How to Redirect Users After Successful Login in WordPress

Are you frustrated with WordPress sending logged-in users to the default admin dashboard? This can confuse your customers, members, or team, potentially driving them away from your site.

There’s a better way: customized login redirects. With the right setup, you can automatically send users to specific pages after they log in.

Imagine sending subscribers to your latest content, customers to their account page, or team members to their project dashboard. This tailored approach creates a smoother, more intuitive user experience.

In this guide, we will show you how to redirect users after a successful login in WordPress.

Why Redirect Users After They Log in to Your WordPress Site?

If your website has multiple users, like a multi-author blog, a membership website, or an online store, then you will want to guide these users to the right place after they log in.

Many WordPress membership plugins and eCommerce plugins automatically handle redirects by showing users custom login pages and redirecting them to an account management page.

However, not all websites will be using a plugin with this functionality. In this case, users will simply be redirected to the default WordPress admin area.

While this might work for bloggers and writers, it’s not an ideal experience for people like your members and customers. 

That being said, let’s take a look at how to redirect users after a successful login in WordPress easily. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use:

Method 1: Setting Up Login Redirects With LoginWP

The method lets you redirect users after they sign in based on user roles, capabilities, usernames, and more. 

The easiest way to do this is using LoginWP (formerly Peter’s Login Redirect), a login page plugin. It lets you set up simple login redirects in a couple of clicks.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to LoginWP » Redirections to set up the plugin.

It allows you to set up login redirects for various situations. Let’s take a look at each of them below.

Setting Up Login Redirects for Specific WordPress Users

First, you can set up redirects only for specific users. This is useful if you have a small team and want to redirect team members to specific pages. 

To do this, click the ‘Add New’ button in the ‘Redirection Rules’ section.

This brings you to a new page to set your redirection settings.

First, select the ‘Username’ condition from the ‘Rule Condition’ dropdown and choose the username from the dropdown list.

Then, you can enter the URLs you want to redirect the user to on login and logout.

Make sure to click the ‘Save Rule’ button to save your changes. 

Setting Up Login Redirects by User Role in WordPress

Next, you can set up a login redirect based on the user role in WordPress. For example, you might want to redirect editors to the admin area but have your email list subscribers go to a separate custom page. 

The process will be similar to the steps above. Simply click the ‘Add New’ button in the ‘Redirection Rules’ section.

Then, select the ‘User Role’ condition from the ‘Rule Condition’ dropdown and choose the user role from the dropdown list. 

You can also set the order to any number, which will determine how this rule is stored and displayed in the plugin settings.

Then, enter the login and logout URLs where you want to redirect the user role.

Next, click the ‘Save Rule’ button.

If you want to create different login redirects for multiple user roles, then simply follow the same steps above. 

Setting Up Login Redirects by Capabilities in WordPress

The plugin also allows you to set up login redirects based on user levels and capabilities. This is very useful if you are using a plugin to create and manage user roles with custom capabilities in WordPress.

To do this, follow the same steps above by clicking the ‘Add New’ button.

Then, you need to select the ‘User Capability’ condition from the ‘Rule Condition’ dropdown and choose the user capability from the dropdown list.

You can also enter an order number if you want to keep your rules organized on the plugin settings page.

You will have different user capabilities available based on the roles you have assigned.

Next, enter your login URL and logout URL in the boxes below. 

Finally, just click the ‘Save Rule’ button.

Setting Up Login Redirects for All Users in WordPress

On the plugin’s settings page, there is an option to set a redirect for all other users. If a user doesn’t match any rules you set above, then you can redirect them by entering a URL here.

You can also use this setting to create a sitewide redirect for all users.

Simply enter a login URL and logout URL into the ‘All Other Users’ section. 

Then, simply click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Setting Up a User Registration Redirect in WordPress

When a new user signs up on your website, WordPress redirects them to the login page. You can set up a redirect URL to send them to any other page on your WordPress website. 

Simply enter the new URL in the ‘After Registration’ section and click the ‘Save Changes’ button. 

Method 2: Setting Up Custom Login Form and Redirects With WPForms

If you want to create a custom login form for new users, then you can use WPForms to set up a redirect after they log in. 

WPForms is the best user registration plugin on the market, used by over 6 million websites. It lets you easily create user registration forms, contact forms, and more. 

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin. 

Upon activation, you need to visit WPForms » Settings and enter your license key. You can find this information in your account on the WPForms website.

After that, you need to install the user registration form addon. 

Simply go to WPForms » Addons and locate the ‘User Registration Addon’ and click the ‘Install Addon’ button.

Now, you are ready to create your own custom login form. 

To do this, navigate to WPForms » Add New and give your form a name.

Next, search for ‘Login’ in the search bar to find the ‘User Login Form’ template, then click the ‘Use Template’ button.

WPForms will automatically load the User Login Form template with all the required fields.

You can edit all existing fields by clicking on them and making changes on the new screen.

For example, if you want to change the ‘Submit’ text, then simply click the button.

This brings you to an editor where you can add new button text, add button processing text, and more.

Once you have finished customizing your form, you can set up a login redirect.

To do this, go to Settings » Confirmation from the left column, then select ‘Go to URL’ redirect as your confirmation type.

Then, you can enter the URL where your users will be redirected. 

Your login form is now ready. Make sure you click the ‘Save’ button before closing the form builder interface. 

Now, let’s add your login form to your WordPress blog or website. 

Simply open up the page where you want your login form to display or create a new page. Then, click the ‘Plus’ icon on the page edit screen to add a new block and search for ‘WPForms’.

Next, click on the WPForms block, and it will automatically be added to your site.

After that, select the login form you created earlier from the dropdown list, and it will automatically load the form inside your content area.

For more information on using WPForms, check out these articles:

• How to Add a Login Form in Your WordPress Sidebar
• How to Add Front-End Login Page and Widgets in WordPress
• How to Create a WordPress Login Popup Modal (Step by Step)
• How to Add CAPTCHA in WordPress Login and Registration Form

Alternative: Use SeedProd to Create a Custom Login Page

Alternatively, you could use a page builder plugin like SeedProd to set up a login redirect, plus create a beautiful login page.

SeedProd lets you easily create custom landing pages, login pages, 404 pages, and more.

For more details, see our guide on how to create a custom login page in WordPress.

How to Troubleshoot Common Login Issues in WordPress

Setting up redirects using the methods above should work like a charm. However, you might run into issues depending on how your website is set up and the WordPress plugins you are currently using.

Here are some tips that can help you resolve those issues. 

1. Update Your Permalink Structure

Simply go to Settings » Permalinks and click on the ‘Save settings’ button without making any changes.

This will refresh the WordPress permalink settings. If you are experiencing other redirect issues, then this usually does the trick.

For more information, read our guide on how to regenerate WordPress permalinks.

2. Fix Login Page Redirect Issue

If your login page keeps refreshing and redirecting you back to the login form, then this is a sign of a settings conflict.

For help troubleshooting the problem, see our guide on how to fix the WordPress login page refreshing and redirecting issue.

3. Follow General Troubleshooting Tips

If the two tips above didn’t solve your issue, then it’s most likely a plugin or theme conflict. For more details, see our beginner’s guide to troubleshooting WordPress errors.

We hope this article helped you learn how to redirect users after a successful login in WordPress. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to find your WordPress login URL and how to set up two-factor authentication in WordPress.

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