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10 Best WordPress Author Plugins: Add Credibility to Your Posts

An author box is a designated area (usually the end) of a post in WordPress to provide readers with information about the post’s author, i.e., their bio.

The author bio usually contains something about the author’s experience in their field, along with their picture or Gravatar. So, for example, below is my author box that appears at the end of all my posts on WPLift (except the ones I ghostwrote – boo!), including this one:

Various WordPress themes have a built-in feature to include author bios. However, there are certain limitations. To get additional features & create a customized bio, use WordPress author plugins.

what is an author box?

An author box plugin lets authors add credibility to the posts & establish connect with readers, and encourage other guest authors to write on your website. Other than this, author boxes also benefit the writers through links to their websites and social profiles.

With so many author box WordPress plugins, it may be challenging to choose the right one. Here we have shortlisted the best author box plugin for WordPress. 

So, let’s jump straight in.

1. Elementor Pro

elementor pro - best author box plugin wordpress

Given that Elementor Pro is a page builder, you’re probably wondering why the heck I have included it in this list. However, please stay with me, as there is a method in my madness.

Elementor Pro contains numerous useful elements and widgets you can drag and drop into posts and pages. However, one of those is the author box widget, which you can place wherever you need it, plus you can customize it to match your site.

Other features of the author box widget included with Elementor Pro are:

  • Current (using user’s dynamic WordPress info) or custom (uses static info) authors
  • Add name, HTML tag, link, and bio information
  • Optional archive button to display all posts by an author
  • Wide range of customization options
  • All the other features of Elementor Pro
  • On-demand backups
  • Built-in security layers
  • Updates and support

Possibly, you are using Elementor Pro already, in which case you have this widget available to you. If not, the prices of this popular page builder plugin start as low as $9.99 per year. That’s excellent value for all the extra functionality it provides.

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2. Simple Author Box

simple author box - best author box plugin wordpress

Simple Author Box is a hugely popular author bio plugin, boasting an impressive 650k+ active downloads from WordPress alone and a 4.3/5.0 user score. The plugin adds an author box containing the writer’s name, Gravatar, bio, and social icons at the end of posts.

In its free guise, this freemium plugin includes features like:

  • Style, color, size, and text customization options
  • Responsive author box for different device types
  • The author box is inserted automatically at the end of posts
  • Ability to manually insert the author box into a template file (single.php or author.php)
  • AMP (accelerated mobile pages) and RTL (right to left) support
  • It is ideal for guest posts and guest authors

While those features alone may be sufficient for many bloggers and site owners, upgrading to a Pro plan does bring quite a lot more functionality, including goodies like:

  • Adjust the position of the author box to either before or after the post
  • It allows you to link the author’s name to their website in the existing or a new tab (with an optional ‘nofollow’ attribute).
  • Select where the author box is and is not to be displayed.
  • Avatar rotate effect on hover.
  • It offers various configuration options, e.g., color palettes, fonts, font sizes, etc.
  • Social icon customizations.
  • Enable guest authors and co-authors, including using guest authors as co-authors.
  • Widget to display the most popular authors.
  • Gutenberg block.
  • Updates and support.
  • Seven-day moneyback guarantee.

A single-site Pro license costs $39 per year, while a three-site lifetime license is $69. It costs $99 to get support for 100 WordPress sites.

The free version of Simple Author Box is an excellent option for adding basic author bio information to your site, while the Pro version allows you to jazz it up nicely.

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3. Meks Smart Author Widget

meks smart author widget - wordpress author plugin

Meks Smart Author Widget is a great free option for adding simple but attractive author bio boxes. As the name implies, the author boxes display in WordPress widget areas (usually the sidebars) instead of at the end of the content. Personally, I prefer that, as the author is visible upfront rather than hidden off-screen right at the bottom.

One handy feature of this plugin is it can automatically identify the correct author for a post and display the corresponding bio. Other features you get with it are:

  • Customizable avatar size
  • Link avatar image and user display name to author archive
  • Option to replace the widget title with a user display name
  • Flexible display options

Please note that this plugin uses data from the author’s WordPress profile. As such, it is essential that those profiles and complete and up to date. This can also apply to other plugins that use WordPress profiles to populate author boxes dynamically.

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As well as getting my thumbs up for its refreshing simplicity, Meks Smart Author Widget has a 4.4./5.0 rating in the WordPress plugin directory. More than 30k active downloads are in operation.

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4. Starbox

starbox - wordpress author page plugin

Starbox offers a simple, easy-to-use way of adding author boxes to your posts. The primary focus of this plugin is giving authors the recognition they deserve. Therefore, plenty of flexibility on box aesthetics and location is available.

Key features you will find with the free version of Starbox are as follows.

  • Built-in pre-made themes
  • Easy customization for each author, including theme and social media icons
  • Authors can be allowed to customize their own author boxes
  • Boxes can appear only on blog posts, only on pages, or both
  • Bios can include the author’s name, job title, and company (with weblink)
  • Option not to display the author box for specific authors (e.g., staff or ghostwriters, AI content, etc.)
  • Substitute Gravatars with images
  • Special author profile pages
  • Compatible with eCommerce sites
  • Shortcodes to add author boxes to posts or widget areas
  • Display latest posts for selected authors
  • HTML 5
  • Display rich Snippets in Google searches using Google Microformats (vCard)
  • Link all articles written by that author from the author box

That is an excellent feature list for a free plugin. A Pro version is available for $39 per year.

The custom user image shows globally on your website (comments, admin, etc.).

The PRO version of Starbox has some extra features, as follows.

  • The custom user image shows globally on your website (comments, admin, etc.).
  • You can add more social references to an author
  • You can select to show/hide the author box for some post types
  • Email support from our staff.”

Honestly, that does not seem to be much more than you get with the free version, which is pretty impressive already, but $39 isn’t a king’s ransom, either.

Starbox is a popular WordPress author plugin with over 50k active downloads and an excellent 4.3/5.0 average user score.

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5. WP Post Author

wp post author - author bio plugin wordpress

WP Post Author is another free offering allowing you to add relatively simple but attractive author boxes to your posts. Compared to Starbox, it is rather basic and thin on features, which may suit people looking for simplicity.

The features of WP Post Author include:

  • You can align the box content left, right, or centered.
  • Customizable profile image shapes
  • Posts author widget – fetches author data from their WordPress profile
  • Get widgets for specific post author (i.e., enter a user id to fetch the selected author data from their WordPress profile) and custom post author (i.e., create custom author boxes)
  • The plugin lets you create and add multiple authors and guest authors to the posts.
  • Shortcodes, e.g., title, align, show role, etc.
  • Integrate social icons and links

WP Post Author has over 20k times from WordPress, and users have given it 4 out of 5 ratings. Overall, if you want a clean, simple way of adding author info to your site, it’s certainly one to try.

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6. Author Bio Box

author bio box - author box wordpress plugin

Author Bio Box is very similar to WP Post Author in that they are free author box plugins, both have a 5.0/5.0 star user rating, plus each adds basic but usable author bio boxes to your WordPress site. One real advantage of simple plugins like these is they are lightweight on code and won’t significantly impact site performance.

The features you get with Author Bio Box are:

  • Right to left (RTL) support
  • Accelerated mobile pages (AMP) support
  • Compatible with all device types
  • Author Gravatars
  • Links to author’s website (opens in a new tab)
  • Customizable colors, fonts, etc.

Yes, it’s basic, and no, it does not have all the bells and whistles. But Author Bio Box does exactly what it says on the tin – adds neat author bio boxes to posts.

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7. Guest Author

guest author - author box wordpress plugin

Staying with the super-basic, free theme for the moment, Guest Author is another no-frills plugin that enables you to add a simple guest author bio to any post without registering them as a user.

The features list of Guest Author is spartan:

  • Guest authors are treated as if they are regular ones
  • Upload an avatar image instead of using Gravatar
  • It is possible to link to a custom page for the guest author

However, despite its minimalist features, Guest Post is ideal if you only occasionally have guest authors writing for you.

More than 6k active downloads of Guest Author exist, and users rate it 4.1/5.0 stars.

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8. PublishPress Authors

 PublishPress Authors

PublishPress Authors embeds an author box at the end of your posts. However, you aren’t restricted to just one author (the WordPress default) – you can also include co-authors, multiple, or guest authors.

Other features of the free version of PublishPress Authors include the following:

  • Place boxes in widgets, shortcodes, or Gutenberg blocks
  • Add author name, email, bio, and avatar
  • Custom post types support
  • Guest authors do not need to be registered users
  • Multiple layout options, i.e., simple list, boxed, centered, inline, and inline with avatars

If you wish to upgrade to the Pro version of PublishPress Authors, it will cost $69 per year for a single domain, $129 for five, or $199 if you need to cover a large number of sites. Those prices add the following to the free plugin:

  • Custom author profile fields and layouts
  • Admin area access control
  • White label, i.e., no PublishPress ads or branding
  • Updates and support

I like the fact that PublishPress Authors allows you to add more than one bio to posts. For example, you may want to attribute the writing in a post to an author and the images to a photographer – this plugin can do that.

PublishPress Authors has a solid 4.9/5.0-star rating with users, and over 10k active downloads of the free version alone are in operation.

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9. Molongui Authorship

molongui authorship - author box wordpress plugin

It is a popular WordPress author box plugin that enables you to display a fully-customizable author box for co-authors and guest authors. 

Some of the key features available in the free version are as follows:

  • Integrate the author box below or above the content.
  • Customize the author box using different profile fields like custom avatar, job position, company, social media icons, and more.
  • Give credit to single authors or multiple authors.
  • Guest authors don’t need to log in to create an author bio.
  • Preview your author box before making it live.

The cost of the pro version starts from $39 per year. Some of the essential features available in the pro version are as follows.

  • Get more layouts and styling options to create an author box. 
  • It has more than 20 premium social media profiles.
  • Display authors using a simple shortcode. It also supports third-party shortcodes. You can also get author details using a short code.
  • It allows you to duplicate guest authors in one click. You can also convert from guest to co-author and vice-versa in a single click.
  • Enable visitors to search content by author name.
  • Get customer support 24*7.

It has more than 9k+ downloads on the WordPress directory and has 4.8 out of 5 stars. The plugin has a free & pro version.

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10. Co-Authors Plus

co-authors plus - author bio plugin wordpress

It is another well-known author box WordPress plugin that is lightweight and adaptable and allows any blogger & publisher to make a stylish co-author box. 

If you have a blog written by multiple authors, you should go with the co-author plus plugin. It lets you create multiple author profiles & bylines and add them to the blog post. 

Some of the key features of the co-authors plus are as follows.

  • Assign multiple bylines to posts, pages, and custom post types using a search-as-you-type box.
  • The co-author can edit posts linked to them. In contrast, the co-authors that are contributors can edit posts that haven’t been published.
  • Leverage co-authors plus template tags to list authors as per your need.

Lastly, the free plugin has over 30,000 downloads on the WordPress directory.

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Conclusion

The author bio on the blog posts enables creators to share their professional background, skills, experience, and more with the visitors. They can establish trust with the readers and promote their different social media handles. Conversely, visitors can engage and connect with the author of the blog posts.

Our list of the best author box plugin for WordPress helps you achieve the same. You can choose to use any of the plugins from the list to enable authors and guest contributors to create a highly-engaging and attractive bio for themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the best author bio plugin for WordPress?

There are various best WordPress author box plugins available in the market. Out of all, the Simple Author Box plugin is the best bio plugin that you can utilize for your WordPress site. The plugin lets you customize the bio in a simple & effective manner.

Which is the suitable WordPress plugin for the author page?

The best WordPress author page plugin is Author Bio Box. It lets you showcase author info below the posts on your page. It also enables you to add social media links, descriptions, and more.

A team of WordPress experts that love to test out new WordPress related software, WordPress plugins and WordPress themes.