How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress
When WordPress is installed it sets your login name to “admin” by default. If you want to change it you will usually need to manually edit the WordPress database, which might seem a bit intimidating for people not familiar with MySQL/phpMyAdmin. That’s why I created a small plugin that will let you easily edit your username from within WordPress.
How It Works
The plugin adds a new menu item called “Change Username” to the “Users” menu on the Dashboard. Clicking it will display a form where you can enter your new login name. All you need to do is enter the desired username in the form and click “Save Changes”. The plugin will then automatically perform the required database operations and let you log in with your new username right away.
Download Plugin
change-admin-username.zip (3 KB)
I’ve tested the plugin on WP 2.6 – 2.8.3 but it should be compatible with most older versions, too – all the way down to 2.0.x. If you find any bugs feel free to leave a comment below.
Yes, that would work, but it would be inconvenient if you’ve already made a number of posts as admin.
Hi White Shadow. There is a way to do it like Theresa says and attribute all the posts once assigned to admin over to the new user.
1. Create a new user as an administer.
2. Log out and log back in with the new administer login (i.e. your new username)
3. Delete the admin user.
4. WordPress will ask what you want to do with all the posts attributed to admin. Tell it to link them to your newly created Administer user.
Hmm, okay then
Though I still suspect it could cause problems with some plugins and their user-specific records.
I’d be interested to know if it does. If you find out, please comment back again. I’ll stay subscribed to this thread. Thanks White Shadow.
Does this plugin work okay with WP 2.7?
Thanks
Steve
Well, I just answered my own question above and your plugin works great with WP 2.7. Thanks so much for creating such an awesome little plugin!
Hi Steve. As I’m sure you know, security-wise it’s best to delete unused plugins which makes this a nice plugin to use. Install it, change your username, then delete the plugin.
Question – will you keep it updated in case newer versions of WordPress deem it incompatible? If so, I’ll be sure to refer people to your plugin.
Thanks
[...] and at least down to 2.5 I believe. I have no affiliation with the developer but here is the link: How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress | W-Shadow.com Steve P.S. For obvious security reasons, they recommend you uninstall the plugin after using [...]
@ John : Yeah, I’d probably* keep it updated.
* May require reminding as I’m sometimes too lazy to test all my plugins with each new version of WP.
[...] you’d rather not create a new user then you can always use a plugin. As with any other plugin, you upload it to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory and activate it [...]
Thanks for a handy and convenient plugin! Much appreciated.
Thank you !
Good luck !
What happens to the owner on the server after changing the username? Currently, the owner of all files on my wordpress sites are either “the-actual-username” or “nobody”. So, changing the username, does that also change the owner in the cases where the file/folder was owned by the old username?
Jeff
The file owner should stay unchanged. The user accounts used by WordPress and other server software are usually distinct, even if they might be initially set to the same username for convenience.
Very good, It is work good. Thanks for this plugin.
Very Nice
Was skeptical on trying it since you stated – “I’ve only tested the plugin on WP 2.6″
So for those still looking – It Works Just Fine on WordPress Version 2.7.1
Appreciate It White Shadow
THANK YOU!!!
I stupidly just picked something DUMB as my user name thinking “oh well, my display name will be what everyone will see” – then I realized that may not work (maybe it would have) – but I got all stressed out about having to delete my new blog and start all over again! A quick google search for help and I found your post!
Worked perfectly! Thank you again!
[...] install terlebih dahulu plugin Change Admin Username, dan jangan lupa diaktifkan. Dari admin area silakan klik menu Users dan pilih menu Change [...]
[...] plugin ini sangat kecil hanya sekitar 3 KB (zipped), untuk lebih lanjut silahkan berkunjung ke blog pembuatnya, atau download langsung pluginnya di sini. No Related [...]
[...] change-admin-username : إضافة تستعمل لهذا الغرض ، حمّلها على جهازك وارفعها [...]
This works fine!!!!!!!!!!!!1
That worked beautifully, thank you.
works perfect, fast, simply…what more we want ?
i have to say thank you White Shadow
adeux!
[...] Change Admin Username [...]
[...] Change Admin Username [...]
[...] In: Wordpress plugins 13 Jun 2009 Go to Source [...]
[...] Go here to see the original: ø How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress | W-Shadow.com ø [...]
Hi w-shadow,
If I remove the admin-only restriction for the “Change Username” page, would anyone be allowed to change their username?
Also does your plugin do checks to see if a username is already taken? I’m guessing probably not.
Thanks for reading!
You are correct – removing the restriction would allow anyone to change their username. And no, it doesn’t check for duplicate username.
[...] 4. Change Admin Username [...]