The default WordPress author box uses the same design as millions of other WordPress websites. That doesn’t help you make a great impression on your website visitors.
Luckily, with Kadence Theme, you can add a custom author box to your site that not only looks great but also helps your blog posts stand out.
In this step-by-step guide, I’ll show you how to add a custom Kadence author box at the bottom of your post as well as to your sidebar (and make it sticky).
Plus, I’ll share free templates for you to use on your website.
Curious to learn how to set it up correctly? Let’s dive in!
How to set up a custom author box with Kadence Theme Pro
Kadence Theme Pro has a feature called Hooked Elements, which allows you to easily add multiple author boxes.
Here’s how you can use Kadence Hooked Elements to set up a custom author box in five simple steps:
1. Upgrade to Kadence Theme Pro and activate Hooked Elements
Visit the Kadence website and choose from the available plans: Kadence Theme Pro, Essential Bundle, or Full Bundle.
The Full Bundle usually offers the most value, but you can read my detailed review on the Kadence Theme for more insights into everything Kadence Pro offers.
After you select a plan, enter your billing details and payment information, agree to the terms, and click Place Order.
Then log in to your Kadence account and click Download Files.
Find Kadence Pro Plugin – Premium addon for the Kadence Theme, click Download, and save the file on your computer.
Now, go to your WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Add New.
Click Upload Plugin, then Choose File, and upload the Kadence Pro zip file you downloaded.
Click Install Now, and after the installation, click Activate Plugin to finalize the setup.
You’ll see a notification in your WordPress admin about activating Kadence Theme Pro. Click the link in that message to go to the Kadence Theme dashboard.
Enter your License Key and License Email in the license activation area, and click Activate.
You’re now ready to start using all the features of Kadence Pro.
Next, enable the Hooked Elements feature by going to Appearance > Kadence in your WordPress dashboard.
Look for the Pro Addons section and activate the Hooked Elements toggle.
2. Design your custom author box element
Now, it’s time to design your custom author box.
You can do that by clicking the Customize hyperlink in the Hooked Elements box or going to Appearance > Kadence > Elements > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
You’ll see four types of elements to choose from:
- Content Section.
- Fixed Section.
- Templates.
- HTML Editor.
If this is your first time using Kadence Hooked Elements, I strongly recommend reading my beginner-friendly guide about Kadence Hooked Elements to learn about the different element types or how it all works.
For this Kadence custom author box tutorial, I’ll select Content.
Next, enter a title in the Add title area.
Then, design your Kadence author box using either of the following two methods:
- Use Kadence’s Info Box block: This block includes an image, author name, description, and a ‘Learn More’ button which can link to an ‘About Me’ or ‘ Author’ page.
- Build an author box from scratch: This method allows you to customize the author box however you want. You can also social media links to build credibility with readers.
The Info Box block comes with predefined elements, but it doesn’t have options for adding social media links or any other custom design elements.
That’s why, I prefer setting up custom author boxes by building them from scratch because it provides more control over the design and lets me add any element I want into the design.
Don’t worry. I’ll explain how to set up a custom author box using both methods.
Let’s start with the easiest option, the Info Box.
Create a custom author box using the Kadence Info Box
First, click the + button (Add Block button) in the post editor.
Then search for Info Box, and select the block.
Alternatively, type /info in your post, and all blocks that start with ‘Info’ will appear, including the Info Box block from Kadence Blocks.
Now, it’s time to design the block. Here are some tips for designing your custom author box:
- Add a link to your About Me or Author page in General > Link. You can either add a link to the entire Info Box or only the Learn More button.
- To make the box stand out when a user hovers on the box, add a new background, border, or a box shadow in Style > Container Settings.
- Use padding to create space inside the block and margin to make space around the block.
Here’s a basic design I’ve created using the Kadence Info Box:
Create a custom author box from scratch
To create a custom author box from scratch, click the + (Add Block) button, search for Row Layout, and select the block.
Then select the Two:Right Heavy 33/66 layout. Add an Image block in the left box and insert the author’s profile image.
To add the author’s name in the right box, insert a Text (Adv) block. Similarly, add another Text (Adv) block for the author description.
Then insert the Social Icons block to add links to the author’s preferred social media channels.
Make sure you center align all the blocks for a clean look. Finally, adjust the row layout and section settings to add padding and margin to the blocks.
Here’s the custom author box I’ve designed using the steps described above:
Want to save time designing your custom author box from scratch? You can use our free, fully responsive Kadence author box templates instead.
Use the button below to get access to our free templates.
3. Set the Placement for the author box element
Now that you’ve designed your author box page, let’s set its placement.
First, click on the Element Settings icon, next to the ‘Publish’ icon at the top right of your screen.
In the Element Settings menu, select Single Inner Content > After Inner Content from the Placement dropdown.
Leave the Priority at the default value of 10.
4. Configure the Display settings
Now, let’s specify the location to display the author box element on the website.
Set the Show On option to Posts > Single Posts to display the author box element on blog posts.
Next, choose Author from the Select Post By dropdown and assign this element to a specific author.
You’ll also notice a few more settings under that may not be necessary now but could be useful for different scenarios:
- Exclude Settings: Opt to prevent the author box from appearing on certain blog posts
- User Settings: Set visibility of the element for specific user groups only.
- Expire Settings: Useful for temporary content, like promotions, which allows you to set an expiry date for when the element should no longer be displayed.
5. Publish your author box
Once you’ve designed and configured your author box, it’s time to publish it.
Take a moment to review your settings to make sure everything is correct. When you’re ready, click the Publish button to activate your element.
Your custom author box is now live and will appear on blog posts linked to the specified author.
Here’s how my author box looks below a blog post:
How to add a sidebar author box with Kadence Theme Pro
Kadence Theme Pro makes it easy to add custom elements to different parts of your website. Here’s how you can use it to insert custom author boxes into the sidebar of your blog posts.
1. Change the layout of your WordPress blog post
Before we add an author box, we need to adjust the layout of your WordPress blog post to include a sidebar. You can skip this part if your website already uses a sidebar for single posts.
If you don’t use a sidebar, follow these steps to update your blog post layout.
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Customize.
A sidebar menu will appear, providing access to the WordPress customizer, where you can adjust your website’s appearance.
Click on Posts/Pages Layout, then select Single Post Layout.
On the right hand side of the screen, open a blog post while you adjust the customizer settings to see the changes in real time. If no blog posts are available, create a test post with some content.
Then scroll down to Default Post Layout and select either Left Sidebar or Right Sidebar as per your preference.
You should now see elements like the “Search” bar and “Recent Posts” in the sidebar.
Click the Publish button at the top to save your changes and then click the X icon to close the Customizer.
2. Design your custom author box element
First, create a new Element by following these steps:
- Go to Appearance > Kadence > Elements.
- Click Add New from your dashboard.
- Select Content Section from the four elements as it allows you to automatically add an author box to specific posts on your site.
Next, enter a title in the Add title area.
Now, let’s design your author box using blocks.
There are two ways to do it:
- Use Kadence’s Info Box block
- Build a sidebar author box from scratch
Here’s how a sidebar author box using the Info Box looks:
Here’s how a sidebar author box created from scratch looks:
As you can see, the custom-built box looks more refined. Plus, adding social media links boosts credibility and improves your site’s authority.
Loved the design? Use our free Kadence sidebar author box templates for your blog. Use the link below to get access to our templates.
3. Set the Placement for the sidebar author box
Once you’ve designed the author box, it’s time to set its placement.
Click on the Element Settings icon, located next to the ‘Publish’ icon at the top right of your screen.
In the settings menu, select Content And Sidebar > After Sidebar from the Placement dropdown.
4. Configure the Display settings
Display Settings let you specify conditions where the sidebar author box should appear on your website.
In the Show On option, select Posts > Single Posts. This will ensure the author box appears on all individual blog posts.
Then choose Author from the Select Post By dropdown and assign this sidebar element to the author.
You will also see other settings available. These are not needed right now but can be useful for different types of content.
5. Publish your custom sidebar author box
After designing and configuring your author box, it’s time to publish it.
Before you do, double-check all your settings to ensure everything is correct. Then click the Publish button to activate your element.
Your sidebar author box will now be visible on blog posts associated with the specified author.
6. (Optional) Make the Author Box sticky
You might notice that the sidebar author box disappears as you scroll down the blog post.
If you want the author box to remain visible even when the reader scrolls, follow these steps to make it sticky:
Go to Appearance > Customize from your WordPress dashboard.
Navigate to General > Sidebar.
Look for the Enable Sticky Sidebar toggle and click on it to enable this feature.
The Only Stick Last Widget toggle will appear. This setting ensures that only the last widget in the sidebar remains sticky.
Activate that toggle and click the Publish button to save your changes.
How to add a sidebar author box with Kadence Theme Free
Don’t have Kadence Pro but want to add a sidebar author box? No worries, I’ll show you how to do it.
Fair warning though, this method only works if you have a single author on your website. With multiple authors, you’ll need to edit your custom author box to either use dynamic content or upgrade to Kadence Theme Pro.
With that out of the way, let’s go over the steps to add a custom author box to the sidebar using the free version of Kadence Theme.
1. Go to the Widgets area of your website
Widgets in WordPress are blocks you can place in specific areas of your website.
For example, we’ll add an author box block to the sidebar, but you can also add affiliate disclaimers or email signup forms.
To create an author box widget, follow these steps:
Go to Appearance > Widgets.
On the Widgets page, you’ll see various areas of your website, such as sidebars and footers.
The Sidebar 1 widget area will be open by default, showing blocks like the “Search” bar and “Recent Posts” blocks, which are default widgets.
You can keep or delete the default widgets based on your preference.
2. Design and add your custom author box to the Widgets area
There are two ways to create an author box:
- From scratch: Click the + button to add a new block and search for Row Layout. This allows you to create a custom layout for your author box.
- Use Info Box: For an easier option, search for and add an Info Box. This block includes an image, author name, description, and a ‘Learn More’ button.
You can also save some time by using our free sidebar author box templates. Here’s a preview of one of our free templates:
3. Save your changes
Now, it’s time to publish your author box.
Before you do, review your settings to ensure everything is correct. Then, click Update to activate your widget.
Remember, this sidebar author box will be visible on all blog posts. If you have multiple authors on your blog, you can either customize the author box to use dynamic content or switch to Kadence Theme Pro.
Final thoughts: Adding a custom Kadence author box doesn’t get any easier
A great looking author box not only adds depth to your content but also helps it stand out from your competitors. And with Kadence Theme Pro, adding a custom author box is easier than ever.
You don’t have to mess with theme templates or use any custom code. All it takes is a few clicks to customize your website.
If you have more questions about this custom author box tutorial or need help setting it up, reach out to us using our contact page. We’ll help you get things right 🙂
Want to learn more about customizing your Kadence website?
Make sure you check out these posts I’ve written to make the most of your Kadence Pro subscription:
