After 15+ years of building websites on WordPress, I‘ve seen firsthand how a disjointed user experience can negatively impact conversions and retention.
One area many site owners overlook is the default WordPress reset password page. The generic styling stands out compared to custom themes and membership sites.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll show you three different methods to seamlessly customize the reset password page in WordPress.
Contents
Why You Should Customize the Reset Password Page
Before jumping into the how-to, let‘s briefly go over some compelling reasons to customize the reset password page:
Enhances User Experience
A custom-designed reset page aligns better with your brand. This creates a smoother user journey across your site. Members will appreciate the cohesive experience.
Increases Credibility
Generic reset pages look unprofessional in some cases. Custom pages reinforce your brand and appear more legitimate to users.
Allows Data Collection
Add custom fields to gather useful info from members, like name, email, phone number, etc. This data can enhance your customer profiles.
Improves Conversions
Match the reset styling with your lead gen landing pages for better continuity. The improved experience drives more conversions.
Provides Design Flexibility
Custom pages give you full control over the layout, text, images, colors and more. Perfectly match the rest of your site.
How Often Do Users Reset Passwords?
To demonstrate why a smooth reset process is critical, let‘s look at some data:
- The average business suffers over 5 password reset requests per user per year.
- Around 20% of help desk calls are for password resets.
- 18% of users will abandon your site after just 1 failed login attempt.
It‘s clear that password resets happen frequently. Let‘s now dive into the step-by-step process for customizing this page.
Method #1: Using Formidable Forms (Easiest Way)
The fastest method for replacing the default reset page is by using Formidable Forms, a popular WordPress form builder used on over 1 million sites.
While you can‘t edit the fields themselves, you can fully customize the surrounding content.
Step 1: Install and Activate Formidable Forms
First, install Formidable Forms and the free Formidable Forms Lite companion plugin.
Upon activation, navigate to Formidable Forms » Global Settings and enter your license key to unlock the premium features.
Step 2: Install the User Registration Addon
Next, install the User Registration addon which powers custom registration and login forms.
Navigate to Formidable » Add-Ons and click "Install" on the User Registration addon. Then click "Activate" to enable it.
Step 3: Create a Page and Add the Shortcode
Now, create a new WordPress page and add this shortcode:
[frm-reset-password]
This will display the password reset form on your page.
Step 4: Customize the Page Content
With the reset form added, customize the rest of the page content around it with images, text, etc.
Match the styling to your existing theme for a unified experience.
Step 5: Set the Page in Formidable Forms
Finally, open Formidable Forms » Global Settings and choose your new page from the "Reset Password Page" setting.
That‘s it! Publish your page and the form will now be live.
The benefit of this method is it‘s very fast to setup. The limitation is you can‘t edit the actual form fields.
Next, let‘s look at an extension of this called Theme My Login.
Method #2: Using the Theme My Login Plugin
Theme My Login takes the Formidable Forms approach a step further by customizing all your account related pages including login, registration, password reset, etc.
It uses your existing WordPress theme for a consistent appearance across all pages.
Here‘s how to do it:
Step 1: Install and Activate Theme My Login
Install Theme My Login just like any other WordPress plugin. Upon activation, it will create URLs for the custom account pages.
Step 2: Create a Reset Page
Add a new page in WordPress with the URL slug set to:
/lostpassword
Step 3: Add the Shortcode
Now add this shortcode to display the password reset form:
[theme-my-login action="lostpassword"]
Step 4: Customize the Page
Add any other text, images, etc. around the form to complete the page. Match the styling to your theme.
Step 5: Publish the Page
With your customizations complete, publish the page. Users will now be redirected there for password resets.
You can follow the same process to build custom login, registration and other pages with Theme My Login.
The pros are a consistent appearance and simplified setup. The cons are limited customization compared to building your own forms.
Let‘s look at that next.
Method #3: Building a Custom Form with WPForms
For maximum design flexibility and customization, I recommend using WPForms to build your own entirely custom password reset form.
You can customize every element of the form including fields, design, user experience and more.
Here‘s how to do it:
Step 1: Install and Activate WPForms
First, install and activate WPForms along with the User Registration addon.
The addon provides templates for registration, login, password reset, and more.
Step 2: Build the Custom Form
Create a new WPForms form and select the "User Password Reset Form" template.
WPForms makes it easy to customize fields, text, colors, and design right within the editor.
Step 3: Create a Page for the Form
Make a new page titled /lostpassword
just like we did with Theme My Login.
Embed your custom WPForms form on this page.
Step 4: Redirect Users to the New Page
Finally, use a simple PHP snippet to redirect visitors from the default reset URL to your custom WPForms page.
This provides complete control over the reset process while collecting any additional data you need.
The flexibility is unmatched, but does require more technical expertise compared to the other methods.
Final Thoughts
After helping thousands of site owners customize their reset pages over the years, I highly recommend taking the time to create a branded experience that matches the rest of your site.
The three options we covered were:
Formidable Forms – The fastest method using a simple shortcode.
Theme My Login – Provides consistent branding across account pages.
WPForms – Build completely custom forms with full design control.
Pick the option that aligns with your goals, resources, and technical abilities.
Consistency is key. Providing a streamlined password reset experience will build trust and loyalty with your audience.
I hope this guide provides everything you need to customize your reset page in WordPress. Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips or questions!