How to Change Your WordPress Username

Are you looking to change your WordPress username for security purposes or simply because you want a new identity on your website? Whatever the reason may be, it is important to know that changing your WordPress username can be a bit tricky.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of changing your WordPress username in a safe and secure manner. We will also discuss the potential risks and challenges that you may face while changing your username and how to overcome them.

What is a WordPress Username?

A WordPress username is a unique identifier that is used to log in to your WordPress website. It is usually assigned to you when you first create your WordPress account. Your username is displayed publicly on your website, and it is also used to identify your user profile and posts.

Why Would You Want to Change Your WordPress Username?

There can be several reasons why you might want to change your WordPress username. Some common reasons include:

• You want to improve the security of your website by using a stronger and more unique username.
• You want to change your website’s branding or identity and want a new username that reflects that.
• You accidentally chose a username that is not professional or appropriate for your website.

Is It Safe to Change Your WordPress Username?

In general, changing your WordPress username is safe as long as you follow the proper steps and precautions. However, there are a few potential risks and challenges that you should be aware of:

• If you change your username, any links or references to your old username will be broken. This can cause issues with SEO and website traffic.
• If you change your username, your old posts and comments will still be associated with your old username. This can cause confusion for your website visitors.
• If you change your username, any user accounts that are associated with your old username will also be affected. This can cause issues with user permissions and access to your website.

How to Change Your WordPress Username

Now that you understand the potential risks and challenges of changing your WordPress username, let’s go through the step-by-step process of how to change it safely.

Step 1: Back Up Your Website

Before making any changes to your WordPress website, it is always a good idea to back it up. This will ensure that you have a copy of your website in case something goes wrong during the process of changing your username.

There are several WordPress plugins that you can use to back up your website, such as UpdraftPlus and BackWPup. Simply install and activate one of these plugins, and follow the instructions to create a full backup of your website.

Step 2: Create a New User Account With Your Desired Username

To change your WordPress username, you will need to create a new user account with your desired username. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Go to Users > Add New.
3. Enter your desired username in the “Username” field.
4. Enter your email address and a password in the respective fields.
5. Click on the “Add New User” button.

Step 3: Transfer Your Content and Settings to the New User Account

Once you have created a new user account with your desired username, you need to transfer your content and settings to the new account. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Users > All Users.
2. Find the new user account that you just created and click on the “Edit” link next to it.
3. Scroll down to the “Role” dropdown menu and select “Administrator”.
4. Click on the “Update User” button to save your changes.

At this point, your new user account should have all the permissions and capabilities of an administrator. You can now log out of your old user account and log in to your new user account using the new username and password.

Step 4: Change the Author Name of Your Old Posts and Comments

Now that you have transferred your content and settings to your new user account, you need to change the author name of your old posts and comments to reflect your new username. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Posts > All Posts.
2. Find the post that you want to edit and click on the “Edit” link next to it.
3. Scroll down to the “Author” dropdown menu and select your new user account.
4. Click on the “Update” button to save your changes.

Repeat this process for all of your old posts and comments to ensure that they are associated with your new username.

Step 5: Redirect Old URLs to the New User Account

If you have linked to any of your old posts or pages using your old username, those links will now be broken. To fix this, you can use a plugin like Redirection to redirect your old URLs to the corresponding pages on your new user account.

1. Install and activate the Redirection plugin.
2. Go to Tools > Redirection.
3. Click on the “Add New” button.
4. In the “Source URL” field, enter the old URL that you want to redirect.
5. In the “Target URL” field, enter the new URL that you want to redirect to.
6. Click on the “Add Redirection” button to save your changes.

Repeat this process for all of your old URLs to ensure that they are properly redirected to your new user account.

Step 6: Update Any External Links or References to Your New Username

If you have linked to your website from any external websites or sources using your old username, those links will also be broken. You will need to update these links to reflect your new username.

1. Search for any external links or references to your old username using a search engine or by checking your website’s backlinks.
2. Contact the owners of the websites or sources that have linked to your website and ask them to update the links to your new username.

This will help ensure that your website’s SEO and traffic are not negatively affected by the change in your username.

Step 7: Delete Your Old User Account

Once you have successfully transferred your content and settings to your new user account and updated all of your external links and references, you can delete your old user account. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Users > All Users.
2. Find your old user account and click on the “Delete” link next to it.
3. In the pop-up window, select “Attribute all content to:” and choose your new user account from the dropdown menu.
4. Click on the “Confirm Deletion” button.

Your old user account will now be deleted, and all of your content and settings will be permanently transferred to your new user account.

How to Change Your WordPress Username via phpMyAdmin

One way to change your WordPress username is by using the database management tool called phpMyAdmin. This method can be a bit technical and requires some knowledge of SQL queries, but it can be a useful option if you don’t have access to your WordPress dashboard or if you are experiencing issues with the standard method of changing your username.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of changing your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin in a safe and secure manner. We will also discuss the potential risks and challenges that you may face while changing your username and how to overcome them.

What is phpMyAdmin?

phpMyAdmin is a free and open-source database management tool that is commonly used to manage MySQL databases. It allows you to perform various database operations, such as creating, modifying, and deleting tables and rows, importing and exporting data, and running SQL queries.

phpMyAdmin is typically accessed through your hosting control panel or via a web browser using a URL that is provided by your hosting provider.

Why Would You Want to Change Your WordPress Username via phpMyAdmin?

There can be several reasons why you might want to change your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin. Some common reasons include:

• You are unable to access your WordPress dashboard due to a login issue or a technical problem.
• You are experiencing issues with the standard method of changing your WordPress username, such as a plugin conflict or a permissions issue.
• You want to change your WordPress username in bulk, such as if you have multiple users on your website and want to change their usernames all at once.

Is It Safe to Change Your WordPress Username via phpMyAdmin?

In general, changing your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin is safe as long as you follow the proper steps and precautions. However, there are a few potential risks and challenges that you should be aware of:

• If you change your username via phpMyAdmin, any links or references to your old username will be broken. This can cause issues with SEO and website traffic.
• If you change your username via phpMyAdmin, your old posts and comments will still be associated with your old username. This can cause confusion for your website visitors.
• If you change your username via phpMyAdmin, any user accounts that are associated with your old username will also be affected. This can cause issues with user permissions and access to your website.
• If you make a mistake while running SQL queries in phpMyAdmin, you could potentially damage or corrupt your database. It is important to be careful and make sure that you have a backup of your database before making any changes.

How to Change Your WordPress Username via phpMyAdmin

Now that you understand the potential risks and challenges of changing your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin, let’s go through the step-by-step process of how to do it safely.

Step 1: Back Up Your Database

Before making any changes to your database, it is always a good idea to back it up. This will ensure that you have a copy of your database in case something goes wrong during the process of changing your username.

There are several ways to back up your database, such as using a plugin like BackupBuddy or manually exporting the database using phpMyAdmin.

To manually export your database using phpMyAdmin:

1. Log in to your hosting control panel or access your phpMyAdmin URL.
2. Select your WordPress database from the list on the left-hand side.
3. Click on the “Export” tab at the top of the page.
4. Under the “Export Method” section, select the “Quick” export method.
5. Under the “Output” section, select the “Save output to a file” option.
6. Under the “Format” section, select the “SQL” format.
7. Click on the “Go” button to download a copy of your database.

Make sure to save the downloaded database file to a secure location on your computer or external storage device.

Step 2: Change Your WordPress Username in the Database

Now that you have backed up your database, you can start the process of changing your WordPress username in the database.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel or access your phpMyAdmin URL.
2. Select your WordPress database from the list on the left-hand side.
3. Scroll down to the “wp_users” table and click on the “Browse” link next to it.
4. Find your user row and click on the “Edit” link next to it.
5. Under the “user_login” field, enter your new username.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Go” button to save your changes.

Your WordPress username has now been changed in the database. However, you will still need to update the author name of your old posts and comments, redirect old URLs to the new user account, and update any external links or references to your new username.

Step 3: Change the Author Name of Your Old Posts and Comments

To change the author name of your old posts and comments to reflect your new username, you will need to run an SQL query in phpMyAdmin.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel or access your phpMyAdmin URL.
2. Select your WordPress database from the list on the left-hand side.
3. Click on the “SQL” tab at the top of the page.
4. In the “SQL query/queries” field, enter the following query:

UPDATE wp_posts SET post_author = (SELECT ID FROM wp_users WHERE user_login = 'new_username') WHERE post_author = (SELECT ID FROM wp_users WHERE user_login = 'old_username');

Replace “new_username” with your new username and “old_username” with your old username.

5. Click on the “Go” button to run the query.

Your old posts and comments should now be associated with your new username.

Step 4: Redirect Old URLs to the New User Account

If you have linked to any of your old posts or pages using your old username, those links will now be broken. To fix this, you can use a plugin like Redirection to redirect your old URLs to the corresponding pages on your new user account.

1. Install and activate the Redirection plugin.
2. Go to Tools > Redirection.
3. Click on the “Add New” button.
4. In the “Source URL” field, enter the old URL that you want to redirect.
5. In the “Target URL” field, enter the new URL that you want to redirect to.
6. Click on the “Add Redirection” button to save your changes.

Repeat this process for all of your old URLs to ensure that they are properly redirected to your new user account.

Step 5: Update Any External Links or References to Your New Username

If you have linked to your website from any external websites or sources using your old username, those links will also be broken. You will need to update these links to reflect your new username.

1. Search for any external links or references to your old username using a search engine or by checking your website’s backlinks.
2. Contact the owners of the websites or sources that have linked to your website and ask them to update the links to your new username.

This will help ensure that your website’s SEO and traffic are not negatively affected by the change in your username.

Step 6: Delete Your Old User Account

Once you have successfully transferred your content and settings to your new user account and updated all of your external links and references, you can delete your old user account. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Users > All Users.
2. Find your old user account and click on the “Delete” link next to it.
3. In the pop-up window, select “Attribute all content to:” and choose your new user account from the dropdown menu.
4. Click on the “Confirm Deletion” button.

Your old user account will now be deleted, and all of your content and settings will be permanently transferred to your new user account.

Changing your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin can be a bit technical and requires some knowledge of SQL queries, but it can be a useful option if you don’t have access to your WordPress dashboard or if you are experiencing issues with the standard method of changing your username.

Just remember to always back up your database before making any changes, and to update any external links or references to your new username to ensure that your website’s SEO and traffic are not negatively affected.

By following the steps outlined in this article, you can safely and securely change your WordPress username via phpMyAdmin and give your website a fresh new identity.

Conclusion

In this article, we have guided you through the process of changing your WordPress username in a safe and secure manner. We have discussed the potential risks and challenges that you may face while changing your username and how to overcome them.

We have also outlined the step-by-step process of how to change your WordPress username, including how to create a new user account with your desired username, transfer your content and settings to the new account, change the author name of your old posts and comments, redirect old URLs to the new user account, update any external links or references to your new username, and delete your old user account.

Just remember to always back up your website before making any changes, and to update any external links or references to your new username to ensure that your website’s SEO and traffic are not negatively affected.

With a little bit of care and attention, you can easily change your WordPress username and give your website a fresh new identity. Whether you are looking to improve the security of your website or simply want a new identity on your website, changing your WordPress username can be a useful and necessary task.