Wordpress Customized LoginTo my normal readers… sorry, but this post is not for you.

I’ve been asked technical questions by several people about Wordpress, the software I use to publish OneMansBlog.com. So, I’ll be adding in posts occasionally pertaining specifically to Wordpress hacks, tips and (hopefully) generally useful information for Blog publishers.

Wordpress Default LoginThis first tip involves customizing the login screen that your users see when they log into your blog. Normally when users choose the login or register link a page is displayed with a giant Wordpress logo which my users find to be extremely confusing. The average reader doesn’t know what Wordpress is, so it would be far more appropriate for that link to go to your site. I consider this the biggest oversight in the Wordpress package.

This hack will require editing three files:

  • /wp-login.php
  • /wp-register.php
  • /wp-admin/wp-admin.css

Step 1: Download copies of these three files to your desktop, or your preferred location.

Step 2: Using Notepad, or your preferred editor, open the wp-login.php file.

Step 3: Do a search for the following text:
<h1><a href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a></h1>
There will be two instances within the file and both will need to be changed.

Step 4: Replace the Heading and Hyperlink with the name of your blog and a link to your home page. For example, I used:
<h1><a href="http://onemansblog.com/">One Man's Blog</a></h1>

Step 5: Save and upload the file.

Step 6: Using Notepad, or your preferred editor, open the wp-register.php file.

Step 7: Repeat steps 3-5.

Step 8: Using Notepad, or your preferred editor, open the wp-admin.css file.

Step 9: Do a search for the following text, and delete it:
#login h1 {
background: url(images/wordpress-logo.png) no-repeat top left;
margin-top: 0;
}
#login h1 a {
display: block;
text-indent: -1000px;
height: 66px;
border-bottom: none;
}

Step 10: Save and upload the file.

The whole process should take you about 10 minutes, but it will benefit your users from now on.

One thing to keep in mind… unlike your custom theme, when you upgrade to a newer version of Wordpress it will over-rite these changes and you will need to perform these steps again. For that reason you might want to bookmark this page if you think you might need the instructions again.

If you have any questions about this, or other Wordpress features you find on my blog, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do to help.

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