Brand Your WordPress Admin with “Theme My Login”
by Jason Unger, Founder
Insights / Website Development /
We’ve talked plenty about the WordPress plugins that we recommend, and most of them focus on improving the performance and functionality of your website.
Installing unnecessary plugins, as we know, adds to your website bloat and can make your site’s performance suffer.
There are plugins, however, that can be crucially important for specific websites and totally unnecessary for others.
One such plugin is Theme My Login.
Branding the WordPress Admin Page
Theme My Login (TML) is a simple, lightweight plugin that will convert the standard WordPress admin access pages from the standard, drab WordPress branding to use the actual design of your website.
TML will take the layout of your generic page template (page.php) and use it as the frame for WordPress’s admin function pages, including:
- Login
- Register
- Password Reset
- Logout
This is a great way to ensure that logging into your WordPress Dashboard keeps the same design as the user-facing pages on the site.
After you’re logged in, you’ll be presented with the normal look-and-feel to the Dashboard. (Want to create a custom WordPress Dashboard Theme? That’s doable, slightly differently.)
Who Should Use Theme My Login?
If you’re the only person logging into your WordPress admin or you have a small team of people who do, you likely don’t need Theme My Login.
TML’s is useful so that folks who may not be familiar with WordPress don’t get confused by the standard WordPress login page. If you’re the only administrator, that’s not an issue you’ll have.
If your website includes the ability for users to register — because you’ve built an online community, or something similar — then TML can help maintain a consistent user experience. We recommend using TML so your users feel confident they’re logging in to your site and not somewhere else.
In addition to adding your site design to these WordPress account pages, TML will let you set custom URLs for the Dashboard, Login/Logout, Register, and Profile pages. There’s also a number of extensions available, including the ability to set up custom notifications, login with social providers, edit profiles, and redirect users based on their roles.
Installing Theme My Login
It’s incredibly easy to install TML; from the Plugins menu in your WordPress Dashboard, click “Add New” and search for Theme My Login. The core software is free.
If you want to install any of the paid extensions, you’ll need to create an account and purchase them from the plugin website.
Most of the time, your default page template will work perfectly with TML; as long as you have an area where <?php the_content();?> displays, TML will know what to do.
Interested in having Theme My Login set up on your site? Reach out and we’ll be happy to help.
About Jason Unger
Jason Unger is the Founder of Digital Ink. He built his first website on Geocities, and hasn't looked back since. Digital Ink tells stories for forward-thinking businesses, mission-driven organizations, and marketing and technology agencies in need of a creative and digital partner.
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