How to change your WordPress admin username

So after my post on why you should change your WordPress admin username, my friend Brad asked me how to go about changing it. So here’s a brief run down.

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin area.
  2. In the Users menu, click on “add new”.
  3. Fill in the info for the new user account. 
    • You’ll need to use a different email address than what you used for the “admin” username.
    • Make sure you change the role to “Administrator”.
    • Choose a new user name that is different than the name you publicly display on your blog. For example, I wouldn’t use “jen” as my username – because that would be too easy for someone to guess.
    • Choose a strong password.
  4. Click on the ”Add User” button.
  5. Log out of WordPress.
  6. Log in to your WordPress again, using your new username.
  7. Click on “Users” in the “Users” menu.
  8. Move your mouse over the “admin” row. You’ll see links for “Edit” and “Delete”. Click on “Delete”.
  9. Select “Attribute all posts to” and then select your new username from the drop-down list. Make sure you select this option — so all your posts don’t get deleted!
  10. Click on the ”Confirm Deletion” button.

Now that you’ve changed your admin username — all your blog posts that were created using the “admin” username will be reassigned to your new username.

One Comment

Brad April 18, 2013 Reply

Thanks for the help on that Jen!

Talk to me, Goose.

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