UGHH!!! User Name…. How can I change it?

  • Resolved sbrant

    (@sbrant)


    11 years, 9 months ago

    1. I hired a company, who created my wordpress account and were the original “user” of my WP installation.

    2. I fired them but noticed they used their Company Name as my user name… Thats where the “UGHHH!” comes from. When i go to edit my profile it says I can’t change the User name.

    3. I want to change the user name so I don’t get reminded about how awful they are on a daily basis.

    4. I thought I would outsmart the system by creating a new Admin user and deleting the one I don’t want. Turns out I can’t delete the initial admin.

    Please advise.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

  • The only way to change the username of an existing user is to manually edit the database. I don’t know the details of your setup or how you’re hosting your site, but many hosting providers provide phpMyAdmin which would allow you to view the content in your database and change it (easily).

    Basically you’ll want to find your wp_users table (the “wp_” part may be different depending on your installation), then look for the row where the value of user_login has the account you want to change. Then just edit it to what you want and save it. Keep in mind usernames have to be unique so don’t reuse something that’s already in the database.

    Of course, it’s always a good idea to backup your database before making any changes – just in case!

    If you don’t have access to a tool like phpMyAdmin let me know what you have available and I’ll see if I can help some other way.

    A possible plugin solution if you prefer: Admin renamer extended

    …still a very good idea to heed David’s advice and take a backup first.

    Thread Starter sbrant

    (@sbrant)

    Thanks Guys for the info. David, I’m not really familiar with WP or hosting. My site is currently hosted at GoDaddy. Do I perform what you are talking about from the WP admin or do I perform it from the GoDaddy admin.

    Thanks

    You would probably need to do it through the Go Daddy admin. If you’re not familiar with WP or hosting it may be better to try the plugin solution mentioned by ClaytonJames first.

    If you decide to try my recommendation here’s a link from the Go Daddy Hosting Support area with info about how to access phpMyAdmin. That article also has a link about how to backup your database before you work on it.

    If you get into phpMyAdmin and are completely lost post again and I’ll try and post a step by step walk through for you.

    Thread Starter sbrant

    (@sbrant)

    Hi David,

    Thanks for the great advice. by the way do you know any good WP developers I have a half finished site that could use some love.

    [Moderator note: Thread closed because of attempt to solicit work]

    I would maybe try https://jobs.wordpress.net, I don’t really have any personal connections with WordPress developers. I’ve always just figured things out for myself.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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