User

Access user data. The user root provider represents the currently logged-in visitor and is available on all pages.

The author variable uses the same provider but resolves to the post's author instead. See the overview for details.

user vs author

user and author expose the same fields listed below. The only difference is which person they point to: user is whoever is viewing the page, author is whoever wrote the post.

All Fields

Field	Arguments	Returns	Description
id	—	int	User ID
slug	—	string	User slug (nicename)
user_email	—	string	Email address (private)
display_name	—	string	Display name
name	—	string	Display name (alias of display_name)
user_url	—	string	Website URL
link	—	string	Author archive URL
path	—	string	Author archive path
edit_link	—	string | null	Admin edit URL (null when not authorized)
profile_link	—	string | null	Same as edit_link
avatar	{args}	string	Avatar URL
roles	—	array | null	User roles, null when no roles (private)
is_current	—	bool	Is the current logged-in user
can	capability, ...args	bool	Check user capability (private on another user than the visitor)
can_edit	—	bool	Can edit this user
meta	field_name	mixed	User meta value (also used for first_name, last_name, nickname, description); private except the names, nickname and bio
raw_meta	field_name	mixed	Meta value, without plugins
has_field	field_name	bool	Check if field exists

Private fields

user_login, user_email, user_registered, roles, and user meta (except first_name, last_name, nickname and the bio, description) show nothing until the site opens them in Settings > Privacy, whoever wrote the expression. A logged-in visitor always reads their own. Users without a published post, such as customers, are private as a whole. See Private Data.

Raw Database Fields

Direct read access to the underlying WP_User columns:

Field	Returns	Description
ID	int	User ID (alias of id)
user_login	string	Username (private)
user_nicename	string	URL-friendly slug (alias of slug)
user_registered	string	Registration date YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (private)

Profile

Profile fields like first/last name, nickname, and biographical info are accessed through meta() (matching how WordPress stores them). These are public, as are the user fields made with ACF, Meta Box, Pods or JetEngine (password fields aside); other user meta is private until its key is opened in Settings > Privacy:

{{ user.display_name }}
{{ user.meta('first_name') }} {{ user.meta('last_name') }}
{{ user.meta('nickname') }}
{{ user.meta('description') }}
{{ user.user_url }}

Avatar

The avatar field takes an options object, the arguments of get_avatar_url(), as in Timber:

{{ user.avatar }}                                       <!-- Default size (96px) -->
{{ user.avatar({size: 200}) }}                          <!-- 200px size -->
{{ user.avatar({size: 200, default: 'identicon'}) }}    <!-- Custom options -->

Roles & Capabilities

{{ user.roles|join(', ') }}
{{ user.is_current }}
{{ user.can('edit_posts') }}
{{ user.can('manage_options') }}
{{ user.can('edit_post', post.id) }}        <!-- Variadic — pass extra args for meta-capabilities -->

To check whether a visitor is logged in, test user.id (it's empty for guests):

{{ user.id ? 'Welcome back!' : 'Please log in' }}

Custom Fields (Meta)

{{ user.meta('phone') }}
{{ user.meta('company') }}
{{ user.meta('billing_address').city }}
{{ user.has_field('phone') }}

Plugin integration

meta('key') integrates with ACF, MetaBox, JetEngine, and Pods. User meta keys are private until opened in Settings > Privacy; keys starting with _ are always blocked.

Common Patterns

Show content for logged-in users

{{ user.id ? 'Welcome back!' : 'Please log in' }}

Display user greeting

Hello, {{ user.name ?? 'Guest' }}

Check admin capability

{{ user.can('manage_options') ? 'Admin Panel' : '' }}

Author bio

{{ author.name }}
{{ author.meta('description') }}
{{ author.avatar({size: 96}) }}

"Posted by" line

Posted by {{ author.name }} on {{ post.date('F j, Y') }}

Author link

<a href="{{ author.link }}">{{ author.name }}</a>