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SimpleModal Login

By Eric

User Management & Authentication / User Registration & Login

SimpleModal Login Review - In-Depth Analysis

SimpleModal Login offers a modal Ajax login, registration, and password reset feature for WordPress. It uses jQuery for a seamless user experience.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.65/10

User Rating

4/5 (based on 33+ reviews)

Active Installations

700+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

SimpleModal Login provides a modal Ajax login, registration, and password reset feature for WordPress. It utilizes jQuery and the SimpleModal jQuery plugin to enhance user interactions.

This plugin allows you to create your own custom themes, providing flexibility in design and functionality. It is designed to improve the login experience for users on your WordPress site.

Additionally, the plugin includes a user registration feature, making it easier for new users to join your site. For more details, please refer to the FAQ section.

Comparing to Alternatives

SimpleModal Login is a straightforward modal login plugin with several alternatives offering various customization and security features.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and easy to set up with minimal configuration.
Provides a modal login popup that integrates well with navigation menus.
No known security vulnerabilities reported.
Lightweight and focused on login functionality without bloat.
Free to use with no paid version, making it accessible for all users.

Weaknesses

Lacks detailed instructions and documentation, causing confusion for some users.
Does not support selective content restriction as some users expected.
Compatibility issues reported with newer WordPress versions (e.g., 5.5.1).
No email notification functionality after user registration.

User Sentiment Analysis

With an 80% overall rating and most users praising its simplicity, the plugin is generally well-received. However, about 21% of ratings are low, highlighting some functional and compatibility issues.

Positive highlights

"Works great so easy" - jordanmulkey
"Great plugin. Easy to implement and include!" - Punt
"Very very good!" - NicolausX

Common complaints

User registration emails are not sent to users.
Lack of instructions makes it difficult to use for specific content needs.
Not compatible with WordPress version 5.5.1 and possibly newer versions.

Weaknesses

Limited documentation and support resources.
No advanced features like selective content restriction.
Compatibility issues with recent WordPress updates.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, lightweight modal login solution that is easy to set up and integrates well with navigation menus.

Not ideal for

Users needing advanced login features, selective content restriction, or compatibility with the latest WordPress versions without issues.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes the core modal login functionality with easy setup and integration into navigation menus.

Final Verdict

SimpleModal Login offers a straightforward and easy-to-use modal login solution with no known security vulnerabilities, making it a good choice for users needing basic login functionality. Its free availability and simplicity are strong points, but the lack of documentation and compatibility issues with newer WordPress versions limit its appeal.

Users requiring more advanced features or reliable support for recent WordPress updates may want to consider alternative plugins. Overall, it serves well for simple use cases but may not meet the needs of all users.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free SimpleModal Login plugin.

modal login

ajax login

user registration

Screenshots

FAQ

Install and Activate

Unzip the downloaded SimpleModal Login zip file
Upload the simplemodal-login folder and its contents into the wp-content/plugins/ directory of your WordPress installation
Activate SimpleModal Login from Plugins page

Implement

There are 3 options for using the SimpleModal Login features:

a) Use wp_loginout() or wp_register() in your theme. SimpleModal Login will use the loginout and register filters to add the simplemodal-login class or simplemodal-register class to the respective link.

b) Enable the Keystroke Shortcut option. Once this is enabled, you will be able to invoke SimpleModal Login using the Ctrl+Alt+L keystroke.

c) Manually add a Log In or Register link. If your theme does not use wp_loginout() and you still want to use this plugin, you can manually edit your theme and add a login link as follows:

<a href="/wp-login.php" class="simplemodal-login">Log In</a>  <a href="/wp-login.php?action=register" class="simplemodal-register">Register</a>

Configure

1) Configure the SimpleModal Login settings, if necessary, from the SimpleModal Login option in the Settings menu. You can choose from one of the available themes as well as enable/disable the keystroke shortcut.

2) The styles can be changed with the following methods:

Add a CSS file in your theme’s directory and place your custom CSS there. The name of the file should be simplemodal-login-THEME.css. For example, simplemodal-login-default.css or simplemodal-login-osx.css.
Add your custom CSS to your theme’s style.css stylesheet
Modify the SimpleModal Login CSS files directly in the simplemodal-login/css directory

Note: The first two options will ensure that SimpleModal Login updates will not overwrite your custom styles.

The WordPress wp_loginout() function allows for an optional $redirect parameter which is the URL where the user will be sent after a logging in our logging out.

To have the user return to the page they were on, update the code to look like:

<?php wp_loginout($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']); ?>

If you are using the Meta Widget (Appearance > Widgets), to use this feature, you may need to delete the Meta Widget and add the code to your sidebar.php file manually.

For example, after you delete the Meta Widget, open sidebar.php (in your theme) and add[1] the following code:

<ul>     <?php wp_register(); ?>     <li><?php wp_loginout(); ?></li> </ul>

[1] Place it wherever you’d like to display and modify the code to fit your needs.

Lastly, if you’ve manually added a log in link, you can change it to:

<a href="/wp-login.php?redirect_to=<?php echo $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']; ?>" class="simplemodal-login">Log In</a>

This is an advanced option for users familiar with HTML, PHP and WordPress.

Starting with SimpleModal Login 1.0, each form (login, register, password reset) has a filter available that allows you to modify the HTML.

The 3 available filters are:

simplemodal_login_form
simplemodal_registration_form
simplemodal_reset_form

To use the filter, you’ll need to add code to your theme’s functions.php file. For example:

add_filter('simplemodal_login_form', 'mytheme_login_form'); function mytheme_login_form($form) {     // $form contains the SimpleModal Login login HTML      // do stuff here      // you have to return the code that you want displayed     return $form; }

You’d probably want to start by copying the form HTML from the appropriate function in the main plugin file and then modifying to fit your requirements.

Things you’ll need to change:

Change $this->users_can_register (for login and reset forms only)

Create a $users_can_register variable in your function:

$users_can_register = get_option(‘users_can_register’) ? true : false;
Replace $this->users_can_register with $users_can_register

Change $this->options[‘registration’] and $this->options[‘reset’]

Create an $options variables in your function:

$options = get_option(‘simplemodal_login_options’);
Replace $this->options['registration'] with $options['registration']
Replace $this->options['reset'] with $options['reset']