Author profiles
Give each person who writes your posts a profile with a role, bio, photo and links. It turns their author page into a page about them.
On this page
Readers, search engines and AI assistants all trust a post more when they can see who wrote it and why that person knows the subject. An author profile says that once, and every post by that person points to it.
What a profile adds
Every author on your blog already has a page at /blog/author/<slug>/ listing their posts (Categories, tags and authors). With a profile, the first page of that list also shows:
- their photo, role and a short bio above the posts
- links to their profiles elsewhere (the Same as field), such as LinkedIn or a professional listing
- structured data that tells search engines and AI assistants this page is about that person, with the same links
The page title stays Posts by and the author's name. Each post's byline links to the page, and the post's own structured data names the author with the same profile links.
What to put in a profile
Profiles live in the Authors collection in the Content tab. One item per person:
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Name (the item's title) | The name as it appears on posts. Required. |
| Role | Their job, for example "Owner" or "Lead technician". |
| Bio | Two or three sentences: who they are and why they know the subject. Years of experience, a licence, a speciality. |
| Photo | A clear photo of the person, not a logo. |
| Same as | Their profiles elsewhere: full addresses (https://…) of their LinkedIn page, a professional directory listing or their own site. |
| For your records. It never appears on the site. |
Profiles are for real people. Willo never writes one for someone who doesn't exist, and never guesses who wrote a post.
Linking posts to a profile
A post links to a profile when its Author field matches the profile's name. In a post's details, the Author field offers the published profiles to pick from, and you can still type any other name.
A post also links to a profile whose address matches the name, so Jane Doe finds the profile at /blog/author/jane-doe/. When you rename a profile, its posts show the new name as long as that still holds; otherwise update their Author field, or ask Willo to. A post whose author matches no profile keeps a plain author page.
The content score's No author finding names your authors in its fix, so Fix with Willo sets the right one. See Content score.
New sites
A new site starts with one draft profile in the Authors collection, named from the name on your Willo account. It shows nowhere until you publish it. On a paid plan, the launch checklist shows a Confirm who writes your posts step while it waits: check the name, add a photo and a bio, and publish it. If someone else writes your posts, change the name or delete the draft and add theirs.
Sites moved from WordPress
When Willo moves a WordPress site on the Bring my content, build me a fresh site path, each post author's name, bio, website and their own uploaded photo (not a default avatar) become a profile in the Authors collection. Read each one after the move and add a role. Their author pages are at /blog/author/<slug>/, with the old site's author slug. The old site's /author/<slug>/ addresses are not redirected.
Related: Categories, tags and authors, Collections and items.
Questions
Do I need a profile for every author?
No. A post whose author has no profile still shows the name and links to a plain author page listing their posts. A profile adds who they are to that page.
My site has no Authors collection in the Content tab. How do I get one?
Ask Willo in chat, for example "add author profiles to my blog". Willo adds the collection, and it appears in the Content tab after the site deploys. Then tell Willo who writes your posts, or add each person in the Content tab.
Why doesn't my profile show on my author page?
Only published profiles show. Open the Authors collection in the Content tab and publish the profile. A profile in Draft shows nowhere on the site.