Do you want to change the author of a post in WordPress?
Sometimes you may need to change a post to a different author than the user who first uploaded it. You can do this without having to copy and paste the post using a different account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to simply change the author of a post in WordPress with just a few clicks.
Before You Change the Author of a WordPress Post
If you just want to show your own name on a post written by another user on your WordPress site, then you’re ready to follow the instructions in this article.
But, if you want to show a different user as the author, then you need to make sure this user exists on your WordPress site first. See our guide on how to add new users and authors in WordPress for detailed instructions.
You can view and manage all the users on your WordPress site by visiting the Users menu item when logged in with your WordPress administrator account.
If you only want to change the way your name is displayed, then check out our guide on how to add or change your full name in WordPress.
Having said that, let’s look at how to quickly and easily change the author of a post in WordPress. There are a few ways to do this, so use the links below to jump to the method you want to use.
- How to Change the Author From the Block Editor
- How to Change the Author from the Classic Editor
- How to Change the Author from Quick Edit
- How to Change the Author of Multiple WordPress Posts
How to Change the Author From the Block Editor
If you use the Gutenberg block editor, then you first need to open the post or page where you want to change the author name. On the post edit screen, you need to make sure Post is selected in the right-hand sidebar.
Then, locate Author under the ‘Status & Visibility’ section and you’ll see a list of available authors to choose from. You need to select the new author name from the drop down menu.
Once you’ve done that, make sure you click ‘Update’ or ‘Save Draft’ to save your changes.
That’s it, you have successfully changed the author of a post in the Gutenberg block editor.
How to Change the Author from the Classic Editor
If you’re using the classic WordPress editor, then simply open the post or page where you want to change the author name. You will likely not see the author panel in the editor, especially if you recently started your WordPress blog.
You will need to click on the Screen Options button at the top right corner of the screen. This will show you a menu with several options that you can show or hide on your post edit screen.
Go ahead and click on the checkbox next to the Author option.
The author panel should now be visible on the screen. You need to click on the current author’s name and then you will see a list of available authors to choose from.
Once you have chosen a new author, make sure you click ‘Update’ or ‘Save Draft’ to save your changes.
Congratulations, you have successfully changed the author of a post in the classic editor.
How to Change the Author from Quick Edit
You can also quickly change the author of a post from the Quick Edit screen while viewing all posts from the Posts » All Posts page.
First, should hover your mouse over the post you wish to change and a menu should appear. Now you need to click the Quick Edit link.
The Quick Edit metabox will now be displayed. You’ll need to click on the current author’s name and select a new author from the list. After that, you should click the Update button to save your changes.
Well done, you have changed the post’s author using Quick Edit.
How to Change the Author of Multiple WordPress Posts
Changing the author for multiple posts using the methods above would take a lot of time. Luckily, there’s an easier way to quickly change the author for multiple WordPress posts at once.
To bulk update authors, you should first navigate to the Posts » All Posts page. This will list all the posts on your WordPress site.
By default, WordPress shows 20 posts per page. If you want to display more posts, then you need to click on Screen Options and change the number of posts you want to display.
Now you need to select the posts where you want to change the author.
After selecting the posts, you should select Edit from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu and then click the Apply button.
WordPress will now show you ‘Bulk Edit’ metabox. You need to select the new author by clicking on the dropdown menu next to the Author option.
Don’t forget to click on the Update button to save your changes.
That’s it, you have successfully changed the author for multiple WordPress posts without editing them individually.
How to Optimize Your Author Profiles for SEO
Finally, you may want to optimize your author profile pages to improve your SEO rankings. The author profile is what appears at the bottom of blog posts published under your name.
Here you can add a brief bio, links, and even your social media profiles.
By showcasing your author bio, you can build more credibility and give your readers a chance to learn more about you and the authors on your site.
WordPress allows you to add a brief author bio, but to add social media links you’ll need to use a WordPress author bio plugin.
Aside from that, you’ll also want to improve your Author archive pages where WordPress displays a list of posts written by that author.
To optimize author pages for SEO, we recommend using All in One SEO. It’s the best SEO plugin for WordPress used by over 2 million websites. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, simply navigate to Users » Profile to edit your author profile. Next, scroll down to the ‘All in One SEO Pro’ section where you can add links to your Facebook and Twitter profiles and create an author bio.
Once you’ve made the necessary changes, make sure you click ‘Update Profile’ at the bottom of the page.
Users will now see your new author bio at the bottom of any post you publish or change to your name.
We hope this article helped you learn how to change the author of a post in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert list of the best WordPress plugins for websites, and our comparison of the best online course platforms.
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Michael Butler says
Thank you!!! Geez, “Screen options” is so unintuitive. Guess I should have tried clicking everywhere. the quick Edit method is a good tip, too.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article was helpful!
Admin
Tim says
Only gives option to assign a post to an admin user, not to a subscriber or other standard user.
Any options you know of to change this?
WPBeginner Support says
For a temporary workaround, you can change the user to an author role, assign the post as theirs, then change the user’s role back.
Admin
Maria Amparo says
Thank you so much!! I was going crazy trying to figure out in a deadline rush how to change the author on a blog post. Your instructions were perfect – clear and easy to follow. Again, thank you!
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Alaba says
Hi,
I also updated the author’s name a couple of years ago. Do I need to change URL slug? Or can I leave it as it is?
PS: I did this almost 3 years ago.
WPBeginner Support says
It would depend on what was changed with the author’s name but from that long ago it would not matter.
Admin
Jacqueline Byrne says
How can I change the default author for future posts?
WPBeginner Support says
That would require a plugin or other method, we’ll look into the ability for when we update this post or a future post.
Admin
David says
But what if I do NOT use Gutenberg???
WPBeginner Support says
You would want to check under your post content and if it is not there you would want to check with the support for the plugin you are using to edit content.
Admin
DAVE says
Since I set my set up years ago, I forgot how to do it, thank for the help
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our guide was able to help
Admin
Kristen says
Thank you!! I am sure I’ll be watching a lot of your videos as I learn wordpress!!!!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad you liked our video
Admin
Sven says
Hello,
at my blog in the post on top is the name of the author.
is it possible the output the name from the editor who published the post and the timestamp ? is there a special function ?
WPBeginner Support says
You would need some custom coding to add the individual who published the post as well as the author.
Admin
Usman says
This is a very informative post… Thanks for sharing it!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad you like our post
Admin
Richard Stephens says
Hi,
Had a situation recently where several blogs I wrote for an organisation had the author changed. I raised this. They claimed it occurred while they did some security upgrades following a hack and while they changed my credentials on WP.
I have not seen anything to confirm this claim yet. Could it happen like they claim or do they have to follow this process?
TIA
WPBeginner Support says
Depending on how they handled the security problem there are many things that could happen. If they follow the steps in this article they should be able to set your author back.
Admin
Diane says
This would be great information IF the quick edit in WordPress actually gave an option to change the author, even after adjusting the screen options. As it is, I had to completely disable the author button.
WPBeginner Support says
Unless you have a plugin that is hiding the option, your posts should still have the option to edit the author in the quick edit screen.
Admin
Mike Wall says
This is great info! Thanks for the help!
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article could help
Admin
Brandon says
Is this going to be updated for 5.0 as the ‘Screen Options’ drop down is not at the top of the edit page anymore…
WPBeginner Support says
We will update this article as soon as we are able. For the time being, you can find the author as a dropdown under the Status & Visibility section
Admin
Dalia says
Thanks for this article. WordPress seems so easy but there are so many possibilities.
Noe says
Thanks so much for this article! It may seem like something so simple, but I spent two days pulling my hair out trying to figure this out. Finally, I found this post and was able to fix the issue in 5 min. Thanks again!
Lisa Lynn says
This was great! Short, simple and in less than one minute I learned how to do a bulk change of author name. Thank you!
James says
What if I am the only ‘author’ on the page, but I want different author handles depending on the types of blog posts?
In other words, is it not possible to switch between two of your OWN author names without making a separate email account for the new ‘moniker’?
I’m on wordpress.com basic plan if that helps at all.
Craig Watson says
I am trying to do this with a custom post type but for some reason the only user I seen in the dropdown list in “Admin”.
Do I need to enable something in the CPT or could this be a capability thing on the user role?
Craig
CC says
My Dashboard does not look at all like this! Is it because you are using a premium version?
Thanks!
WPBeginner Support says
Hi,
You are probably using WordPress.com. Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Sarah says
Hi,
I have a problem,
I cannot, it seems, assign a specific author to a listing or post?
All I see under ‘Author’ is a list of userid’s, some with usernames but showing only 10 authors so I cannot seem to select the author of choice?
Would appreciate any ideas how to fix the problem.
Many Thanks
May says
I’m having the same problem. It’s limited to 10 authors and I’m looking to find the best way to fix the problem. Anyone have any idea?
May says
@SARAH
My best solution now is to use the Change Author plug-in.
Sarah says
@may
Hi,
I would much prefer that WP actually worked rather than adding yet another plugin for a function that should be standard.
Interesting that WPbeginner never responded.
Thank you anyway
Bharat Madhekar says
Kinda helpful
alex says
H! I have a role “editor”. And editor dont have capabilities to change author. How i can fix it?
WPBeginner Support says
Hi alex,
Please see our guide on how to add or remove capabilities to user roles in WordPress.
Admin
Nancy Teas-Crain says
This was extremely helpful! The directions were so easy to follow. The illustrations were just right.
Andy Hill says
Another extremely helpful post! Thank you!
Karen says
Thanks a lot!!!!
Tahir Yasin says
Really helpful, thanks !
Awontis says
Simple as that!
Alexander says
Hi,
Many thanks for helping us to use the wordpress.
Question:
after updating the author, how can we change the url of the changed name?
I mean :
mysite.com/author/changed-name
instead of :
mysite.com/author/admin-name
Many thanks,
Alex
WPBeginner Support says
Hi Alexander,
Please see our guide on how to change author URL slug in WordPress.
Admin