Great as far as it goes. Here's my ideal…

The tabbed login is great because it saves me from having to customize the WordPress default login. I still have more work to do, however.

I ALMOST have a user-friendly login function that:

1. Keeps the user on the same page for login/register/logout/lost password. (Done except for exceptions noted below.)
2. Is instantly accessible from any page. (Done!)
3. Substitutes a profile page within my site for the WP dashboard. (WP Hide Dashboard is compatible with this plugin, solving this issue for now.)

This plugin does #1 EXCEPT that I will have to change the link under my comments (where it says “You must be logged in to post a comment. Login now.”) Unfortunately, this plugin does nothing about that link. It would be nice if it had an option to override it. The simplest programming solution would be to replace the link with just a message of our choosing, such as: “Please login on the upper right side of the page.”

However, this brings up another issue. The plugin won’t quite work if JavaScript is disabled. It will allow you to login but not to access the “Register” or “Forgot” tabs. Fortunately (? and this brings up yet another issue), if you type in the wrong username or wrong password – or nothing at all – and click the Login button, you are taken to WordPress’ default login form (normally not wanted, but it’s good to have this backup when needed). New users can’t be expected to guess that they can register by making such a “mistake,” however.

4. So we need a different form(s) to appear if JavaScript is disabled.

Back to my original list. For No. 3 above, I thought about combining the Profile page from the plugin, “Clean Login,” by altering the profile link in Tabbed Login Widget. That one uses a short code inside any page I want to show the fields in the user’s profile. That would look nice but means more work than I have time for at the moment. (Perhaps you and that plugin author would like to get together?) So I installed the “WP Hide Dashboard” plugin instead, which removes all non-profile related stuff from the Dashboard for “Subscriber” users. Good enough for now.