Adding Authors
MBM Multi-Author adds a new Authors menu to your WordPress Dashboard. You add authors to your website the same way you add posts, pages, and books.
For each author, you can set the author’s name, email address, biography, photo, and social media websites.
When you type in the author’s name (or edit it), a Sort By list is generated. Because some authors use middle names and some authors have two names as a first name, MBM Multi-Author can’t automatically tell how your name should be sorted. The Sort By option will allow you to choose the way your name is used for sorting. It will take it’s best guess as to your last name and sort that way. You could also choose to sort by your first name.
Anytime multiple authors are listed together, this is how they will be sorted. This includes any time there’s a list of authors to choose from and if you are grouping or sorting by authors in a Book Grid.
For example, if you entered your name as “Mary Sue Van Voreen”, your options for sorting would be
- Voreen, Mary Sue Van
- Van Voreen, Mary Sue
- Sue Van Voreen, Mary
- Mary Sue Van Voreen
The Email Address field is optional, as is the Short Bio field. Because the Short Bio field is meant to be used in a widget and at thebottom of the book page, it’s best to keep it short. There is not word or character count limit assigned to the field, but use your best judgment to what looks good on your site. If you don’t plan to use the Author Bio Widget, you may be able to use a longer bio without an issue.
The Author photo is optional.
Listing Social Media links is optional. Additional Social Media sites can be added on the settings page, much the same way as adding new retailers and formats.
The Author ProfilePage displays a grid of books by that author. As of version 1.1, you can change the grouping, sorting, and cover height.
The Group By and Sort By options are the same as when you add a Book Grid to a page, with one additional option. You can also choose to use the default that is set up on the Multi-Author Settings page.
The book cover height can either use the default from the Multi-Author Settings page or you can set a number to override the default.
