“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
- Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
Although we may smell as sweet no matter our name, sometimes we’d like a name that’s as sweet as we are.
And in WordPress, that appears to be a problem if you didn’t choose a username wisely when you first set up your site.
WordPress says that usernames cannot be changed.
But that’s not exactly true. What they mean to say is that they can’t be easily changed via the backend Admin area. However, if you dig into the database a little, it’s a different story. … Maybe not as compelling a story as Romeo and Juliet, but a story you’ll be interested in nonetheless.
How to Change Your Username
Note: Because many WordPress users have Cpanel with their webhost, this tutorial will demonstrate changing your username via Cpanel. If you do not have Cpanel, you will need to navigate to your database via the system you have. You may need to contact your webhost if you run into problems.
* It’s recommended that you back up your database before proceeding.
1. Login to your account on your server / your Cpanel Admin area.
2. Access your database(s) via phpMyAdmin (found in the Databases section of Cpanel)
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3. Click on your database name (left hand side)
If you have more than one database, you will need to choose the correct one. Most people will probably only have one database, however.
4. Choose wp_users
Once you’re into your database, on the left hand side, click into wp_users
5. Find User & Click Edit
Find the user you would like to change by searching under the user_login column. Then click “Edit.”
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6. Replace Username
Replace the original username with the new username in the user_login row. Then click “Go” at the bottom of the page to save your change.
(Note: You can also change the user_nicename here if you like, or you can change that in the Admin area of your site. This corresponds to the “Nickname” in the Admin area of your site.)
7. Login to Your Site
Once you change your username, you will need to login with your new one.
8. Confirm New Username
Once logged in, you should see your new username under your profile..
That’s It
And that’s all there is to it. So simple even The Bard wouldn’t object.
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Photo: Poet from BigStock
Hey Joe, I have done it this way as well as simply creating a new username and pw, and deleting the admin. Found that for some beginners that’s a easier process to understand and some get overwhelmed when they go into their cPanel, or especially their phpMyAdmin.
My question is are there other advantages of doing it one way or another?
thanks for the easy to follow post, great reference for my clients!
Your way sounds like a good option in some situations. But if there are posts already associated with the user, then you probably aren’t going to want to delete them. I know there’s the option to attribute the posts to another user, but that seems riskier to me than changing the name in the database, to be honest. Who knows what can get lost when things are done automatically.
I understand that many people don’t like to go into their database (for good reason). I was like that for many years (and still am when it comes to some things). But some things (like this) are fairly easy and straight-forward, and so I was hoping to help those who are ready to take that step. That said, I also understand that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
If your clients have access to their database, then I guess I’d be careful in giving them that “little knowledge.” :) After all, you’ll probably be the one trying to clean things up if something goes wrong.
really nice tutorial. thanks brother to give us awesome tutorial ;)
If I remember correctly, the catch with the approach that you suggest is that for WordPress networks the user name is also added to the user meta data as part of a serialized array.
So for networks it’s necessary to also change the name in that array, and then, if the length of the new name doesn’t match that of the old name, to also tweak the data that defines the array’s structure.
I believe that this is why the seemingly straightforward option isn’t available in the WP Admin.
Here’s my plugin solution: Admin username changer
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/admin-username-changer/
Hope it helps :)
Thanks, evilMonkey. (Somehow I feel I’ve been waiting to say that my whole life.)
I’ll check it out.
Just use the Username Changer plugin. It’s a one-click process! http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/username-changer/
Thanks, Aalaap.
awesome! this totally works! i actually went to delete my whole wordpress and installed it again. great tips!
Leschia – glad it helped.
Thanks for this Joe, I’ve been looking for a way to do this for ages! Really easy and worked fine for my site. Much appreciated.
Glad it worked.