How to Customize Password Reset and Lost Password Forms in WordPress?

  • WordPress

To customize the password reset and lost password forms in WordPress, you can follow a variety of methods, including plugin solutions or coding your own modifications. A tailored password reset experience can significantly enhance the user experience and match the look and feel of your website. Here’s a complete guide to help you customize the password reset form and lost password page in WordPress.

WordPress Care and Development Plans

Understanding the Default WordPress Password Reset and Lost Password Forms

WordPress comes with built-in forms for password reset and password recovery. These forms are essential for users who forget their login credentials. However, the default forms are fairly basic and might not align with your site’s design or offer advanced functionality. You can customize these forms to make them more user-friendly, secure, and in line with your website’s branding.

The Default Password Reset Flow in WordPress

When a user forgets their password, they typically visit the WordPress login page and click on the “Lost your password?” link. This redirects them to the Lost Password page, where they can enter their registered email address. WordPress then sends a password reset link to the provided email. Upon clicking the link, the user is taken to a page where they can reset their password.

While this process works seamlessly, it can appear quite plain. Let’s discuss how to customize these forms to better meet your needs.

Why Customize the Password Reset and Lost Password Forms?

  1. Branding Consistency: The default WordPress forms often don’t match your site’s design. Customizing these pages can help you maintain a consistent brand image across your entire site.
  2. User Experience: A more user-friendly form can improve the overall experience and increase the chances of users successfully resetting their passwords.
  3. Security Enhancements: Custom forms can help in adding extra layers of security, like CAPTCHA or two-factor authentication (2FA), ensuring a safer reset process.
  4. Advanced Functionality: Customization allows you to integrate features like redirecting users to specific pages after resetting their password, or allowing them to choose their new password format.

Customizing the Password Reset Form with Plugins

One of the simplest ways to customize the password reset and lost password forms in WordPress is through plugins. Here are a few popular ones that can help you achieve this:

1. Theme My Login

Theme My Login is a powerful plugin that allows you to create custom login, registration, and password recovery pages. It can be used to customize the password reset form without touching any code.

  • Customization Options: You can modify the look and feel of the reset page by selecting a custom theme or creating a unique login page layout. The plugin also lets you create custom redirects after password reset.
  • Advanced Features: Theme My Login offers features like custom form fields and support for login via social media accounts, which can be very useful for enhancing the login and reset process.

2. LoginPress

Another excellent plugin is LoginPress, which provides full customization options for the login page, including the password reset form.

  • Visual Customizer: LoginPress includes an easy-to-use visual customizer to change colors, fonts, and the overall appearance of the reset form.
  • Redirects: You can configure custom redirects to control where users are sent after they successfully reset their password.
  • Security Features: The plugin also comes with built-in security options like login attempt limiting and CAPTCHA, which can improve security for your password reset forms.

3. Custom Login Page Customizer by Colorlib

If you want a quick and simple solution for customizing your password reset forms, Custom Login Page Customizer by Colorlib is a great option. It allows you to modify the reset form’s design using WordPress’s native Customizer interface.

  • Simple Interface: The plugin provides a user-friendly interface to make design changes without needing to write any code.
  • Theme Integration: You can use it to match your password reset page’s design with your active theme.

Customizing Password Reset and Lost Password Forms with Code

If you prefer a more hands-on approach and want to fully control the customization, you can modify the WordPress password reset and lost password forms directly by adding custom code to your theme’s functions.php file or using a custom plugin.

1. Modifying the Password Reset Form

The WordPress password reset form can be modified using hooks in your theme’s functions.php file. Here’s a basic code example to modify the default form:

php
// Customize the password reset form
function custom_password_reset_form() {
?>
<div class="custom-password-reset">
<h2>Reset Your Password</h2>
<form action="<?php echo esc_url( admin_url( 'admin-post.php' ) ); ?>" method="post">
<input type="email" name="user_email" placeholder="Enter your email address" required />
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
</div>
<?php
}
add_action( 'lostpassword_form', 'custom_password_reset_form' );

This snippet creates a custom password reset form layout. You can add additional fields or style it as per your needs using CSS.

2. Redirecting After Password Reset

After a user successfully resets their password, you might want to redirect them to a specific page, such as the homepage or their account page. You can do this by using the following code:

php
function custom_password_reset_redirect() {
return home_url(); // Redirect to homepage after reset
}
add_filter( 'password_reset', 'custom_password_reset_redirect' );

This code snippet ensures that after the password is reset, the user will be redirected to the homepage.

3. Add Extra Security to Password Reset Forms

To enhance security on your password reset form, consider adding a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA. Here’s how you can integrate Google reCAPTCHA into your password reset form:

  • Install the reCAPTCHA plugin: First, install a plugin that integrates Google reCAPTCHA with your WordPress site, such as Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft.
  • Add the CAPTCHA field: Use the plugin’s settings to add a CAPTCHA field to the password reset form.

Alternatively, you can manually integrate reCAPTCHA by using Google’s reCAPTCHA API to add an extra layer of protection.

Customizing the Lost Password Page

WordPress provides a simple page for users to request a password reset. You can customize this page as well, particularly its look and feel.

1. Modify the Lost Password URL

By default, WordPress uses the URL wp-login.php?action=lostpassword to display the lost password page. You can change this to a custom URL by using a plugin like Redirection or manually redirecting users to a custom page that you design.

2. Adding Custom Fields to the Lost Password Form

In some cases, you may want to ask users for additional information when they request a password reset. For example, you could add a phone number field or require users to select a security question.

You can achieve this by hooking into the lostpassword_form and adding your custom fields. For example:

php
function add_custom_fields_to_lost_password_form() {
?>
<p>
<label for="phone_number">Phone Number</label>
<input type="text" name="phone_number" id="phone_number" class="input" value="" size="20" />
</p>
<?php
}
add_action( 'lostpassword_form', 'add_custom_fields_to_lost_password_form' );

This will add a phone number field to the lost password form.

Best Practices for Customizing the Password Reset and Lost Password Forms

  1. Keep the Design Simple and User-Friendly: Ensure that the forms are easy to navigate and simple to use. Avoid overcomplicating the process, as this may lead to user frustration.
  2. Add Helpful Instructions: Include clear instructions on how to reset passwords, especially if you’re adding custom fields or features that might confuse users.
  3. Ensure Security: Always include security measures, like CAPTCHA, to protect your site from brute force attacks and unauthorized access.
  4. Test the Customizations: Before going live, test your custom forms thoroughly to make sure they work properly across different browsers and devices.

BuddyX Theme

Closing Remarks

Customizing the password reset and lost password forms in WordPress can be a great way to improve the user experience and add an extra layer of security to your website. Whether you choose to use plugins or code your own customizations, there are plenty of options to help you match the design of these forms to your site’s theme while enhancing their functionality.

By taking the time to personalize these forms, you can ensure your users have a smooth and secure experience when resetting their passwords, which can ultimately help in improving user satisfaction and security.

Interesting Reads:
Lost Your WordPress Admin password? Here Are The Ways Out

Sucuri Can Help You Fix Your Hacked WordPress Site

How to Speed up WordPress Development

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Picture of Wbcom Team

Wbcom Team