Cite This Article ~ Author Box

Cite This Article ~ Author Box adds an editorial-style author box with a built-in “Cite this article” toggle, making it easier for readers to properly reference, share, and credit your work.

Whether you run a blog, publication, research site, or editorial platform, the plugin helps turn your articles into more easily citable content by giving readers a clear citation they can copy and reuse.

The plugin automatically generates a citation for the current article, includes one-click copy support, and provides a direct reformat link through CiteKit for generating additional citation styles.

Designed for bloggers, journalists, researchers, educators, and online publishers who want to strengthen content credibility, improve source transparency, and make their work easier to reference across the web.

Works as both a Gutenberg block and shortcode with identical markup and styling.

Features

• Built-in “Cite this article” toggle.
• Helps readers properly reference and credit your work.
• Automatically generates citations for the current article.
• One-click copy citation support.
• Reformat citations into other styles through CiteKit.
• Refined editorial-inspired monochrome design.
• Gutenberg block + shortcode support.
• Horizontal and vertical layout options.
• Round or square avatar styles.
• Small, medium, and large avatar sizing controls.
• Lightweight front-end output with no external framework dependencies.

Gutenberg Block

The plugin includes a dedicated Gutenberg block called “Author Box with Citation.”

Block controls include:

• Horizontal or vertical layout styles.
• Round or square avatar display.
• Small, medium, or large avatar sizing.
• Author name, tagline, biography, and image controls.
• Live editor preview matching the front-end output.

The block is designed to integrate naturally into editorial and publishing-focused websites with a clean monochrome appearance and refined typography.

How to Use It

1. Open the WordPress block editor.
2. Click the “+” inserter button.
3. Search for: Author Box with Citation
4. Insert the block into your post or page.
5. Customize the author details and layout options from the sidebar controls.
6. Publish or update your content.

The citation section will automatically generate a citation for the current article and allow readers to copy or reformat it.

Shortcode

Two tags are registered. Use whichever you prefer:

• [author_box] — friendly short tag (registered only when no other plugin has claimed it).

Self-closing form (simple bios):

[author_box name=”Jane Doe” tagline=”Climate scientist” description=”Short bio.” image=”https://example.com/jane.jpg” layout=”vertical” avatar_shape=”square” avatar_size=”lg”]

Enclosing form (rich descriptions with paragraphs and HTML):

When the description needs paragraph breaks, links, or other formatting, use the enclosing form. Anything between the opening and closing tags becomes the description, with paragraph breaks auto-handled.

[author_box name=”Jane Doe” tagline=”Climate scientist”]Multi-paragraph description goes here, with HTML formatting and even links supported. Blank lines in the editor become proper paragraphs on the front end.[/author_box]

Accepted attributes:

• name — Author display name.
• tagline — Short tagline shown under the name.
• description — Bio text (overridden by enclosing content if both are present).
• image — Direct URL to the avatar image. Validated; invalid URLs fall back to the post author’s Gravatar or initials.
• image_id — WordPress media-library attachment ID. Takes precedence over image when both are given, and auto-resolves to a retina-sharp source.
• layout — horizontal (default) or vertical.
• avatar_shape — round (default) or square.
• avatar_size — sm, md (default), or lg.
• post_id — Render the citation and avatar fallback using a specific post’s metadata instead of the current post in the loop. Useful for author boxes on archive pages or custom templates.