How to change your WordPress administrator account

In this recipe, you’ll create a new WordPress administrator account, then delete the old “Admin” account so you’re keeping yourself precious property safe!

Note: For those of you who are tech savvy and have no problems with scripts to do this stuff, there is a script you can use which is great when you have multiple accounts. I don’t describe it here because a good majority of folks simply don’t have that background.

Log in to your WordPress site

Log_in_to_your_Wordpress_site.png

Select the Users option

Select_the_Users_option_2.png

Click Add New

Click_Add_New.png

Complete the Add New User form

Complete_the_Add_New_User_form.png

Note: Be sure to select Administrator for the Role so you can do all the stuff you need to do.

Log out of your WordPress site

Log_out_of_your_Wordpress_site.png

Log in using your new account name and password

Log_in_using_your_new_account_name_and_password.png

Select the Users option

Select_the_Users_option.png

Select the Admin username

Select_the_Admin_username.png

Delete the Admin username

Delete_the_Admin_username.png
  1. Click the box beside the username to select it
  2. Click Delete

Note: You can just hover over the username to reveal the Delete option. I find that it is safer to actually select the account first so you don’t accidentally delete the wrong account if there are multiples.

Assign any existing posts to another user

Assign_any_existing_posts_to_another_user.png
  1. From the drop list

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  • Explode Your Business Online says:
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    You’re so right Mama Red, I see it all the time on people’s blog. I’m glad you addressed the issue!

    • MamaRed says:
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      Kinda scary, isn’t it Norma. It’s not a hard “fix” although a bit tedious (I used a script for multiple sites and figured this was more do-able for the majority of folks).

  • Lorii Abela says:
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    This is very useful MamaRed :) This adds security to WordPress accounts. The illustrations made it so simple to understand.

    • MamaRed says:
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      Glad you found it useful Lorii and that the illustrations helped (been my experience that it does and always nice to get that feedback!).

  • Lisa Frederiksen - BreakingTheCycles.com says:
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    You’re the best, MamaRed – thanks for helping us out! So scary what all we have to keep track of so as not to loose all the work we put into writing and maintaining our blogs.

    • MamaRed says:
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      You’re so welcome Lisa. And yup, there is a TON of stuff to keep track of, would it were “only” writing the content, eh?

  • Barney says:
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    Changing you user name is critical in todays world. Also change your password to something you have to look up. :)

    I use a plugin called WP security it helps you change your database prefix to something other than wp_ which every hacker knows.

    Thanks for the post MammRed

    • MamaRed says:
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      Totally, 1 million percent agree with you Barney! And I actually sent out a blast about that to my Get igKnighted Family last night. The only thing I havean’t done is the change the wp prefix until I get everything clear in my head about what that does and plan for it.

  • Anita says:
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    Great tips here and I will share and bookmark!

    • MamaRed says:
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      Great to see you Anita and thanks for sharing and bookmarking. Much appreciated!

  • syed says:
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    000 webhost is under DDOS attach..i think its better to go for this solution..thank you…i was so scared that i lost my wordpress on 00OWEBHOST…

  • Debra Russell says:
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    What if I have a lot of posts from that Admin account – what happens to those posts when I delete the user?

    • MamaRed says:
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      That’s a great questino Debra, thanks for asking. I’ll see what I can do to get an image of that in the process (I had already converted my account when I did this, so great catch!)

      When you go through the process, you’ll receive a prompt asking if you want to

      a) delete those posts
      b) attribute those posts to another user

      Then you can assign all those posts to the new user you created.

      Make sense? If not let me know and I’ll give it another go!

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