Add Author Info to Any WordPress Blog Post

If you're running a fairly large blog with multiple contributors, it could be useful to build a reputation for each author. This is often done by adding a little section to the end of posts to call out the author and their previous experience.

DoeDo you have a WordPress author bio? Read on to find out how to add one.

What is an author bio on a WordPress Post?

An author info box is typically placed at the end of a WordPress post, but can also be placed on a sidebar. This is an area to call out who wrote the post and write a little bit more about them. This could include their name, position, how long they've been writing, and a link to their personal page.

This makes the blog post a little more personal for the reader, enticing them to read more. It can also help readers find more posts by that author if the post is written in a style they prefer. In that case, the author bio box will be incredibly useful to discover more posts by that author. You can build a dedicated audience for your blog this way and gain repeat readers.

Should you Always Include an Author on a Blog Post?

Including the authors information on posts will make the post more authentic, and increase readership. There really is no downside to including one.

Even if you are the sole author of your website's blog, it can be useful. People like to feel like they know who they are reading from. We are all social beings, so the more social and connected you can make your blog, the happier you will make your users.

How to Edit the WordPress author bio

To see what will appear for each author in your WordPress site, you can go to Users > Edit.

There you will see a section called "Biographical Info". This is where the main paragraph will be pulled from to display on each post. You can even include HTML info here to add links to social media or other relevant pages.

Make sure to add a profile picture to this section as well (which you can change on Gravatar).

How do I add an author to my WordPress blog

Adding the author info box to your WordPress post can be tricky depending on what theme you are running. But there are multiple ways to get it working. Depending on your level of experience with WordPress, any of the below options should work.

Option 1: Checking Your Theme

If you are running a theme that supports author bios, this would be the easiest way to get them added to your posts.

First check to make sure your authors have the Bio section filled out under the Users section. Then head to any of your published posts and see if it appears. If it does not appear, your theme might not support showing the authors bio.

Here's how the setting look in the default WordPress 2020 theme:

To double check, head to Appearance > Customize. Look through the theme settings to see if you can find a Post Author Bio display setting. It might just be turned off by default.

Option 2: Adding it to a sidebar with a plugin

If your theme does not support displaying author bio's by default, you can install a plugin to add it to the sidebar.

Download and install the Meks Smart Author Widget plugin. After installing, go to Appearance > Widgets. Here you can drag the Meks Smart Author widget to your blog post sidebar and configure the settings properly to make the authors bio appear in the sidebar.