Key points: 

  • WordPress’s default user profile system is limited for frontend use, making enhanced profile management essential for membership sites and online communities.
  • Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) provides two approaches: enhancing existing profile plugins or building custom frontend forms from scratch, allowing for complete customization of user profile fields.
  • Popular plugins like Ultimate Member and WP User Manager, when combined with ACF, enable comprehensive profile management with custom fields for social media, credentials, and member-specific information.

The default WordPress user profile system works great behind the scenes but falls short where it matters most – on your actual website. Most site owners need more than just basic profile fields, especially for membership sites and online communities.

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) offers two solid ways to tackle this challenge. You can enhance existing profile plugins with custom fields or build frontend forms from scratch. Both approaches help create the exact profile system your site needs.

Popular plugins like Ultimate Member and WP User Manager already handle the basics of profile pages nicely. Add ACF to the mix, and you can collect any type of user information that makes sense for your community – social media profiles, professional credentials, special member details, you name it.

This guide breaks down both methods with clear, practical steps. Whether you’re building your first membership site or improving an existing community platform, you’ll find straightforward solutions that make sense.

Top 7 frontend user profile plugins for WordPress

Before diving into ACF implementation, let’s examine the leading profile plugins you might want to enhance. Each offers different approaches and features that affect how you’ll integrate custom fields.

1. WP User Manager

WP User Manager homepage

WP User Manager turns WordPress into a proper membership platform without overwhelming you with complicated settings. The plugin handles everything from user registration to profile management, and it does it all from the frontend of your site.

What makes this plugin particularly useful is how it balances features with simplicity. Need to create a member directory? Just drop in a shortcode. Want to add custom registration forms? The built-in form builder makes it straightforward. Looking to restrict content to certain members? There’s a simple toggle for that.

Here are some of its other features: 

  • Design professional profile pages with modern layouts and customizable fields that look polished straight out of the box.
  • Create custom registration and login forms using an intuitive drag-and-drop builder with field validation and custom redirects.
  • Set up detailed permission systems to control which user roles can access and edit specific content areas.
  • Build searchable member directories with filters for location, skills, or any custom field you’ve added.

2. Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member homepage

Ultimate Member is a membership plugin for WordPress with over 200,000 active installations. The plugin focuses on providing all the essential tools needed to build a membership site or online community. Members can connect through the built-in following and friendship systems, chat privately through messaging, and stay engaged with activity feeds and notifications. It allows you to: 

  • Create professional user profiles with drag-and-drop layouts and custom fields.
  • Build registration forms that automatically adapt based on different user roles and permissions.
  • Set up searchable member directories with filters for location, interests, or any custom field.
  • Control access to content based on user roles, membership levels, or custom rules.

3. ProfileGrid

ProfileGrid homepage

ProfileGrid focuses on group-based membership management. This plugin transforms WordPress sites into full-featured community platforms, with special attention to how members interact within groups.

ProfileGrid’s modular design lets you enable just the features you need, keeping your site fast and focused. It also lets you: 

  • Create dynamic user groups, each with its own leaders, custom fields, and privacy settings.
  • Build beautiful member profiles with organized sections for different types of information.
  • Track member activity through notifications and news feeds.
  • Enable frontend content creation with built-in moderation workflows, allowing members to contribute blog posts that administrators can review and approve before publication.

4. Profile Builder

Profile Builder homepage

Profile Builder combines user registration, profile management, and content restriction in one streamlined package. The plugin focuses on creating professional-looking forms and user directories while maintaining tight control over who can access your content. 

Simply drop in a shortcode, and you’re ready to add registration forms, login pages, or member directories anywhere on your site. Each form can be customized to match your site’s design and collect exactly the information you need. Here are its features: 

  • Build custom registration and login forms with a drag-and-drop field editor. 
  • Create professional user directories with sorting and filtering options. 
  • Set up content restrictions based on user roles or login status. 
  • Protect your forms with reCAPTCHA and GDPR compliance tools. 

5. User Registration

User Registration homepage

User Registration makes creating custom registration forms straightforward with its drag-and-drop builder. The plugin focuses on simplifying the entire user registration process while providing powerful customization options, which is perfect for sites that need more than just basic WordPress registration. Its features include: 

  • Design registration forms using an intuitive drag-and-drop builder.
  • Add custom fields beyond WordPress defaults, like country selectors and profile pictures.
  • Preview forms instantly before publishing to ensure everything works.
  • Protect forms with Google reCAPTCHA and honeypot spam protection.

6. Youzify

Youzify homepage

For sites that need more than just basic profiles, Youzify is a solid option that transforms WordPress into a full-featured social platform. Built as a BuddyPress enhancement, this plugin focuses on creating engaging, modern community experiences with features you’d expect from established social networks.

The plugin’s main feature is its visual customization, with 14 different profile header styles and over 700 design options. It also adds social features like: 

  • Activity streams where members can share GIFs, social media posts, and links.
  • Social connections through follows, friendships, and @mentions.
  • Group spaces that can be public, private, or hidden.
  • Points and badges to reward active members.

7. UsersWP

UsersWP homepage

UsersWP provides user management tools with an emphasis on frontend registration forms and profiles. The plugin focuses on core features: registration forms, user profiles, and member directories.

The plugin’s main feature is its form builder for creating registration and login forms. It also includes features like:

  • User profiles with cover images, avatars, and custom fields.
  • Member directories that work in both list and grid layouts.
  • Social login options for easier registration.
  • Role-based access controls for content.

How to choose a WordPress profile plugin

Each of these plugins can handle basic user profiles, but they excel in different areas. Here’s what to consider when making your choice:

  • Project requirements: What features do you actually need? WP User Manager and User Profile Builder work well for basic profiles and registration forms. If you’re building a social community, Ultimate Member or Youzify offer more engagement features.
  • Technical considerations: While all these plugins work with ACF to extend profile fields, think about your server resources and existing plugins. More features usually mean more server load. Check the documentation quality if you plan to customize the plugin, and consider how easy it would be to export your data if needed.
  • User experience: Look at how the plugin handles the basics, like frontend forms, profile displays, and mobile responsiveness. Test the member directory if you need it, and make sure the plugin either matches your site’s design or can be styled to fit.

Using Advanced Custom Fields to enhance frontend user profiles

While these plugins provide solid foundations, ACF expands what’s possible with user profiles by adding custom fields to collect and display exactly the information you need. While WordPress includes basic profile fields like name and bio, ACF helps you add social media links, profile photos, professional credentials, or any other information that fits your community. Each field comes with built-in validation and sanitization to ensure data quality.

Combining ACF with user profile plugins creates powerful possibilities. For instance:

  • The advanced file uploader manages photo galleries and media on member profiles with automatic optimization.
  • The repeater field organizes multiple certifications or work experiences.
  • The flexible content fields help structure profile layouts and sections.

Plus, all these field types integrate with WordPress user meta, making frontend profile editing smooth and secure.

Option 1: Pairing ACF with another plugin

Let’s explore how to combine ACF with Ultimate Member to enhance user profiles:

  1. Install and activate ACF and Ultimate Member.
  2. Go to ACF > Field Groups > Add New. Give it a descriptive name like “User Profiles.”

Adding a new field group

  1. Begin adding custom fields like social media links, professional biographies, or whatever information you want to collect. The Field Name should populate automatically, but make sure to remember it; you’ll need it later.

Add custom fields

  1. Set this field group to show up on user profiles. Under Location Rules, choose “User Form” equals “All.” This tells ACF these fields belong in user profiles.

Location rules

  1. Now, head over to Ultimate Member > Forms and create a new form.
  2. Select your preferred form type, then click the + icon to add a new field. From the box that appears, under the Setup New Field section, choose an option that corresponds to the type of data you want the user to input. Examples include Text Box, Telephone, File Upload, and Rating.

How to add a new field to the Ultimate Member form builder

  1. This will open a new box where you’ll need to add details for the field. The two most important fields to fill in are the Title, which can be anything you want, and the Meta Key, which absolutely has to be the Field Name you got from ACF.

Adding details to a new Ultimate Member form field

  1. The field should show up in your form builder, and you can proceed as needed!

An ACF field added to the Ultimate Member form builder

Option 2: Creating custom profile pages

For complete control over profile displays, you can build custom profile pages using just ACF:

  1. Start in the WordPress dashboard under Custom Fields > Add New. Create these basic profile fields:
    • Profile Picture (Image field type).
    • Biography (Textarea field type).
    • Website (URL field type).
  2. Set the location rule to “User Form” equals “All” so these fields appear on user profiles.
  3. Create a new file called ‘page-profile.php’ in your theme folder. This template will display the user profiles. Here’s the basic code to display ACF fields:
$user_id = get_query_var('user_id');
$profile_picture = get_field('profile_picture', 'user_' . $user_id);
$biography = get_field('biography', 'user_' . $user_id);
$website = get_field('website', 'user_' . $user_id);
  1. Create a new page in WordPress called “Profile,” select your new template, and publish it. Users can now view profiles by visiting https://example.com/profile/?user_id=123

Upgrade your frontend user profiles

The difference between a basic website and a thriving community often comes down to how users can express themselves through their profiles. ACF bridges this gap by providing the exact fields and features your community needs, while ACF PRO takes these capabilities even further.

For instance, its repeater field solves the common problem of displaying multiple items like work experiences or portfolio pieces. The gallery field handles photo collections beautifully, and the flexible content field lets members customize their profile layout to match their content.

Take, for example, a membership site for professional photographers. With ACF PRO, you can create profiles featuring:

  • Equipment lists using repeater fields.
  • Photo galleries showcasing their best work.
  • Booking availability calendars.
  • Service packages with flexible content layouts.
  • Social media integration for their latest posts.

The best part? All this data stays organized in WordPress, making it easy to update or change how it displays. When working with WooCommerce, these profile fields can even connect with customer purchase history or product reviews. For membership sites, they can display subscription status or access levels.

What makes ACF PRO truly powerful is its adaptability. As your community grows, you can easily add new profile sections or modify existing layouts without disrupting member data. Your user profiles become a dynamic, growing asset that scales with your community. 

Ready to elevate your WordPress site? Get started with ACF PRO today.