Trying to set up WordPress redirect after login functionality on your site?
This functionality can come in really handy if you allow user registration on your site, especially for membership sites and ecommerce stores.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to create a redirect after WordPress login. For example, you can use a redirect after login plugin to handle the process for you. If you’re a more experienced user, you can also use a custom code snippet to do the job for you.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at 🔎 why you might want to redirect users after they log into your site. Then, we’ll discuss four simple ways to make WordPress redirect after the login page. Let’s get started!
Why you might want (or need) to redirect your users
When users log into your site, they’re directed to the default admin area. While this can be fine for some types of websites, you might prefer to send users to specific web pages where they can perform certain actions.
For instance, if you run a membership site, you can send members to a page that contains a list of useful resources. You might also enable members to access their profiles instantly or view their account details.
If you run an ecommerce store, you likely have lots of users who log into your site before making a purchase. Therefore, it can be a good idea to redirect customers to a page where they can manage their payment and shipping details or view their wishlists.
Creating a custom redirect can be an effective way to personalize the user experience (UX) on your site. It can also help you make more sales and keep visitors engaged with your site for longer. While some membership and ecommerce plugins provide this functionality, there are other ways to enable the feature in WordPress.
Four ways to set up WordPress redirect after login
Now that you know why it’s useful to redirect your users, let’s take a look at four ways to set up WordPress redirect after login functionality on your site…
- Use a WordPress redirect after login plugin
- Create a custom login form with redirect functionality
- Add a login redirect filter using Code Snippets
- Edit your theme functions.php file
1. Use a WordPress redirect after login plugin
The easiest way to redirect users in WordPress is to use a dedicated plugin like LoginWP. With this tool, you can redirect specific users only, or redirect users according to their user roles and capabilities. The Pro version of the plugin also enables you to redirect users in different ways based on the page that they’re logging in from.
To get started, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin in your WordPress dashboard. Then, go to LoginWP > Redirections:
Here, click on Add New to create a new redirection rule. You can choose between three types of rule conditions:
If you only want to redirect a specific user after the WordPress login, select Username. Then, find the correct user in the dropdown box to the right of the screen:
You can also use the Rule Condition dropdown menu to choose User Role. This way, you can set up the plugin so that all users with the same role are redirected to a specific web page. So, you could send editors to one URL and subscribers to another.
Finally, you can click on User Capability to redirect users based on their capabilities. For example, some users on your site may be able to delete posts and edit files, whereas others can only read your pages.
Next, you’ll want to insert the login and logout URLs where you want to redirect the user(s). Make sure to click on Save Rule to apply the changes.
To set up a set-wide redirection for all users on your site, go to LoginWP > Redirections. Then, add the URLs in the All Other Users sections:
Finally, save your changes. That’s it – you’ve now created a WordPress redirect after the login page.
2. Create a custom login form with redirect functionality
You can also make WordPress redirect after the login page by creating a custom login form. One way to do this is to use a plugin like WPForms.
Note that the free version of the plugin has limited functionality and only lets you create contact forms. To use the login form feature, you’ll need the User Registration add-on, which is available on the Pro license ($199.50 for the first year and $399 at renewal).
For that reason, this method is best used if you’re already using WPForms for other premium functionality. If you only need WordPress redirect after login functionality, you should consider a free alternative like Profile Builder.
We’ll look at how it works with WPForms, but the basic idea is the same with Profile Builder.
Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin in WordPress, head to WPForms > Settings to enter your license key. As mentioned, you’ll also need to install the User Registration Addon to build custom login forms.
When you have that out of the way, you can move forward with creating your form by going to WPForms > Add New:
Here, you can choose a template like the User Login Form or start with a blank form. Then, use the Add Fields section to edit, add, and remove fields:
When you select a specific field like Email, you’ll land in the Field Options tab where you can change the label, add a description, and more:
Once you’ve customized your login form, navigate to Settings > Confirmations:
Under Confirmation Type, choose Go to URL (Redirect). Then, enter the URL where you want to redirect your users. Make sure to click on Save before exiting the form builder.
Now, you’ll need to embed your login form on a new or existing page on your website. All you have to do is add the WPForms block to your WordPress page:
Then, select the form you created earlier:
Now your login form (with the redirect) will automatically be added to your page.
3. Add a login redirect filter using Code Snippets
If you have experience with PHP, you can write your own code to make WordPress redirect after the login page. This way, you might be able to add further functionality to your site. However, you can still use a plugin like Code Snippets to help you insert the code easily.
To get started, you may want to use the WordPress login redirect filter to help you formulate your exact redirect code and understand how the function works.
Here’s an example of what it might look like:
function ti_custom_login_redirect( $url, $request, $user ) {
if ( $user && is_object( $user ) && is_a( $user, 'WP_User' ) ) {
if ( $user->has_cap( 'administrator' ) ) {
$url = admin_url();
} else {
$url = home_url( '/cool-page/' );
}
}
return $url;
}
add_filter( 'login_redirect', 'ti_custom_login_redirect', 10, 3 );This code works as follows:
- If an Administrator logs in, they’ll see the WordPress admin dashboard as usual.
- If any other user role logs in, they’ll be redirected to
https://yoursite.com/cool-page/.
To make this code snippet your own, replace /cool-page/ with the actual URL slug that you want to redirect users to. For example, to set up a WordPress after login redirect to send users to https://yoursite.com/members/dashboard/, you would replace it with /members/dashboard/ (make sure to leave the single quotes on both sides).
In the next section, we’ll show you how to add this code to your WordPress site manually. However, you can also use a plugin like Code Snippets to insert the code without editing your site files.
First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. Then, head to Snippets > Add New, switch to the Functions tab, and paste the code directly into the editor:
You can leave the setting to Run snippet everywhere to redirect all WordPress users on your site. Then, click on Save Changes > Activate.
You can also get more creative and set up different WordPress redirects after login functionality based on a user’s role. You can find some code examples of this at the WordPress.org Developer Resources for this function.
4. Edit your theme functions.php file
If you don’t want to use the Code Snippets plugin, you can also add the same code snippet from above to your child theme’s functions.php file. This method is essentially the same as the method above – you’ll just add the code snippet to your site in a different way.
Before you get started, it’s important to make a backup of your site in case anything goes wrong. Plus, it can be a good idea to run changes in a staging environment first. This way, your live website will remain unaffected as you tinker with important files.
Additionally, make sure that you use a child theme so that your changes don’t get overwritten when you update your theme.
WordPress comes with a built-in file editor that you can access straight from your dashboard. All you need to do is head to Appearance > Theme File Editor:
WordPress will warn you about the dangers of editing your theme files. If you’re happy to proceed, click on I understand.
Then, in the Theme Files menu to the right of the screen, select Theme Functions (functions.php).
Open the file by clicking on it. Now, you’re going to use the redirect filter from the method above (Method 3).
Enter the code at the bottom of your theme functions file:
Then, click on Update File.
Set up WordPress redirect after login functionality today
If you run a membership site or ecommerce store, it can be useful (if not necessary) to redirect users after the WordPress login page. This way, you can send customers straight to their profiles or baskets.
Alternatively, you might enable members to manage their accounts immediately. Fortunately, there are different ways to set this up.
To recap, here are four ways to make WordPress redirect after the login page:
- Use a redirect plugin like LoginWP.
- Create a custom login form with a tool like WPForms (paid) or Profile Builder (free).
- Add a login redirect filter.
- Edit your theme functions file.
👉 For some other ways to customize the WordPress login experience, you also might be interested in our guides to create a custom login page, change the WordPress login URL, or set up passwordless login.
Do you still have any questions about setting up a WordPress redirect after login feature on your site? Let us know in the comments!
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