Dynamic User Directory
Powerful and feature-rich user directory based on user profile meta fields.
Use with caution
Dynamic User Directory works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 1K+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 47/100 on our health check.
- Loved by users — 4.8/5 from 38 reviews
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Dynamic User Directory stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| buddypress | >100 |
| member directory | #24 |
| memberpress | #76 |
| user directory | #12 |
| User Registration | #57 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 from 38 reviews
About Dynamic User Directory
From the official readme · v2.4Description
This lightweight yet powerful and feature-rich plugin creates a user directory displaying the pre-existing user meta information you specify. It can show avatars, social icons, mailing address, email address, website, phone, or any other user meta information you wish. It is also fully compatible with BuddyPress, S2Member, and Cimy User Extra Fields plugins.
Current Features
The best thing about Dynamic User Directory is the high degree of control you have over the content, formatting, and style. This allows you to create a highly customized directory and integrate it seamlessly into your WordPress theme. The intuitive backend settings interface is designed to help you get your directory up and running quickly. Features include:
- Compatible with BuddyPress Extended Profile, S2Member Custom Fields, Cimy User Extra Fields, and many other membership plugins
- Multisite compatible for sites that centrally manage the plugin’s data
- Sort by user last name or user display name
- Specify which user meta fields to display (up to 10)
- Hide users with specified user roles
- Include or exclude specific users
- Optionally hyperlink the user name and avatar to their WP author page or BuddyPress profile page
- Enjoy a fully responsive display for smaller screen sizes
- Optionally show a search box to quickly locate a user
- Optionally show pagination to reduce page load times
- Search by any user meta field with the Meta Fields Search add-on
- Create multiple directory instances with the Multiple Directories add-on
- Hide the directory until a search is run with the Hide Directory Before Search add-on
- Show directory listings in a table format with the Horizontal Layout add-on
- Sort by any custom meta field (instead of just last name) with the Custom Sort Field add-on
- Exclude users based on a custom meta field such as an “Opt out of Directory” option with the Exclude User Filter add-on
- Export full directory or just search results to CSV file with the Export add-on
- Show/hide WordPress avatars
- Show custom avatars where the img URL is stored in a meta field with the Custom Avatar add-on
- Set avatar style (circle, rounded edges, or standard) and size
- Show/hide listing border
- Set listing border style, color, length, and thickness
- Control font size of all text displayed
- Set the display order of each field
- Control space between alphabet letter links
- Control space between each directory listing
- Choose between showing all users or filtering by selected alphabet letter
- Hyperlink almost any user meta field
- Choose from a variety of field display formats, including phone number, comma delimited lists, & dates
- Display social media link icons (choose from two different icon styles)
- Display address fields as a formatted mailing address
- Display directory totals
- Check out upcoming features here
Add-Ons
There are is a growing library of powerful Dynamic User Directory add-ons available here to enhance and extend your directory.
Your Feedback is Valuable!
If this plugin benefits your website, please take a moment to say thanks by leaving a positive rating and/or review. Did you find a bug? Let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP. Have suggestions for improvement? Don’t hesitate to email me with your thoughts. Thanks so much!
Troubleshooting
The DUD troubleshooting guide can be found here
Installation
- Copy the whole dynamic-user-directory subdir into your plugin directory or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
- Use the Settings->Dynamic User Directory screen to configure the plugin
Changelog
2.4
- Released 11/11/25
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.8.3
- Fixed: Corrected the XSS vulnerability as reported by patchstack (CVE ID = CVE-2025-62982). The vulnerable input fields are now being sanitized.
2.3
- Released 8/1/25
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.8.2
- Fixed: Eliminated PHP warning messages by updating deprecated PHP code to ensure compatibilty with PHP 8.1
- Fixed: Corrected display problem when formatting multiple checkboxes
- Enhancement: Added several new date format options. You can now configure a date field to show just the numeric year (e.g. 2025),
the month and day (e.g. August 1) or the day and month (1 August). - Enhancement: Added a country code format option. You can now configure a text field containing a 2 or 3 char country code to show the full country name.
2.2
- Released 1/20/25
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.7.1
- Added new “Dynamically Generate CSV Export File” setting for the Directory Export Add-On
2.1
- Released 9/27/24
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.6.2
- Fixed: Corrected PHP “class not found” error displayed on sites that do not have MemberPress and have selected one of the “Hide Hyphens” format options.
2.0
- Released 8/5/24
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.6.1
- Fixed: Corrected bug where the plugin settings page could not be saved due to some bad data in the local WP database.
- Fixed: Corrected code that was producing the PHP warning message: ‘Warning: Undefined array key “dud_instance_name” in …/public_html/wp-content/plugins/dynamic-user-directory/includes/core.php on line 1919’
- Fixed: Corrected bug that kept users from being shown in directory if the last name field began with a space
- Enhancement: For MemberPress users, the “Hide Hyphens” formatting option will automatically show the option name instead of the option value (which does not preserve the original capitalization)
1.9
- Released 5/27/24
- Successfully tested against WordPress 6.5.3.
- Fixed: Several field formatting options were not working correctly.
- Enhancement for MemberPress users: Multiselect box and multiple or single checkbox fields will now show the original capitalization configured in MemberPress (with no hyphens) when any of the “Show Labels” format options is selected.
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Dynamic User Directory alternatives
All buddypress plugins →
FAQ
Dynamic User Directory: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 2, 2026
Is Dynamic User Directory free?
Yes. Dynamic User Directory is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Dynamic User Directory safe to use in 2026?
Dynamic User Directory works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 1K+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 11 months ago, and scores 47/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Dynamic User Directory?
Dynamic User Directory is active on 1K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 85,401 times since it launched in July 2016. It was downloaded 391 times in the last 30 days.
Does Dynamic User Directory work with WordPress 7.1?
Dynamic User Directory is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.10, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Dynamic User Directory last updated?
The latest version, 2.4, was released on November 11, 2025 (11 months ago).
Who makes Dynamic User Directory?
Dynamic User Directory is developed and maintained by Sarah Giles.
What are the best alternatives to Dynamic User Directory?
The most popular alternatives to Dynamic User Directory are Better Messages (10K+ installs), rtMedia for WordPress, Budd… (7K+ installs) and BuddyPress Docs (6K+ installs).
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
