors( array(
    ‘show_fullname‘ => true,
    ‘optioncount‘   => true,
    ‘orderby‘       => ‘post_count‘,
    ‘order‘         => ‘DESC‘,
    ‘number‘        => 10,
    ‘hide_empty‘    => true,
    ‘echo‘          => true,
  )); ?>
</ul>

This code outputs a list of up to 10 authors ordered by number of posts. You can customize the parameters to change what‘s displayed and how it‘s sorted.

To add photos, bios, and more info, you‘ll need to code that yourself. Here‘s a more advanced example:

<div class="author-grid">
  <?php $authors = get_users( array( ‘role__in‘ => array( ‘author‘ ) ) );
  foreach( $authors as $author ) : ?>
    <div class="author-card">
      <?php echo get_avatar( $author->ID, 150 ); ?>
      <h2><?php echo $author->display_name; ?></h2>
      <p class="author-bio"><?php echo get_user_meta( $author->ID, ‘description‘, true ); ?></p>
      <a class="author-archive-link" href="<?php echo get_author_posts_url( $author->ID ); ?>">View Posts</a>
    </div>
  <?php endforeach; ?>
</div>

This loops through all users with the "Author" role and displays their avatar, name, bio, and a link to their archive. You‘ll need to style it with CSS to make it look nice.

Tips for Manually Coding Your Author List

• Use a plugin like User Profile Picture to let authors upload a custom photo.
• Add social media links with the Simple Social Icons plugin.
• Check out our tutorial on creating custom templates to build a dedicated author list page.
• Consider creating a custom author archive template too. This lets you customize what appears on author pages.
• Learn how to create a custom widget to display your author list in sidebars and footers.

Which Method Should You Choose?

Still not sure whether to use a plugin or code it manually? Here‘s a quick comparison table:

If you‘re a beginner, definitely go with the plugin approach. It‘s much simpler and still offers plenty of flexibility. The manual coding method is better if you want total control and don‘t mind spending more time on development.

Best Practices for Author Lists

Whichever method you use, follow these tips to make your author list as effective and engaging as possible:

• Use high-quality, friendly headshots for each author‘s photo
• Write compelling bios that show each author‘s expertise and personality
• Include links to the author‘s website, social profiles, and other relevant pages
• Make the author names clickable to view their full archive of posts
• Choose a clean, organized layout that‘s easy to scan and navigate
• Optimize author archive pages for search engines with descriptive titles and meta data
• Paginate the author list if you have a large number of contributors

Examples of Great Author List Pages

Want some inspiration? Check out these WordPress blogs with excellent author list pages:

• WPBeginner‘s About Us page
• Smashing Magazine‘s Author page
• Kinsta‘s Team page
• OptinMonster‘s Team page

See how they highlight each author‘s photo, bio, and expertise in a visually engaging way? Borrow some of these ideas for your own site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions about listing authors in WordPress? Here are answers to common ones:

How do I create an author page in WordPress?

To create an author page, go to Users > Add New to add each author to your site. Then use the Author Avatars List plugin or manually code an author list in your theme files using the wp_list_authors() function.

How do I list authors in WordPress sidebar?

To list authors in your WordPress sidebar, use the Author Avatars widget or create a custom widget with your own code. You can then add the widget to your sidebar, footer, or any other widgetized area enabled by your theme.

How can I display author info at the end of each post?

The Author Avatars plugin includes an option to insert the author box below each post automatically. If coding manually, use the wp_get_current_author() and related functions to retrieve the author ID and details to display.

How do I create a clickable author list in WordPress?

To make your author names clickable, link them to the author‘s archive page using get_author_posts_url($author_id). Your theme may also have a built-in author.php template that displays this automatically.

Can I list authors by number of posts?

Yes, when using wp_list_authors(), set the orderby parameter to "post_count" to sort the list by number of posts they‘ve written. You can also show the post count for each author by enabling the optioncount parameter.

Conclusion

Well there you have it – two solid methods for showcasing all the awesome authors on your WordPress blog. Whether you go the plugin route or flex your coding skills, your readers will appreciate getting to know the voices behind your content.

A well-designed author list page elevates your blog‘s credibility, engagement, and sense of community. So what are you waiting for? Go give your writers some much-deserved recognition!