When you create a new WordPress site for the first time, you must set up your main account information, choosing a username and password, in order to log in to the site. One day you may want to change the username you chose for the first time, thinking that the matter is simple and can be done through the settings, as is the case on most other platforms and websites. But you will find that there is no direct way provided by WordPress to easily change the username.
Don’t worry, we are here to help you. In this article, we will provide you with three indirect methods through which you can change your username if you want.
What are the most important reasons that might prompt you to change your username in WordPress?
Before delving into the ways in which you can change the username in WordPress, we will mention the most important reasons that might prompt anyone to do so:
- Increasing the security of your registration information is an important reason to change your user name. Especially if you have chosen an easy, well-known username that can be easily guessed, then your site will be highly vulnerable to hacking. Among the dangerous names that we advise you to change if you use one of them:
- admin
- adm
- admin1
- root
- user
- support
- test
- manager
- sysadmin
2) If you want to buy a website from someone else, you will most likely want to change the username set by the old owner to a name that suits you more, in order to prevent any attempts to access the website by the old owner after selling it.
3) You may have made a mistake while typing the username you wanted for the first time, and you want to correct it.
4) You may have left the default username that WordPress suggested to you, and now you want to change it.
5) The username you chose is similar to one of the other site users’ names, so you do not want to cause confusion among users.
6) You may not like the username you chose the first time, as it may be childish or inappropriate, such as “silverwolf3000.” Then you’ll definitely want to change it to a more mature username, and perhaps one that’s more appropriate for your site’s title.
Whatever the reason you want to change your WordPress username, we will help you do it easily. In order not to make the mistake of choosing an inappropriate username again; You have to be careful while choosing a new one, as we advise you that it is easy for you to remember and not linked to personal information about you so that no one can guess it.
Ways to change username in WordPress
There are three ways through which you can get a new username for your WordPress site, and we will explain them in detail:
1) Create a new account and delete the old one
This method is the easiest way you can follow to change your username, as you can simply create a new user account and write the username you want in the new account, and then you can delete the old account.
To create a new account, you must log in to the “ wp-admin ” control panel, then go to the “ Members ” menu, and choose “ Add New .” Here you will see the information you must enter to create the new account, where you will choose the new username you want, and you must also use a new email address other than the one you used previously. Do not forget to choose the new user’s rank as “ Administrator ,” so that you can later delete the site’s main account without problems.
Now that you have created the new account, you must log out of the current account, then re-log in with the new account that you have just created,
then go to the “ Members ” list again, and choose “ All Members .” A list of members will appear, including the new and old accounts. Place your mouse over the old username to see the options you can do, click “Delete.”
If you previously published content through the old account that you want to delete, you will see a message before the deletion process is completely completed, giving you the option of deleting the content with the account or assigning its ownership to the new manager account that you created. Of course, it is preferable to keep the content without deleting it with the account.
Thus, you have deleted your old account, and the new account remains with the username you chose.
2) Modify databases via phpMyAdmin
This method requires a little experience and a lot of caution to be applied, since you will be making direct modifications to the databases of your WordPress site . Usually, you should not make any modifications to the databases, because this poses a high risk to your site, as this may cause it to crash completely. But in some cases, this option is your only way to change your username. Therefore, we recommend that you back up your site before making this modification.
To implement this method, you must first log in to your website hosting control panel “ cPanel ”. Then you should search for the “Databases” section, and from there click on “ phpMyAdmin ”.
The database will appear in the new window in front of you. In the left menu, you must look for the “users ” section , which is usually preceded by an emoji that varies from one host to another, and in our case it is called “wp8b_users”, and click on it. On the right, you will see a window containing users registered on the site, with the ability to click “Edit” to modify the desired username.
Now a window will open containing all the information for the account you chose to modify. What you need to change the username is the “user_login” field. Change it as you wish. After completing the modification, click the “ Go ” button to save the modifications.
Through this method, you can also view or modify the password, in case you forget it or for any other reason. Where you can see the “user_pass” field, which contains the account password.
3) Change the username through an add
You can change the username simply by installing a dedicated plugin. We recommend using the “ Free Username Changer ” add-on, or you can use another one if you want. To download the “Free Username Changer” add-on, you must enter the “wp-admin” control panel, go to the “Add-ons” section, and choose “Add New”. Then you should search in the search box for the name of the extension “Username Changer”. The required add-on will appear, just click “Install Now”.
After the installation is complete, you must click on the “Activate” button in order for the add-on to work after downloading it.
Now you must have logged in to the control panel using the same account information whose username you want to change. Then choose “ Your Account ” from the “ Members ” list; Next to the “ Username ” field, you will see a new option appear, “Change Username.”
Click on “ Change Username ”, and an empty box will appear in which you can enter the new username. Then click on “ Save Username ” to save, or on “ Cancel ” to cancel.
After you finish writing and saving the new username, you will see a message stating that the process was completed successfully, with the option to re-log in using the new username “ Click here to log back in .”
This addition can be used to modify the username on all other accounts. It is also possible to modify the permissions of who is allowed to change the username of their account and who is not. To do this, just choose “Username Changer” from the “Settings” menu.
With the clarification that you can use this add-on and then delete the add-on, then you have completed what is required by changing the user name and there is no need for the add-on then.
Thus, we have learned about the ways to change the username for your site. All of them are suitable for relying on one of them, which may be appropriate in some cases, while others may not be appropriate in other cases. For example, if you are initially unable to log in to your site, you will have to change your username and password information through PHP MyAdmin. If you are looking for an easy method, the first method will be the easiest for you, and so on. Choose the method that suits you and let us know if you encounter any obstacles in the comments
